Skip to content

Nelson Mandela Quotes

1918–2013 South Africa

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

South Africa
Activists
Lawyers
Nobel laureates
Socialists

Also known as: Mandela, Nelson

Random Nelson Mandela quote

99 quotes

It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world and Mindset Network is a powerful part of that world changing arsenal.

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.

Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.

I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.

Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.

Inaugural celebration address (1994)

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.

Iraq War speech (2003)

All of us have a role to play in shaping society.

Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1994)

Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.

Long Walk to Freedom (1995)

I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.

Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.

Experience is the best legacy men could possess and never desert in life.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.

Those who have driven away from the altar of God people whom He has chosen to make different, commit an ugly sin! The sin called Apartheid.

Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1992)

It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Ethiopia has always held a special place in my own imagination and the prospect of visiting attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England and America combined.

We tried in our simple way to lead our life in a manner that may make a difference to those of others.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Nelson Mandela (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.