"We now undertake that we cannot rest while millions of our people suffer the pain and indignity of poverty in all its forms."
Read quote
3 likes
Quote collection
Nelson Mandela quotes (page 33 of 34)
666 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I looked into the vast dome of blue emptiness that stretched out above me in all directions and the illusion was still there, the size and speed, and what information they were sending to mother earth."
Read quote
3 likes
"These numbers are staggering, in fact incomprehensible. By all accounts, we are dealing with the greatest health crisis in human history."
Read quote
3 likes
"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."
Read quote
3 likes
"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?"
Read quote
3 likes
"I feel like a young man of 15."
Read quote
3 likes
"One of the things that made me long to be back in prison was that I had so little opportunity for reading, thinking and quiet reflection after my release. I intend, amongst other things, to give myself much more opportunity for such reading and reflection."
Read quote
3 likes
"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings.... What I am condemning is that one power, with a president [George W. Bush] who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust."
Read quote
3 likes
"Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence."
Read quote
3 likes
"The people of Africa have learned the lessons of patience and endurance in their long struggle for freedom. In a cynical world we have become an inspiration to many. We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to belief in the goodness of people."
Read quote
3 likes
"I enjoyed the discipline and solitariness of long-distance running, which allowed me to escape from the hurly-burly of school life."
Read quote
3 likes
"I told my cellmates about the oppression of the whites and apartheid. I helped organize hunger strikes and the like in my prison."
Read quote
3 likes
"Some of the mission groups that have been responsible for our education have not been part of the government. In fact, they acted contrary to what the government had planned to do."
Read quote
3 likes
"The first election in which all South Africans took part was in April, 1994. There were long queues [lines] of employers and employees, black and white. In the sense of Africans, Coloreds and Indians - when I talk about blacks, I mean those three. Blacks and whites mingled to vote without any hitches. Many people would have expected a great deal of tension, clashes and violence, but it did not occur."
Read quote
3 likes
"Regarding African education in this country, there was a time when the government took no interest whatsoever in African education. It was the churches, that part of civil society, which bought land, built schools, and employed and paid teachers. People like myself, right from grade eight up to university, I was in missionary schools."
Read quote
3 likes
"It is important to not be hostile to what a greater part of society has embraced, whether as Christians, Hindus or Muslims. It is important to respect that because whether you believe or not in the existence of a superior being, humanity does believe in that."
Read quote
3 likes
"We have introduced equity into our life, including a uniform educational system. We have also introduced a Bill of Rights, which is not just a piece of paper, but a living document because we have created structures that are totally independent of the government and that can overrule the government, even the president."
Read quote
3 likes
"In many respects, people on the outside suffered more than those of us in jail. In prison, we ate three times a day, we had clothing, we had free medical services, and we could sleep for 12 hours."
Read quote
3 likes
"I was neglected by my family because I had disappointed them - I'd run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them."
Read quote
3 likes
"Our people outside of prison used my name to mobilize the community locally and internationally. But for me to be treated separately from my colleagues, who had contributed as much as and even more than I had, would have been a betrayal of them."
Read quote
3 likes