Nelson Mandela (Social Activist)

In its proper meaning equality before the law means the right to participate in the making of the laws by which one is governed, a constitution which guarantees democratic rights to all sections of the population, the right to approach the court for protection or relief in the case of the violation of rights guaranteed in the constitution, and the right to take part in the administration of justice as judges, magistrates, attorneys-general, law advisers and similar positions. In the absence of these safeguards the phrase equality before the law, in so far as it is intended to apply to us, is meaningless and misleading. All the rights and privileges to which I have referred are monopolized by whites, and we enjoy none of them. The white man makes all the laws, he drags us before his courts and accuses us, and he sits in judgement over us.

— Nelson Mandela art

Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters roll in a united, democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.

— Nelson Mandela fear

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

— Nelson Mandela change

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

— Nelson Mandela art

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”

— Nelson Mandela people

I learned that courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

— Nelson Mandela fear

“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.”

— Nelson Mandela leadership

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 mountain top of our desires

— Nelson Mandela death

It always seem impossible until its done....

— Nelson Mandela possible

Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.

— Nelson Mandela death

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.

— Nelson Mandela life

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 life

Lead from the back...and let others believe they are in front.

— Nelson Mandela believe

In my country we go to prison first and then become President .

— Nelson Mandela prison

The government has interpreted the peacefulness of the movement as a weakness: the peoples non-violent policies have been taken as a green light for government violence. Refusal to resort to force has been interpreted by the government as an invitat

— Nelson Mandela people

It is, however, well known that the main national liberation organizations in this country have consistently followed a policy of non-violence. They have conducted themselves peaceably at all times, regardless of government attacks and persecutions u

— Nelson Mandela time

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.

— Nelson Mandela leadership

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.

— Nelson Mandela dream

There can be no keener revelation of a societys soul than the way in which it treats its children.

— Nelson Mandela soul

Does anybody really think that they didnt get what they had because they didnt have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

— Nelson Mandela men

There was much in such a society that was primitive and insecure and it certainly could never measure up to the demands of the present epoch. But in such a society are contained the seeds of revolutionary democracy in which none will be held in slave

— Nelson Mandela society

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

— Nelson Mandela time

I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one, whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a Black man in a White mans court. This should not be I should feel perfectly at ease and at home with the assurance that I am being tried by a fellow South African, who does not regard me as an inferior, entitled to a special type of justice.

— Nelson Mandela life

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

— Nelson Mandela art

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

— Nelson Mandela education

It was the government that should have been told to refrain from its inhuman policy of violence and massacre, not the African people .... It was further argued that it is wrong and indefensible for a political Organization to repudiate picketing, whi

— Nelson Mandela people

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they dont ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.

— Nelson Mandela america

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

— Nelson Mandela experience

I regard it as a duty which I owed, not just to my people, but also to my profession, to the practice of law, and to the justice for all mankind, to cry out against this discrimination which is essentially unjust and opposed to the whole basis of the attitude towards justice which is part of the tradition of legal training in this country. I believed that in taking up a stand against this injustice I was upholding the dignity of what should be an honorable profession.

— Nelson Mandela war

There is no such thing as part freedom.

— Nelson Mandela freedom

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

— Nelson Mandela change

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

— Nelson Mandela art

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

— Nelson Mandela man

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.

— Nelson Mandela freedom

I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.

— Nelson Mandela win

I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.

— Nelson Mandela man

I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.

— Nelson Mandela peace

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.

— Nelson Mandela art

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

— Nelson Mandela art

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.

— Nelson Mandela freedom

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

— Nelson Mandela work

The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope. African music is often about the aspirations of the A

— Nelson Mandela hope

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

— Nelson Mandela freedom

I always knew that someday I would once again feel the grass under my feet and walk in the sunshine as a free man.

— Nelson Mandela man

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.

— Nelson Mandela hope

We also honour the great Che Guevara, whose revolutionary exploits, including on our own continent, were too powerful for any prison censors to hide from us. The life of Che is an inspiration to all human beings who cherish freedom. We will always honour his memory.

— Nelson Mandela life

We have long wanted to visit your country and express the many feelings that we have about the Cuban revolution, about the role of Cuba in Africa, southern Africa, and the world. The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa. The Cuban internationalists have made a contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice, unparalleled for its principled and selfless character.

— Nelson Mandela freedom

Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor

— Nelson Mandela war

I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.

— Nelson Mandela freedom

It is fit and proper to raise the question sharply, what is this rigid color-bar in the administration of justice? Why is it that in this courtroom I face a white magistrate, am confronted by a white prosecutor, and escorted into the dock by a white orderly? Can anyone honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced? Why is it that no African in the history of this country has ever had the honor of being tried by his own kith and kin, by his own flesh and blood? I will tell Your Worship why: the real purpose of this rigid color-bar is to ensure that the justice dispensed by the courts should conform to the policy of the country, however much that policy might be in conflict with the norms of justice accepted in judiciaries throughout the civilised world.

— Nelson Mandela history

Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don’t agree with. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and his passion, but also because of his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his.

— Nelson Mandela knowledge

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign! The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! God bless Africa!

— Nelson Mandela god

The questions we face today — how to promote equality and justice; how to uphold freedom and human rights; how to end conflict and sectarian war — these things do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child born in World War I. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows that is true. South Africa shows we can change, that we can choose a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.

— Nelson Mandela hope

We admire the achievements of the Cuban revolution in the sphere of social welfare. We note the transformation from a country of imposed backwardness to universal literacy. We acknowledge your advances in the fields of health, education, and science.

— Nelson Mandela education

We consider ourselves to be comrades in arms to the Palestinian Arabs in their struggle for the liberation of Palestine. There is not a single citizen in South Africa who is not ready to stand by his Palestinian brothers in their legitimate fight against the Zionist racists.This appears at Mathaba.net

— Nelson Mandela sin

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