Nelson Mandela’s most famous and inspiring quotes

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On Thursday the 5th of December 2013, former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95. Throughout his life he battled for freedom, equality and justice. As he said himself, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, and one of Mandela’s greatest weapons in his fight against oppression was his use of language. As a tribute to the great man, here is a selection of his most famous quotes, which have inspired people the world over.

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On his incarceration:

“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”

Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, 1995.

 

nelson-mandelaOn the need to eradicate poverty:

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”

Speech delivered in Johannesburg, July 2, 2005.

 

On tolerance:

“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 its opposite.”

Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, 1995.

 

On the meaning of courage:

“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.”

Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, 1995.

 

On oppression:

“A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”

Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, 1995.

 

On the need for forgiveness:

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

 

On multilingualism:

“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.”


Written by Sarah O’Farrell, translator and former terminologist at TermCoord.