It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front.
I went as an observer, not a participant, for I do not think that I ever spoke. I wanted to understand the issues under discussion, evaluate the arguments, see the calibre of the men involved.
I enjoyed the discipline and solitariness of long-distance running, which allowed me to escape from the hurly-burly of school life.
Justice and I became friends, though we were opposites in many ways – he was extroverted, I was introverted; he was lighthearted, I was serious.
A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars.
If you want to preach a revolutionary message, wear a suit.
Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself.
Even if you have a terminal disease, you don’t have to sit down and mope. Enjoy life and challenge the illness that you have.
I have retired, but if there’s anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do.
I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination...
Each of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.
I have always endeavoured to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion.
We now undertake that we cannot rest while millions of our people suffer the pain and indignity of poverty in all its forms.
Education has become a very powerful weapon in the struggle to produce a well-developed person.
You have a limited time to stay on earth. You must try to use that period for the purpose of transforming your country into what you desire it to be: a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist country. And that is a great task.
I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses. We must never forget that it is our duty to protect this environment.
We can’t afford to be killing one another.
Children are the most important asset in a country. For them to become that asset, they must receive education and love from their parents.
Our people outside of prison used my name to mobilize the community locally and internationally. But for me to be treated separately from my colleagues, who had contributed as much as and even more than I had, would have been a betrayal of them.
I know that, throughout the world, there are good men and women concerned with the greatest challenges facing society today – poverty, illiteracy, and disease.