- 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.
- 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.
- I learned that courage was 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.
- Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS.
- I have always regarded myself, in the first place, as an African patriot.
- I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world.
- Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
- 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.
- If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
- 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.
- After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
- It always seems impossible until it's done.
- Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.
- There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.
- If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.
- There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.
- In my country we go to prison first and then become President.
- We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
- 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?
- I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.
- Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
- I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.
- 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.
- Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.
- If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.
- There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
- I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.
- To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.
- Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.
- Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.
- When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.
- No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.
- 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.
- There is no such thing as part freedom.
- Unlike some politicians, I can admit to a mistake.
- I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.
- We can't afford to be killing one another.
- If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America.
- 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.
- In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains.
- I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
- Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom.
- Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.
- I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists.
- Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself.
- I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than of socialism.
- I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President.
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