Mandela Quotes – Wisdom for Inspiration and Reflection

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

Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

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

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

There is no such thing as part freedom.

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

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

I am the captain of my soul.

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

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

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

Respect for oneself and for others is what peace is all about.

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

One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

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.

Mandela Quotes – Wisdom for Inspiration and Reflection part 2

Friends, comrades, and fellow South Africans. I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy, and freedom for all.

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.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.

Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

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

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.

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

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward.

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.

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

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.

Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.

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

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.