I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that are all the catalysts for real change.
The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced – between the unpalatable and the inedible.
I am convinced that floods of personal disaster can never drown a determined revolutionary nor can the cumulus of misery that accompanies tragedy suffocate him.
Apart from life, a strong constitusion and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla.
We can’t win a war, but we can win an election.
We don’t have to be victims of our past, that we can let go of our bitterness, and that all of us can achieve greatness.
The truth is we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free.
I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate. Even as a boy, I defeated my opponents without dishonoring them.
Disasters will always come and go, leaving their victims either completely broken or steeled and seasoned and better able to face the next crop of challenges that may occur.
The United States of America is a threat to world peace.
With freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not ended yet.
Through its imperialist system Britain brought about untold suffering of millions of people. And this is an historical fact. To be able to admit this would increase the respect, you know, which we have for British institutions.
Our society needs to re-establish a culture of caring.
History and the generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks.
I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours. Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.
The time has come to accept in our hearts and minds that with freedom comes responsibility.
We cannot proclaim this century the African Century and then ignore the AIDS pandemic, as some political leaders are apt to do. To claim this century the African Century is to declare war on AIDS.
When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both.
It is also the fate of leadership to be misunderstood. It is a grave error for any leader to be oversensitive in the face of criticism, to conduct discussions as if he or she is a schoolmaster talking to less informed and inexperienced learners.
We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.