Nelson Mandela
Born: 01-01-1918
Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader who served as the country's first black president from 1994 to 1999. He is renowned for his role in dismantling apartheid and fostering reconciliation. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his activism before emerging as a symbol of peace and justice worldwide. His autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom," chronicles his journey from prisoner to president.
Book summaries for books written by Nelson Mandela
Quotes
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
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 learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
I cannot forget the people who were part of this miraculous journey, and those who paid the supreme price for freedom. We have walked a long road to freedom, and we have left behind us a trail of sacrifice, courage, and hope.
I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. 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.
I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.
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.
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.