Quotes By Nelson Mandela

Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence.

A real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that at the end of the debate we should emerge stronger and more united than ever before.

I pay tribute to the endless heroism of youth.

Information is a basic human right and the fundamental foundation for the formation of democratic institutions.

As we judge others so are we judged by others. The suspicious will always be tormented by suspicion.

Adversity cleanses the lethargies of man.

Our experience has taught us that with goodwill a negotiated solution can be found for even the most profound problems.

I admire young people who are concerned with the affairs of their community and nation perhaps because I also became involved in struggle whist I was still at school.

We need a fundamental change of mindset with regards to the way we speak and behave about sex and sexuality. Boys and men have a particularly critical role in this regard, changing the chauvinist and demeaning ways sexuality and women were traditionally dealt with in both our actions and speaking.

In prison, illusions can offer comfort.

To go to prison because of your convictions and be prepared to suffer for what you believe in, is something worthwhile. It is an achievement for a man to do his duty on earth irrespective of the consequences.

No child in Africa, and in fact anywhere in the world, should be denied education.

I went as an observer, not a participant, for I do not think that I ever spoke. I wanted to understand the issues under discussion, evaluate the arguments, see the calibre of the men involved.

If there is one thing in this planet that has the power to bind people it is soccer.

Why is it that in this courtroom I face a white magistrate, am confronted by a white prosecutor and escorted into the dock by a white orderly? Can anyone honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced?

Abject poverty is demeaning, is an assault on the dignity of those that suffer it. In the end it demeans us all. It makes the freedom of all of us less meaningful.

The anchor of all my dreams is the collective wisdom of mankind as a whole.

We now undertake that we cannot rest while millions of our people suffer the pain and indignity of poverty in all its forms.

Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself.

We raise our voices in holy gladness to celebrate the victory of the risen Christ over the terrible forces of death.