![THE 100 BEST PHRASES OF NELSON MANDELA [WITH IMAGES] - ECONOMÍA - 2024](https://img.sperohope.com/img/frases-de-motivaci-n-personal/370/las-100-mejores-frases-de-nelson-mandela.jpg)
I leave you the best phrases of Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, activist against apartheid and Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, among other distinctions he received throughout his life.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was born in Mvezo (South Africa) and belonged to the Thembu royal family. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Witwatersrand and upon completion of his studies began working as a lawyer in Johannesburg.
In the South African capital he began to get involved in anti-colonial movements with the ANC (African National Congress) and co-founded the Youth League in 1944. Due to his intense participation, highlighting the Challenge Campaign of 1952 and the People's Congress of 1955, they arrested him in 1956, although he was tried without success.
Although he did not support violence, he secretly joined the SACP (South African Communist Party) and led the terrorist-guerrilla organization MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe) in 1961. The following year he was re-arrested, charged with conspiracy and sentenced to life imprisonment.
After 27 years in prison, President Frederik de Klerk released him in 1990, due to international and national pressure. After negotiating with de Klerk the end of apartheid, both leaders organized elections in 1994, where Mandela led the ANC, won and became president.
You may also be interested in these phrases about freedom or these about justice.
Best Mandela Quotes
-Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.
-After climbing a large mountain, one finds that there are many other mountains to climb.
-True leaders must be willing to sacrifice everything for the freedom of their people.
-Only the education of the masses can liberate the people. An educated man cannot be oppressed if he is able to think for himself.
-Virtue and generosity are rewarded in an inscrutable way.
-Denying people their human rights is a challenge to their humanity.
-Non-violence is a good policy when conditions allow it.
-When the water starts to boil it is foolish to put out the fire.
-It is not where you start, but the top of your goals that matters for success.
-There is no such thing as partial freedom.
-Don't judge me by my successes, judge me by the number of times I fell and got up again.
-Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
-You will achieve more in this world through acts of compassion than through acts of retribution.
-One cannot prepare for something while secretly thinking that it will not happen.
-Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill your enemies.
-May your options reflect your hopes, not your fears.
-I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not the one who does not feel fear, but the one who conquers it.
-It is what we do with what we have, not what is given to us, that separates one person from another.
-I am not an optimist, but a great believer in hope.
-Our greatest glory is not to avoid falling, but to get up every time we fall.
-We owe our children a life free of violence and fear.
-Live life as if no one was looking and express yourself as if everyone was listening.
-If you're poor, you probably won't live long.
-By descent, I was born to rule.
-It always seems impossible until you do.
-A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
-A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
-Unlike some politicians, I can admit a mistake.
-We can't afford to kill each other.
-No country can really develop until its citizens are educated.
-We must use time wisely and realize that the moment is always opportune to do the right thing.
-Being free is not just getting rid of one's chains, but living in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
-Everyone can overcome their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated and passionate about what they do.
-There is no passion in playing small - in settling for a life that is less than what you are capable of living.
-Appearances matter, and remember to smile.
-There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged and finding the way in which you have changed.
-It is better to lead from behind and put others in front, especially when celebrating victory when good things happen. Take the front line when there is danger. People will appreciate your leadership.
-One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.
-As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
-If you speak to a man in a language he understands, you get to his head. If you speak to him in his language, you reach his heart.
-I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps trying.
-I have retired, but if there is something that would kill me is to get up in the morning without knowing what to do.
-When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.
-Without education, children cannot face the challenges they will encounter. So it is very important to educate children and explain that they should play a role in their country.
-If you want to make peace with an enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then it becomes your partner.
-I have never worried about individual awards. A person does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning prizes.
-No single person can liberate a country. A country can only be liberated if you act as a collective.
-Peace is the greatest weapon for development that anyone can have.
-Nothing is black or white.
-We forgive but do not forget.
-Abandoning is also leading.
-No one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin, their past, or their religion.
-We know very well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
-What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is the difference we have made in the lives of others that will determine the meaning of the life we lead.
-I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat everyone.
-Meet your enemy and learn about his favorite sport.
-Giving a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS.
-I have been influenced in my thinking by both the West and the East.
-He was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader due to extraordinary circumstances.
-Never, never and never ever experience this beautiful land the oppression of one by the other.
-There are times when a leader must move ahead of the block, go in a new direction, with the confidence that he is leading his people in the right way.
