South African Revolutionary Nelson Mandela Quotes

Nelson Mandela Quotes

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, statesman, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and therefore the first elected during a fully representative democratic election. Here are the 51 best Nelson Mandela Quotes.

1. “It always seems impossible until it's done.”  — Nelson Mandela

2. “I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than of socialism.”  — Nelson Mandela

3. “The names of Dingane and Bambata, Hintsa and Makana, Squngthi and Dalasile, Moshoeshoe and Sekhukhuni, were praised as the glory of the entire African nation. I hoped then that life might offer me the opportunity to serve my people and make my own humble contribution to their freedom struggle.”  — Nelson Mandela

4. “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”  — Nelson Mandela

5. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  — Nelson Mandela

6. “Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.”  — Nelson Mandela

7. “There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources, those who are poor, illiterate, and ridden with terminal disease.”  — Nelson Mandela

8. “If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.”  — Nelson Mandela

9. “The United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate repercussions long after the decisions were taken.”  — Nelson Mandela

10. “Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.”  — Nelson Mandela

11. “There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.”  — Nelson Mandela

12. “Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.”  — Nelson Mandela

13. “I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.”  — Nelson Mandela

14. “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.”  — Nelson Mandela

15. “From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.”  — Nelson Mandela

16. “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”  — Nelson Mandela

17. “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.”  — Nelson Mandela

18. “I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists.”  — Nelson Mandela

19. “I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.”  — Nelson Mandela

20. “Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.”  — Nelson Mandela

21. “I came across few whites as a boy at Qunu. The local magistrate, of course, was white, as was the nearest shopkeeper. Occasionally, white travelers or policemen passed through our area. These whites appeared as grand as gods to me, and I was aware that they were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect.”  — Nelson Mandela

22. “There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”  — Nelson Mandela

23. “Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.”  — Nelson Mandela

24. “Running taught me valuable lessons. In cross-country competition, training counted more than intrinsic ability, and I could compensate for a lack of natural aptitude with diligence and discipline. I applied this in everything I did.”  — Nelson Mandela

25. “Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself.”  — Nelson Mandela

26. “A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.”  — Nelson Mandela

27. “Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.”  — Nelson Mandela

28. “We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.”  — Nelson Mandela

29. “When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer.”  — Nelson Mandela

30. “On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education.”  — Nelson Mandela

31. “The education I received was a British education, in which British ideas, British culture, British institutions, were automatically assumed to be superior. There was no such thing as African culture.”  — Nelson Mandela

32. “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”  — Nelson Mandela

33. “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”  — Nelson Mandela

34. “It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.”  — Nelson Mandela

35. “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”  — Nelson Mandela

36. “Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.”  — Nelson Mandela

37. “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.”  — Nelson Mandela

38. “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.”  — Nelson Mandela

39. “I cannot say for certain if there is such a thing as love at first sight, but I do know that the moment I first glimpsed Winnie Nomzamo, I knew that I wanted to have her as my wife.”  — Nelson Mandela

40. “The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption for the black people of the world.”  — Nelson Mandela

41. “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.”  — Nelson Mandela

42. “I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President.”  — Nelson Mandela

43. “I would wear the blue overalls of the fieldworker and often wore round, rimless glasses known as Mazzawati teaglasses. I had a car, and I wore a chauffeur's cap with my overalls. The pose of chauffeur was convenient because I could travel under the pretext of driving my master's car.”  — Nelson Mandela

44. “After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one's person.”  — Nelson Mandela

45. “Forget the past.”  — Nelson Mandela

46. “Even if you have a terminal disease, you don't have to sit down and mope. Enjoy life and challenge the illness that you have.”  — Nelson Mandela

47. “I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.”  — Nelson Mandela

48. “Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.”  — Nelson Mandela

49. “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”  — Nelson Mandela

50. “Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.”  — Nelson Mandela

51. “In my country we go to prison first and then become President.”  — Nelson Mandela