Quotes to inspire and reflect

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

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

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.

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

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

It always seems impossible until it's done.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Like the gardener, a leader must take responsibility for what he cultivates; he must mind his work, try to repel enemies, preserve what can be preserved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.

I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days.

As a leader, one must sometimes take actions that are unpopular, or whose results will not be known for years to come.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

You’re playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?

Lead from the front — but don t leave your base behind

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

I am the captain of my soul.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.

As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.

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

When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace.

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

Quitting is leading too.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

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

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

In its proper meaning equality before the law means the right to participate in the making of the laws by which one is governed, a constitution which guarantees democratic rights to all sections of the population, the right to approach the court for protection or relief in the case of the violation of rights guaranteed in the constitution, and the right to take part in the administration of justice as judges, magistrates, attorneys-general, law advisers and similar positions.

In the absence of these safeguards the phrase 'equality before the law', in so far as it is intended to apply to us, is meaningless and misleading.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is people who have made poverty and tolerated poverty, and it is people who will overcome it. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.

We fought injustice wherever we found it, no matter how large, or how small, and we fought injustice to preserve our own humanity.

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.

In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains.

Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.

Why is it that in this courtroom I face a white magistrate, am confronted by a white prosecutor and escorted into the dock by a white orderly? Can anyone honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced?

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

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

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

Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.

Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.