Quotes to inspire and reflect

I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.

I had no specific belief except that our cause was just, was very strong and it was winning more and more support.

The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.

There are thousands of people who feel that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and non-violence — against a government whose only reply is savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people. And I think the time has come for us to consider, in the light of our experiences at this day at home, whether the methods which we have applied so far are adequate.

I do not deny, however, 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

But the hard facts were that fifty years of non-violence had brought the African people nothing but more and more repressive legislation, and fewer and fewer rights

Although we had no hope of defeating the enemy in the battlefield, nevertheless, we fought back to keep the idea of liberation alive.

A new world will be won not by those who stand at a distance with their arms folded, but by those who are in the arena, whose garments are torn by storms and whose bodies are maimed in the course of the contest.

I did not enjoy the violence of boxing so much as the science of it. I was intrigued by how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat, how one paced oneself over a match.

I realized that they could take everything from me except my mind and my heart. They could not take those things. Those things I still had control over. And I decided not to give them away

Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.

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.

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.

Violence was the only weapon that would destroy apartheid.

Non-violence is a good policy when conditions permit.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport.

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 not an optimist, but a great believer of hope.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Nothing is black or white.