Nelson Mandela Quotes

261 Sourced Quotes

Whatever he himself may say in his defence, the white man's moral standards in this country must be judged by the extent to which he has condemned the vast majority of its inhabitants to serfdom and inferiority.

Nelson Mandela
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.

Nelson Mandela
Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, "Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence... I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor..."

Nelson Mandela
I never think of the time I have lost. I just carry out a programme because it's there. It's mapped out for me.

Nelson Mandela
For a revolution is not just a question of pulling a trigger; its purpose is to create a fair just society

Nelson Mandela
You will notice that France, Germany, Russia, China are against this decision. It is clearly a decision that is motivated by George W. Bush's desire to please the arms and oil industries in the United States of America. If you look at those factors, you'll see that an individual like myself, a man who has lost power and influence, can never be a suitable mediator.

Nelson Mandela
I must deal immediately and at some length with the question of violence. Some of the things so far told to the Court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the Whites.

Nelson Mandela
I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.

Nelson Mandela
Yes! We affirm it and we shall proclaim it from the mountaintops, that all people – be they black or white, be they brown or yellow, be they rich or poor, be they wise or fools, are created in the image of the Creator and are his children! Those who dare to cast out from the human family people of a darker hue with their racism! Those who exclude from the sight of God's grace, people who profess another faith with their religious intolerance! Those who wish to keep their fellow countrymen away from God's bounty with forced removals! Those who have driven away from the altar of God people whom He has chosen to make different, commit an ugly sin! The sin called Apartheid.

Nelson Mandela
I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them.

Nelson Mandela
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
There must be an end to white monopoly on political power, and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratized.

Nelson Mandela
The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. 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. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.

Nelson Mandela
There is a view that the past is best forgotten. Some criticize us when we say that whilst we can forgive, we can never forget.... The choice of our nation is not whether the past should be revealed, but rather to ensure that it comes to be known in a way which promotes reconciliation and peace.

Nelson Mandela
It is not the kings and generals that make history, but the masses of the people.

Nelson Mandela
The very right to be human is denied every day to hundreds of millions of people as a result of poverty, the unavailability of basic necessities such as food, jobs, water and shelter, education, health care and a healthy environment.

Nelson Mandela
We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.

Nelson Mandela
AIDS today in Africa is claiming more lives than the sum total of all wars, famines and floods and the ravages of such deadly diseases as malaria... We must act now for the sake of the world.

Nelson Mandela
I am convinced that floods of personal disaster can never drown a determined revolutionary nor can the cumulus of misery that accompanies tragedy suffocate him.

Nelson Mandela
We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people.

Nelson Mandela
Learn to know yourself... to search realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings.

Nelson Mandela
In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.

Nelson Mandela
I have always endeavoured to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion.

Nelson Mandela
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.

Nelson Mandela
Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle we shall crush apartheid and white minority racist rule.

Nelson Mandela
I am influenced more than ever before by the conviction that social equality is the only basis of human happiness.

Nelson Mandela
If you don't intend having a compromise, you don't negotiate at all.

Nelson Mandela
A society that does not value its older people denies its roots and endangers its future. Let us strive to enhance their capacity to support themselves for as long as possible and, when they cannot do so anymore, to care for them.

Nelson Mandela
The doctors and nurses treated me in a natural way as though they had been dealing with blacks on a basis of equality all their lives. It reaffirmed my long-held belief that education was the enemy of prejudice. These were men and women of science, and science had no room for racism.

Nelson Mandela
Even behind prison walls I can see the heavy clouds and the blue sky over the horizon

Nelson Mandela