Remembering Mandela in his words

Presidents Bouterse and Chavez with Portrait of Hope and Peace 

Nelson Mandela, the revered statesman who emerged from prison after 27 years to lead South Africa out of decades of apartheid, died on December 5, 2013.

In a nation healing from the scars of apartheid, Mandela became a moral compass. His defiance of white minority rule and incarceration for fighting against segregation focused the world's attention on apartheid, the legalized racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994.

In this Note we will remember Nelson Mandela by some of his quotes.

"Difficulties break some men but make others."

"I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles."

"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."

"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."

"Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

"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."

"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."

"Lead from the back - and let others believe they are in front."

"I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations."

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."

"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."

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

"We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right."

"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."

"If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."

Mandela and Fidel Castro

Nelson Mandela with Mohammed Ali