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Nelson Mandela quotes

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“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“This would be a hazardous life, and I would be apart from my family, but when a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“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...” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I have always believed that exercise is not only a key to physical health but to peace of mind.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Freedom without civility, freedom without the ability to live in peace, was not true freedom at all.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“It reaffirmed my long-held belief that education was the enemy of prejudice. These were men and women of science, and science had no room for racism.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“with freedom come responsibilities” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Only free men can negotiate.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“It was not lack of ability that limited my people, but lack of opportunity.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“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.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that...” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“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 lay defeat and death.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I wanted first of all to tell the people that I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had became a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“a leader . . . is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I was a young man who attempted to make up for his ignorance with militancy.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“Some men, under the pressure of incarceration, showed true mettle, while others revealed themselves as less than what they had appeared to be.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“If I preached unity, I must act like a unifier, even at the risk of perhaps alienating some of my own colleagues.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I again realized that we were not different people with separate languages; we were one people, with different tongues.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“There are victories whose glory lies only in the fact that they are known to those who win them.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“What I took out of them was that character was measured by facing up to difficult situations and that a hero was a man who would not break even under the most trying circumstances.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“If the oppressor uses violence, the oppressed have no alternative but to respond violently. In our case it was simply a legitimate form of self-defense.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“I cannot say for certain if there is such a thing as love at first sight, but I do know that the moment I first glimpsed Winnie Nomzamo, I knew that I wanted to have her as my wife.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“men who take great risks often suffer great consequences.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“It is no use to take an action to which the masses are opposed, for it will then be impossible to enforce.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“To a narrow-thinking person, it is hard to explain that to be 'educated' does not only mean being literate and having a B.A., and that an illiterate man can be a far more 'educated' voter than someone with an advanced degree.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“In love, unlike politics, caution is not usually a virtue.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
“the freedom struggle was not merely a question of making speeches, holding meetings, passing resolutions, and sending deputations, but of meticulous organization, militant mass action, and, above all, the willingness to suffer and sacrifice.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

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freedom courage love racism change bravery youth responsibility prison leadership mind peace democracy oppression life politics fear education ignorance sacrifice

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Long Walk to Freedom (38)