Inspirational Quotes By Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
(1918 - 2013)

"Education is the most powerful weapon

which you can use to change the world."

"Courage [is] 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."

"A good head and a good heart

 are always a formidable combination."

"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."

"If you talk to a man in a language he 

understands, that goes to his head. If you talk 

to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, 

you have to work with your enemy. 

Then he becomes your partner."

"To be free is not merely to cast off 

one's chains, but to live in a way that respects 

and enhances the freedoms of others."

"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."

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds 

that there are many more hills to climb."

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's 

soul than the way in which it treats its children."

"We must use time wisely and forever realize 

that the time is always ripe to do right."

"I detest racialism, because I regard it 

as a barbaric thing, whether it comes 

from a black man or a white man."

"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."

"Money won't create success, 

the freedom to make it will."

"There is nothing like returning to a place 

that remains unchanged to find the ways 

in which you yourself have altered."

"Does anybody really think that they didn't get 

what they had because they didn't have the talent

or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?"

"Any man or institution that tries 

to rob me of my dignity will lose."

"To deny people their human rights 

is to challenge their very humanity."

"Courageous people do not fear 

forgiving, for the sake of peace."

"When the water starts boiling, 

it is foolish to turn off the heat."

"Our human compassion binds us the one 

to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but 

as human beings who have learnt how to turn 

our common suffering into hope for the future."

"It is wise to persuade people to do things 

and make them think it as their own idea."

"There is no such thing as part freedom."