Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.
My respect for human beings is based not on the colour of a man’s skin nor authority he may wield, but purely on merit.
We should take heart from our own experience and performance. In a cynical world we have become an inspiration to many.
If we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.
I could not imagine that the future I was walking toward could compare in any way to the past that I was leaving behind.
Part of building a new nation means building a spirit of tolerance, love and respect amongst the people of this country.
For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy; there is no moral goodness in using an ineffective weapon.
We don't have to be victims of our past, that we can let go of our bitterness, and that all of us can achieve greatness.
Let us remind ourselves that it is ordinary people - men and women, boys and girls - that make the world a special place
Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.
Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.
Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because [that is] the only way to make it appear like a normal illness
There is nothing like a fixed, steady aim, with an honorable purpose. It dignifies your nature, and insures your success.
To a freedom fighter hope is what a lifebelt is to a swimmer - a guarantee that one will keep afloat and free from danger.
Millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain enslaved by the chains of poverty. It is time to set them free.
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.
I have never cared very much for personal prizes. A person does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards.
There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.
Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
The New World Order that is in the making must focus on the creation of a world of democracy, peace and prosperity for all.
The habit of attending to small things and of appreciating small courtesies is one of the important marks of a good person.
We now undertake that we cannot rest while millions of our people suffer the pain and indignity of poverty in all its forms.
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.
I want to sleep for eternity with a broad smile on my face. I want those who remain behind to say this man has done his duty.
In my younger days, I was arrogant - jail helped me to get rid of it. I did nothing but make enemies because of my arrogance.
I have always endeavoured to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion.
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.
Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is above all a test of one's commitment.
Prison life, fortunately, I spent a lot of years, about 18 years with other prisoners, and, as I say, they enriched your soul.
Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.
I appeal to the Youth and those on the ground: start talking to each other across divisions of race and political organizations.
Home is home even for those who aspire to serve wider interests and who have established their home of choice in distant regions.
There is no doubt that the United States now feels that they are the only superpower in the world and they can do what they like.
The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced - between the unpalatable and the inedible.
I told my cellmates about the oppression of the whites and apartheid. I helped organize hunger strikes and the like in my prison.
We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people.
I say to all those leaders, do not look the other way. Do not hesitate... It is within your power to avoid a genocide of humanity.
Poetry cannot block a bullet or still a sjambok, but it can bear witness to brutality-thereby cultivating a flower in a graveyard.
Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.
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.
I enjoyed the discipline and solitariness of long-distance running, which allowed me to escape from the hurly-burly of school life.
A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow mindedness.
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.
An organisation can only carry out its mandate if there is discipline, and where there is no discipline there can be no real progress
Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being oppressed: Those who should be ashamed are they who oppress others.
If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government.
You mustn't compromise your principles, but you mustn't humiliate the opposition. No one is more dangerous than one who is humiliated.
I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.
I don't want to lead an organization where I have no sense of what the members think of me - and by arrangement. I would never do that.
Out of the experience of extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.