77 Greatest Nelson Mandela Quotes Of All Time

Nelson Mandela is a very great man. He is the only one in the world that has fought against apartheid and still lives in a free country. So he has a strong message for people to follow.

The definition of a real man is a man who’s not content with doing something easy, but wants to do everything he can to make a difference in the world.

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

77 Greatest Nelson Mandela Quotes

With a good head, one makes wise decisions and has good intentions, while with a good heart, one is kind.

In the face of crisis, whether it be an actual crisis or an existential crisis, we can adapt, we can grow, and we can face whatever comes our way.

This was Mandela’s reaction to the fact that, in South Africa, the first step to becoming President was to be incarcerated for 20 years.

When people don’t change themselves, they end up changing others around them. It’s important to keep yourself balanced, especially in business.

The greatest thing is to be a person – an original. I have the ambition to be the best person I can be.

When things are really tough and there is danger, it is better to get the people who are in charge to get them out in the front so that people respect you.

There could be extremists in all sides, or there could be extremists on both sides – you could make a case for both. That’s the job of an historian: to tell the truth, whatever it is, regardless of the side to which he or she belongs.

Mandela was a very good human being. You can also think of someone who is not so good. This thought leads to the notion of Goodness. This is a quality that is in every human being and can also be found in any natural surroundings and plants. Then there is the concept of Forgiveness. Mandela would forgive those who have hurt him, his family or friends. You can find this notion in people who are very kind, forgiving, and sympathetic.

I am aware that Nelson Mandela suffered a lot under Apartheid in South Africa. It must have been difficult for him.

The chains that hold any of my people are the chains of each and every one of them. The chains of all my people are the chains that bind me.

It seems that one of the most important things in life is to forgive. As I recall from my youth, it was said, “You don’t forgive somebody until you’ve been hurt by them.” I think this quote says it all. I like this quote because it’s easy to remember, but at the same time, it’s a huge challenge to overcome something like anger. Forgiveness is the way to go.

12th of 77 Nelson Mandela Quotes

Be afraid, even if you are afraid to feel afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

You may be feeling like there are too many people in the world.
The world may feel like it’s too big for us to handle.
But no matter how big the world gets,
our hearts always know what to do.

Â Mandela said that resentment is like drinking a toxic solution and then hoping that it will kill your enemies.

The past will not be forgiven unless we forgive the past in each other. There are so many opportunities to do much more good in our world today, and as a community we can be very generous to others.

17th Nelson Mandela Quote

In order to be victorious you need to be persistent and never give up!

Nelson felt that racialism is an ugly thing, and it must be banished from the world. He believed that all people are equal no matter what color they are.

It is your duty, as members of one humanity, to make a better world for all of us to live in.

Mandela said that, “Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.” Mandela was a leader who did not allow fear to overcome him. He also did not let his fear stand in the way of achieving what he wanted to do.

I know that there were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair.

It is sad that greed and power have turned brother against brother.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with them. Then they become your partner.

24th of 77 Nelson Mandela Quotes

There will never be a true justice for the Palestinian people until Israel is forced to the negotiating table.

It is one of the important marks of a good person to attend to small things and to appreciate small courtesies.

The political transition will happen because the South Africans want to be a democracy.

Nelson Mandela was a great leader of people, and he listened to the people. He listened to the people for whom he was leading, and to the people in all countries. He listened to the African people and the people of all nations.

The great man had a clear sense of what freedom was about and was determined to give his life to fighting for it. He understood that people were far more important than awards and he would give it his all to show the world what he believed was right.

This is how we treat others. We have to learn to have compassion for others. We cannot expect others to be compassionate to us if we are not.

I believe in the words of Nelson Mandela: Poverty is not natural. We don’t have to have it. It is our responsibility to overcome it, not a matter of charity.

As you might know, there is a lot of talk about how we must fix a lot of the things that went wrong.

A man is never more truthful than at the moment he acknowledges that he is lying.

Nelson Mandela believed that everyone has a gift from nature that makes them special; that we all have something that makes us different. And he was absolutely right. If we are lucky we can learn from the special gifts of others. And they too have gifts they can share with us.

34th Nelson Mandela Quote

To do something that someone says can’t be done is called “impossible.” But, it is really easy, if you try.

All prisoners are free to enter into contracts. However, the only agreements that prisoners can make must be free.

There is no such thing as freedom without social justice.

Nelson Mandela believed that mercy and compassion is an essential element of a peaceful world – one of the biggest reasons for peace.

Freedom to be free is not only the freedom to cast off your chains. It’s also the freedom to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of yourself and others.

I’ll try to look at poverty as a magnet so that more people want to help others. I will also try to look at it as a repellent so that no one wants to be poor. I don’t think that poverty brings out people’s true generosity, but it does bring out a lot of selfish, greedy people.

