Last Updated on 20 June 2024

Quotes from Nelson Mandela (1918–2013)

• A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.
• Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.
• Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.
• Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
• Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
• For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
• A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.
• I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.
• I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
• I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.
• If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man.
• It always seems impossible until it’s done.
• It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.
• It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die.
• It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.
• Long speeches, the shaking of fists, the banging of tables and strongly worded resolutions out of touch with the objective conditions do not bring about mass action and can do a great deal of harm to the organization and the struggle we serve.
• Many people in this country have paid the price before me and many will pay the price after me.
• Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.
• Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.
• Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.
• What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.
• You sharpen your ideas by reducing yourself to the level of the people you are with and a sense of humor and a complete relaxation, even when you’re discussing serious things, does help to mobilize friends around you. And I love that.