-Fear will not create success, the freedom to overcome it will.
-Only free men can trade. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.
-I hate racism, because I consider it a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.
-I dream of an Africa that is at peace with itself.
-The intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be ready for peace.
-Forget the past.
-I am here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.
-It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.
-I will not leave South Africa, nor will I give up. Only through hardship, sacrifice, and militant action can freedom be won. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.
-Even if you are terminally ill, you don't have to sit back and be depressed. Enjoy life and challenge the disease you have.
-There can be no more intense revelation of the soul of a society than the way it treats its children.
-Our most important challenge is to help establish a social order in which the freedom of the individual really means the freedom of the individual.
-I have sought the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all people live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
-Any man or institution that tries to steal my dignity will lose.
-There are many people who feel that it is useless to continue talking about peace and non-violence against a government whose only response is savage attacks on a defenseless and unarmed people.
-Yesterday I was called a terrorist, but when I got out of jail, many people hugged me, including my enemies, and that is what I usually tell people who say that those who fight for the freedom of their country are terrorists.
-Parents rarely know the romantic side of their children's lives.
-In my country we go to jail first and then we become president.
-A fighter for freedom learns, the hard way, that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle.
-It is easy for people to behave like friends when you are rich, but very few will do the same when you are poor. If wealth is a magnet, poverty is a kind of repellent.
- My dearest ideal is that of a free and democratic society in which we can all live in harmony and with equal possibilities.
-Death is 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 that I have made that effort and that therefore I will rest for all eternity
"If I had the time in my hands I would do the same again, the same as any man who dares to call himself a man would do."
-Sport has the power to transform the world. It has the power to inspire, to bring people together like few other things. It has more capacity than governments to break down racial barriers.
-May all our efforts prove that Martin Luther King was right when he said that humanity cannot continue to be tragically bound in the starless night of racism and war.
-I like friends who have independent thoughts, because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.
-I didn't have a specific belief, except that our cause was just, strong and that it was gaining more and more support.
-Many people in this country have paid a price before me, and many will pay the price after me.
- I have never considered a man as my superior, neither outside, nor inside the jail.
-People have to learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can also be taught to love, love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
-Let the freedom rule. The sun never sets on such glorious human achievement.
-Poverty is not natural, it is created by man and can be overcome and eradicated through the actions of human beings. Eradicating poverty is not an act of charity, it is an act of justice.
-I don't want to be presented in such a way that the black spots in my life are omitted.
-Exercise is key to physical and mental health.
-We all accept the need for some form of socialism that allows our people to reach the advanced countries of the world and overcome their legacy of extreme poverty. But this does not mean that we are Marxists.
-The complaint of Africans is not only that they are poor and whites are rich, but that the laws that are made by whites are designed to preserve this situation.
-Our complaint is not that we are poor compared to people from other countries, but rather that we are poor compared to whites in our own country, and that the legislation prevents us from altering this imbalance.
-We want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent.
-Sounds revolutionary for whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be African. This makes the white man fear democracy.
-The emancipation of all rights results in racial domination.
-The political division, based on color, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group over the other.
-Our struggle is truly national. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a fight for the right to live.
-I have appreciated the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all people live in harmony and with equal opportunities.
-We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts.
-The vision of freedom that looms on the horizon should encourage us to redouble our efforts.
-Only through disciplined mass action can our victory be assured.
-Our march towards freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to get in the way.
-Universal suffrage in a common voting role in a united, democratic and non-racial South Africa; it is the only way to peace and racial harmony.
-I will be 86 in a few weeks and that is a longer life than most people can afford. I am blessed to be in very good health, at least according to my doctors.
-One of the things that made me yearn to go back to jail was that I had so little opportunity to read, think and reflect quietly after my release. I intend, among other things, to give myself many more opportunities for reading and reflection.
-Why in this court do I face a white magistrate, a white prosecutor and a white officer escorted me to the dock?
-Today, all of us, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn freedom.
-The national mood changes as the seasons change.
-Each time one of us touches the soil of this earth, we feel a sense of personal renewal.
-We are excited by a feeling of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom.
-The time for wound healing has come. The time has come to overcome the abysses that divide us. The time to build is before us.
- Fundamentally, I am an optimist. If it comes from nature or if it was developed, I cannot say.
-Part of being optimistic is keeping your head pointed towards the sun and your feet moving forward.
