Factbox – Nelson Mandela in his own words
Following are notable quotations by former South African President Nelson Mandela.
“For
my own part I have made my choice. I will not leave South Africa, nor
will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action
can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting
for freedom until the end of my days.” – ANC press statement, June 26,
1961
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“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to
this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white
domination, and I have fought against black domination.
“I have
cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all
persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
“It
is an ideal which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my lord,
if needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” – speech at
treason trial, April 20, 1964
- – - -
“I stand here before
you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your
tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here
today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.” –
on release from prison, February 11, 1990
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“It will
forever remain an indelible blight on human history that the apartheid
crime ever occurred. Future generations will surely ask: What error was
made that this system established itself in the wake of the adoption of a
universal declaration of human rights?
“It will forever remain an
accusation and a challenge to all men and women of conscience that it
took as long as it has before all of us stood up to say ‘enough is
enough’.” – to U.N. Special Committee against Apartheid, June 22, 1990
- – - -
“The
time for the healing of the wounds has come … the moment to bridge the
chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.” – on
inauguration as President of South Africa, May 10, 1994
- – - -
“No
one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or
his background or his religion. 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.” – from his 1994
autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”
“It would be a cruel irony of history if Africa’s actions to
regenerate the continent were to unleash a new scramble for Africa
which, like that of the nineteenth century, plundered the continent’s
wealth and left it once more the poorer.” – to the Oxford Centre for
Islamic Studies, July 11, 1997
- – - -
“What counts in life
is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have
made to the lives of others that determines the significance of the life
we lead.” – on the 90th birthday of Walter Sisulu, May 18, 2002
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“I think the United States has become drunk with power” – from documentary “Mandela: The Living Legend”, 2003
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“We
live in a world where knowledge and information have made enormous
strides, yet millions of children are not in school. We live in a world
where the AIDS pandemic threatens the very fabric of our lives.
“Yet
we spend more money on weapons than on ensuring treatment and support
for the millions infected by HIV. It is a world of great promise and
hope. It is also a world of despair, disease and hunger.” – at Live 8
concert in Johannesburg, July 2, 2005
- – - -
“Like slavery
and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is people who have made
poverty and tolerated poverty, and it is people who will overcome it.” –
on being named Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience, 2006
- – - -
“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’.” –
1999
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Source: Reuters
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