About Nelson Mandela:

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

i love playing and chatting with children...feeding and putting them to bed with a little story, and being away from the family has troubled me throughout my...life. i like relaxing at the house, reading quietly, taking in the sweet smell that comes ...

Nelson Mandela

There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status.

Nelson Mandela

I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with t...

Nelson Mandela

Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

Nelson Mandela

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela

I wondered--not for the first time--whether one was ever justified in neglecting the welfare of one's own family in order to fight for the welfare of others. Can there be anything more important than looking after one's aging mother? Is politics mere...

Nelson Mandela

When you are young and strong...you can stay alive on your hatred"....but realized later "They can take everything from me except my mind and heart" Nelson Mandela from Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela

Ik heb altijd gevonden dat lichaamsbeweging niet alleen de sleutel is tot fysieke gezondheid, maar ook tot gemoedsrust. [...] Lichaamsbeweging verdrijft spanning en spanning is de vijand van sereniteit.

Nelson Mandela

I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that im...

Nelson Mandela

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and apsirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry or savour their songs. I again realized that we were not different people with separate langua...

Nelson Mandela

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.

Nelson Mandela

A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

Nelson Mandela

A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it's lowest ones

Nelson Mandela

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sore...

Nelson Mandela

Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you,...

Nelson Mandela

Sabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality.

Nelson Mandela

It always seems impossible until its done.

Nelson Mandela

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

Nelson Mandela

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

Nelson Mandela

Let us give publicity to H.I.V./AIDS and not hide it, because the only way to make it appear like a normal illness like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and say somebody has died because of H.I.V./AIDS, and people will stop regarding it as some...

Nelson Mandela

Author Bio

NameNelson Mandela
Descriptionformer President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist
AliasesNelson Rolihlahla Mandela; Mandela; Madiba
BornJuly 18, 1918
DiedDecember 5, 2013
CountrySouth Africa
ProfessionPolitician; Autobiographer
AwardsJawaharlal Nehru Award For International Understanding; Nobel Peace Prize; Honorary Companion Of The Order Of Australia; Grandmaster Of The Order Of Good Hope; Platinum Order Of Mapungubwe; Gold Olympic Order; Order Of Lenin; Princess Of Asturias Award For International Cooperation; Presidential Medal Of Freedom; Order Of The Aztec Eagle; Order Of The Elephant; Order Of The Gold Lion Of The House Of Nassau; Grand Cross Of The National Order Of Mali; Knight Grand Cross Of The Order Of St. Olav?; Royal Order Of The Seraphim; Order Of Prince Yaroslav The Wise; Order Of Merit; Venerable Order Of Saint John; Honorary Canadian Citizenship; Lenin Peace Prize; Sakharov Prize; Honorary Companion Of The Order Of Canada; Order Of Isabella The Catholic; Order Of Augusto César Sandino; Mo Ibrahim Prize For Achievement In African Leadership; Bruno Kreisky Award; Companion Of The Order Of Canada; Order Of St. Olav; United Nations Prize In The Field Of Human Rights; Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize; Order Of Australia; Four Freedoms Award - Freedom Medal; Philadelphia Liberty Medal; Bharat Ratna; Al-Gaddafi International Prize For Human Rights; Giuseppe Motta Medal; Arthur Ashe Courage Award; Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize; Ahimsa Award; Delta Prize For Global Understanding

Quotes by Nelson Mandela

About Nelson Mandela:

Author Bio