Quotes from Nelson Mandela

We can't win a war, but we can win an election.

My son has died of AIDS.

There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty.

From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

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

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

Hating clouds the mind. It gets in the way of strategy. Leaders cannot afford to hate

We must nurture tolerance, collective wisdom, and democracy.

In many respects, people on the outside suffered more than those of us in jail. In prison, we ate three times a day, we had clothing, we had free medical services, and we could sleep for 12 hours.

Fools multiply when wise men are silent.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

There is nothing more dangerous than a humiliated man.

Resentment is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die.

The relations between a man and his or her god is a personal matter; you can't go out and challenge the belief of people in a superior being.

No one is born hating another person... 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.

There are leaders who know that however furious the debate, there are good men and women in all population groups - amongst blacks, amongst whites, and amongst Afrikaans and English speaking people.

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

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

There will be life after Mandela. On my last day I want to know that those who remain behind will say: 'The man who lies here has done his duty for his country and his people.'

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.

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.

The United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate repercussions long after the decisions were taken.