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I went as an observer, not a participant, for I do not think that I ever spoke. I wanted to understand the issues under discussion, evaluate the arguments, see the calibre of the men involved.

Nelson Mandela

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Nelson Mandela
Age: 95 †
Born: 1918
Born: July 18
Died: 2013
Died: December 5
Autobiographer
Former President Of South Africa
Lawyer
Political Activist
Political Prisoner
Politician
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Mandela
Prisoner 46664
Madiba
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More quotes by Nelson Mandela

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An organisation can only carry out its mandate if there is discipline, and where there is no discipline there can be no real progress
Nelson Mandela
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We cannot proclaim this century the African Century and then ignore the AIDS pandemic, as some political leaders are apt to do. To claim this century the African Century is to declare war on AIDS.
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I enjoyed the discipline and solitariness of long-distance running, which allowed me to escape from the hurly-burly of school life.
Nelson Mandela
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One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.
Nelson Mandela
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Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.
Nelson Mandela
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I cannot and will not give any undertaking at a time when I, and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
Nelson Mandela
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I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites.
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The majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organization and people can only culminate in the establishment of democracy.
Nelson Mandela
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Today we are a nation at peace with itself, united in our diversity, not only proclaiming but living out the contention that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. We take our place amongst the nations of the world, confident and proud in being an African country.
Nelson Mandela
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When I walked out of the gate I knew that if I continued to hate these people I was still in prison.
Nelson Mandela
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Freedom alone is not enough without light to read at night, without time or access to water to irrigate your farm, without the ability to catch fish to feed your family.
Nelson Mandela
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Fools multiply when wise men are silent.
Nelson Mandela
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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.
Nelson Mandela
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I am confident that nobody... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself.
Nelson Mandela
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Adversity cleanses the lethargies of man
Nelson Mandela
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There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela
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I was neglected by my family because I had disappointed them - I'd run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them.
Nelson Mandela
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For me, survival is the ability to cope with difficulties, with circumstances, and to overcome them.
Nelson Mandela
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Disasters will always come and go, leaving their victims either completely broken or steeled and seasoned and better able to face the next crop of challenges that may occur.
Nelson Mandela
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Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.
Nelson Mandela