Former South African president Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 and died December 5, 2013. As a young lawyer in Johannesburg in the 1950s, Mandela began to protest against apartheid in South Africa. In 1964 he was trialled for “sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy” and sentenced to life in prison. He became a famous symbol of resistance, when opposition to apartheid grew inside and outside of South Africa. He was released from prison on February 11, 1990 and then led the peaceful reconciliation process by which apartheid was dismantled. He left politics in 1999 and became known as an author, elder statesman and advocate of peaceful conflict resolution.
Here are a few quotes from this great man to inspire and make you think:
1. “Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
2. “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
3. “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.”
4. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
5. “There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
6. “There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.”
7. “It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”
8. “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.”
9. “The greatest glory of living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.”
10. “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.”
Sven Franssen