Nelson Mandela Quotes
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By ancestry, I was born to rule.
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I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world.
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The victory of democracy in South Africa is the common achievement of all humanity.
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At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.
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Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.
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The names of Dingane and Bambata, Hintsa and Makana, Squngthi and Dalasile, Moshoeshoe and Sekhukhuni, were praised as the glory of the entire African nation. I hoped then that life might offer me the opportunity to serve my people and make my own humble contribution to their freedom struggle.
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I came across few whites as a boy at Qunu. The local magistrate, of course, was white, as was the nearest shopkeeper. Occasionally, white travelers or policemen passed through our area. These whites appeared as grand as gods to me, and I was aware that they were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect.
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Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
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Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.
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We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.
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Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.
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Africans require, want, the franchise on the basis of one man one vote. They want political independence.
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Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.
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I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
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I would wear the blue overalls of the fieldworker and often wore round, rimless glasses known as Mazzawati teaglasses. I had a car, and I wore a chauffeur's cap with my overalls. The pose of chauffeur was convenient because I could travel under the pretext of driving my master's car.
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The names of those who were incarcerated on Robben Island is a roll call of resistance fighters and democrats spanning over three centuries. If indeed this is a Cape of Good Hope, that hope owes much to the spirit of that legion of fighters and others of their calibre.
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It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.
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Sabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality.
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Forget the past.
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You sharpen your ideas by reducing yourself to the level of the people you are with and a sense of humour and a complete relaxation, even when you’re discussing serious things, does help to mobilise friends around you. And I love that.
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Our single most important challenge is therefore to help establish a social order in which the freedom of the individual will truly mean the freedom of the individual.
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Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
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I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.
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When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.