I think this is a lot to say about the fact that one of the most important people to ever be a citizen of the United States of America is sitting behind me and doing an interview with me.

We have lost a great man. His death leaves us feeling deeply sad. Many of us, even those who did not know him, have had a personal relationship with him.

When a person is denied the freedom to live the life he/she believes in, they have no choice but to become an outlaw.

You don’t have to face your fears to move forward. Facing your fears is actually the biggest obstacle. It’s human nature. We don’t want to face our fears. We don’t want to deal with them.

Mandela had known what was going on in the world. He knew about the evils of apartheid in South Africa. He also knew the evils of communism in Europe and the Soviet Union. He knew that these were evils, and that they needed to be stopped.

The names of all those who have left this world and are no more are left behind. Their names will be remembered for eternity.

46th of 77 Nelson Mandela Quotes

We can’t control the outcome of any interaction, so the best we can do is to act in such a way that we’re most likely to get the results we want.

I must use my time wisely and always realize that the time will be always ripe to do right.

The issue with any society is that people keep trying to get more out of it than it was created to give. The world wasn’t created just to make us more comfortable, it was created to show us what is real and what is truth.

At a time when most people turned their back, you befriended me and made me feel like family.

I was working at a factory, toiling away making products that people use and wear. I had to study hard, become a trained machine operator, and then eventually I would be able to become a head of a business, which meant I would be able to build a better life for myself and my children.

Mandela’s legacy lives on in a sense that he was the only black president in modern history. He also has a special place in the hearts of people from many different backgrounds around the world.

When you’re not afraid of your convictions, then you can’t be afraid of your opponents.
Your opponents will not be able to defeat you if you are sure of yourself.

“Every community in our country has a fundamental right to be alive from fear,” says Nelson Mandela.

54th Nelson Mandela Quote

Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful country will again experience oppression of one by another and never again shall it be that people from other tribes, other parts of the country will be persecuted.

We are all afraid of what lies ahead. We are more afraid of our fears. Courage is doing what scares us, but we need to live with the results, or we will live forever in our fears. Fear, however, is never an excuse.

I have lived. I have lived a good life. It has been a decent life. I have lived a life of service. I have done nothing to the world.

We are liberated from our own fears and our presence automatically liberates others.

I spent my whole life dreaming of an age of equality in which the problems we face will be solved and our wildest hopes will be fulfilled.

The majority of the people were poor and oppressed for years and years, and all of a sudden, a man that nobody thought would ever lead was standing up and getting ready to take part in a movement to create an un-free environment for all people. He became a hero to all people around the world because of that one simple thing.

61st of 77 Nelson Mandela Quotes

Many people are afraid to make people jealous. But, in the long run, jealousy is a good thing. And what does it say either way? Love is more natural (and it’s okay to want others to feel better than you). If someone doesn’t feel better than you, that’s a good thing. It shows you’re a good person.

We don’t want freedom without our own bread; we don’t want bread without freedom.

A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred. We are locked behind the bars of prejudice, and narrow mindedness.

I’m sure that if you are living a life of struggle and oppression and hate, you don’t know to what you will aspire.

This is a quote from Nelson Mandela that will inspire people and guide them in any situation that is faced. It will help them to do their duty in a better way by changing their mindset and attitude.

“I think the most important fear we have is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure,” Nelson Mandela.

The world is not going to remain unchanged. It’s going to change. Change can affect different people differently. Each person can react differently. The world is going to keep on changing, but the ways in which we react, the ways in which we handle things, the way in which we think about it, that’s going to be a different thing.

Nelson Mandela was speaking about the old South African laws and how they helped to keep the government in power.

I agree, I think that a language can be used to manipulate the emotions of a person. It depends on what language is being used. It does not matter which language you use, I think that it will have an effect on the listener, you will see the same results.

It is the right of all people, to live in dignity, and in the words of Nelson Mandela, “you don’t have to have education in order to know that you want certain fundamental rights, you have got aspirations, you have got claims”.

71st Nelson Mandela Quote

Being strong is just one of many skills you are going to learn at church.

The world is a complicated place with many competing interests. To try to deal with it all at once is not wise. Instead, we must start small, gradually building momentum with each effort. It may be easier to do a single thing that will generate immediate results than it is to do a hundred little things that take time but may result in huge returns.

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

My own customs are a custom and there are customs I will follow. I will neither impose my own customs on others nor follow any practice which will offend my comrades.

If you’re not free to make your own success, someone else will come along and take it.

I was so happy that the people of India got rid of the British that I didn’t even care that they made me a dictator of their country.

We have already died but that which we collectively contributed to our collective national identity will live forever.