When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals; adjust the action steps.

If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.

Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.

Because of their courage and persistence for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century.