-There were moments when my faith in humanity was put to the test, but I would not and could not abandon myself to despair. That path leads to defeat and death.
-I have walked the long road to freedom. I have tried not to lose heart. I have taken wrong steps along the way.
-I have taken a moment to rest here, to appreciate the beautiful view that surrounds me, to see the distance that I have already covered.
-I can only rest for a moment, because with freedom comes responsibilities, and I don't dare to delay because my long walk is not over yet.
-As I walked out the door that would lead me to freedom, I knew that if I didn't leave bitterness and hatred behind, I would still be in prison.
-The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never make an impact on society if you haven't changed yourself.
-People who build peace are upright, honest and also humble.
-Overcoming poverty is not a work of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural.
-A leader is like a pastor. He stays behind the herd, letting the most agile ones get ahead, while the others continue unaware that they are being led from behind.
-It is said that nobody knows a real nation until it has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its citizens of higher social class, but by how it treats those of lower social classes.
-I am the captain of my own soul.
-During my life, I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination. I have fought against black domination.
-I live for an ideal for which I am willing to die.
-There was no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but an accumulation of challenges, indignations and moments that produced anger, rebellion, a desire to fight against the system that imprisoned my people.
- There was not a particular day in which I said "from now on I will dedicate myself to the liberation of my people." Instead, I found myself doing it and couldn't stop doing it.
-The freedom is indivisible. The chains on any of the people in my town were chains that bound the entire town. The chains in all my town were chains that bound me.
-There is no easy path to freedom, and many of us will pass through the valley of the shadows of death over and over again before reaching the top of the mountain of our desires.
-Sometimes, it falls to a generation to be great. You can be that generation.
-May there be justice for all, may there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let everyone know that their body, mind and soul have been released so that they can be whole.
-Giving up is also a way of guiding.
-Playing safe does not serve the world. Who says you can't be great?
-Without language, you cannot speak to people and understand them. You cannot share his dreams and aspirations, understand his story, appreciate his poetry, or savor his songs.
-Take gentle steps. Breathe easy. Laugh hysterically.
-There is a universal respect and even admiration for people who are humble and simple by nature, and for whom you have absolute confidence in all human beings, regardless of their social status.
-Once a person is determined to save himself, there is nothing that can stop him.
-Music and dance are the things that make me at peace with the world.
-I love playing and chatting with the children, feeding them, telling them a story to make them sleep.
-Being away from my family is something that has bothered me throughout my life.
-I like to be relaxed in my house, reading quietly, inhaling the sweet aroma that comes from the saucepans, sitting at the table with the family and talking with my wife and my children.
-When you cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of being with your family, it is because something valuable has been taken from your life and it is felt in your performance.
-I couldn't imagine that the future I was walking towards could be compared to the past I was leaving behind.
-Success in politics requires that you make other people trust your point of view and make it known clearly, politely, calmly, but openly.
-I always knew that at the bottom of every human heart, there is mercy and generosity.
-Money does not create success, the freedom to do so.
-There are very few misfortunes in this world that cannot be transformed into a personal triumph, if you have a will of steel and the necessary skill.
-I will stand firm to my vote. Never, never under any circumstances, should I say something inappropriate to others.
-Most successful men are prone to some form of vanity. There comes a point in their lives where they think it is acceptable to be selfish and brag about their great achievements.
-Brave people are not afraid to forgive for the sake of peace.
-The revolution is not a question of pulling a trigger. The purpose is to create a just society.
-The victory has shown that all people can dare to dream of wanting to change the world for the better.
-I learned that to humiliate another person is to make them suffer a cruel fate unnecessarily. Even when I was a kid, I would defeat my opponents without disgracing them.
-Resentment is a way of hurting yourself.
-Life tends to force decisions on those who hesitate.
-Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, the son of a miner can become the head of the mine or the son of farm workers can become president of a great nation.
-Especially for those of us who live in individual cells, we have the time to sit and think, and find that just sitting back and thinking is one of the best ways to stay fresh and capable, to be able to face problems and to examine our past.
-I had the opportunity to learn that courage does not consist in not being afraid, but in being able to overcome it. I have been afraid more times than I can remember, but I have always hidden it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not the one who does not feel fear, but the one who is capable of conquering it.
-In cross-country competitions, training is more important than any innate talent, and that allowed me to compensate for my lack of natural aptitudes through discipline and diligence. As a student, I met many young people who had great natural talent, but lacked the discipline and patience to take advantage of it.