I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.
The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.
History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.
I discovered even before I went to jail that apartheid was not run by people who were monolithic in their approach. Some of them didn’t even believe in apartheid.
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.
It is important to not be hostile to what a greater part of society has embraced, whether as Christians, Hindus or Muslims. It is important to respect that because whether you believe or not in the existence of a superior being, humanity does believe in that.
The question of education has nothing to do with the question of the vote. On numerous occasions it has been proved in history that people can enjoy the vote even if they have no education.
Individuals get caught up in the policy of their country. In prison, for instance, a warden or officer is not promoted if he doesn’t follow the policy of the government – though he himself does not believe in that policy.
Other people have qualities that may be better than your own. Let them express them.
The message of reconciliation, of nation-building, of granting amnesty, indemnity, has struck a powerful, favorable chord. And people can understand that we’re here not for purposes of retribution but to forget the past and to build our country.
My time in prison only deepened my resolve against apartheid. Even while I was in prison, I fought against it, teaching my cellmates about white supremacy and how to fight against it.
The laws that stopped blacks from voting were the worst, because they prevented blacks from voting someone into parliament who could change the other laws. Even though the blacks were the majority of the population, they were still not getting a say.
I told my cellmates about the oppression of the whites and apartheid. I helped organize hunger strikes and the like in my prison.
There sit our sons”, he said, “young, healthy and handsome, the flower of the Xhosa tribe, the pride of our nation. We are here to promise them manhood, but it is an empty promise because we Xhosas and all black South Africans, are a conquered people.
In South Africa, to be poor and black was normal, to be poor and white was a tragedy.
It never hurts to see the good in someone, they often act the better because of it.
But as I got closer to the car that would take me away, I realized that when I went through that gate, if I still hated them, they would still have me. I wanted to be free. And so I let it go.