Quotes to inspire and reflect

In South Africa, to be poor and black was normal, to be poor and white was a tragedy.

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.

Non-violence is a good policy when conditions permit.

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.

Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics.

Violence was the only weapon that would destroy apartheid.

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

Democracy meant all men were to be heard, and a decision was taken together as a people. Majority rule was a foreign notion. A minority was not to be crushed by a majority.

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.

A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it's lowest ones

Although Verwoerd thought Africans were lower than animals, his death did not yield us any pleasure. Political assassination is not something I or the ANC ever supported. It is a primitive way of contending with an opponent.

Success in politics demands that you must take your people into confidence about your views and state them very clearly, very politely, very calmly, but nevertheless, state them openly.

A blind pursuit of cheap popularity has nothing to do with revolution.

Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

I am not an optimist, but a great believer of hope.

There are few misfortunes in this world that you cannot turn into a personal triumph if you have the iron will and the necessary skill.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

I am confident that nobody... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself.

She married a man who soon left her; that man became a myth; and then that myth returned home and proved to be just a man after all.

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

No, no, no, everything is all right. I have regular medical check-ups and they say I won’t die this week.

Men have different capacities and react differently to stress. But the stronger ones raised up the weaker ones, and both became stronger in the process.

Difficulties break some men but make others

Although I am a gregarious person, I love solitude even more.

It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status.

I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.

We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right

Nothing is black or white.

It is most unusual to return to a place that has changed in ways you yourself have altered.

I love playing and chatting with children...feeding and putting them to bed with a little story, and being away from the family has troubled me throughout my...life. i like relaxing at the house, reading quietly, taking in the sweet smell that comes from the pots, sitting around a table with the family and taking out my wife and children. when you can no longer enjoy these simple pleasures something valuable is taken away from your life and you feel it in your daily work.

If wealth is a magnet, poverty is a kind of repellent

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Tread softly, breathe peacefully, laugh hysterically

I have retired, but if there's anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

life has a way of forcing decisions on those who vacillate.

Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening.

We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear

A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.

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.

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.

To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of a family is a greater joy