NELSON MANDELA QUOTES

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is a great leader because of the leadership education that he received from his youth. Many think that this is only accessible through the walls of a classroom or a professional.

But if you are brought up by great giants who live quiet lives and never receive lifetime achievements from great institutions - but rather see their lifetime achievements through those they have groomed and taught with patience through their lifetime - the gratitude of those souls will make your contribution to the world - though anonymous - a lasting legacy. Here are great quotes from one of the best statesmen that the world has seen - partake of his wisdom gained through experience and imparted from those quiet gentle giants that walk inconspicuously amongst us.



  • "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."
  • "When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat."
  • "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."
  • "There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
  • "A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special."
  • "Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished"
  • "Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves."
  • "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."
  • "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."
  • "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 it's opposite."
  • "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
  • "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner."
  • "It always seems impossible until its done."
  • "It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."
  • "Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement."
  • "Freedom would be meaningless without security in the home and in the streets."
  • "Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated."
  • "There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires."
  • "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
  • "There is no such thing as part freedom."
  • "Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will."
  • "Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?"
  • "There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."
  • "I learned that courage was 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."
  • "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."
  • "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."
SOURCES: Entrepreneurship Magazine and Nelson Mandela.com