Nelson Mandela
South African anti-apartheid leader and president, 1918-2013
42 quotes.
Quotes by Nelson Mandela
- A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
- A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
- 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.
- As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.
- Courage is not the absence of fear — it’s inspiring others to move beyond it.
- Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.
- Difficulties break some men but make others.
- Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.
- Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.
- Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
- 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.
- Hating clouds the mind. It gets in the way of strategy. Leaders cannot afford to hate.
- History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.
- I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.
- I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
- I never lose. I either win or learn.
- If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important - and you do that by being genuine and humble.
- It always seems impossible until it’s done.
- It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.
- It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.
- Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front.
- May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
- No matter what the past has dealt you, don't let it destroy your future.
- No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.
- One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.
- Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.
- Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance.
- Remember that hope is a powerful weapon even when all else is lost.
- Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation.
- The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
- The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.
- There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.
- 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.
- Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.
- 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.
- When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.
- When people are determined, they can overcome anything.
- You encourage people by seeing the good in them.
- You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.