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I was able to change my life by knowing that if somebody does something good for you, you have to respond.

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
Doe
Able
Something
Good
Life
Respond
Somebody
Knowing
Change

More quotes by Nelson Mandela

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Racism is a blight on the human conscience. The idea that any people can be inferior to another, to the point where those who consider themselves superior define and treat the rest as subhuman, denies the humanity even of those who elevate themselves to the status of gods.
Nelson Mandela
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There is little favorable to be said about poverty, but it was often an incubator of true friendship. Many people will appear to befriend you when you are wealthy, but precious few will do the same when you are poor. If wealth is a magnet, poverty is a kind of repellent. Yet, poverty often brings out the true generosity in others.
Nelson Mandela
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I've found that South Africa has produced good leaders. These are people who realize that when there is danger, they should be in the forefront and when there is victory to be celebrated, they should be in the background, allowing their colleagues and the ordinary civilians - the man in the street - to rejoice and to celebrate that victory.
Nelson Mandela
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We have introduced a rule of law into many sections of our public life.
Nelson Mandela
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No power on this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity
Nelson Mandela
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Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.
Nelson Mandela
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Of course we desire education and we think it is a good thing, but you don't have to have education in order to know that you want certain fundamental rights, you have got aspirations, you have got acclaims. It has nothing to do with education whatsoever.
Nelson Mandela
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If you are poor, you are not likely to live long.
Nelson Mandela
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Both Bush as well, as Tony Blair, are undermining an idea which was sponsored by their predecessors. They do not care. Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations [Ghanaian Kofi Annan] is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white.
Nelson Mandela
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There is an absence of democratic accountability and control in every sphere of government and the state. To address this debilitating legacy requires determined action and a deep commitment to transforming our society from a crisis ridden present into something all South Africans can be truly proud of.
Nelson Mandela
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Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.
Nelson Mandela
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Thinking too well of people often allows them to be better than they otherwise would.
Nelson Mandela
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No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.
Nelson Mandela
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We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.
Nelson Mandela
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I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.
Nelson Mandela
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It is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education.
Nelson Mandela
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I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
Nelson Mandela
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You sharpen your ideas by reducing yourself to the level of the people you are with and a sense of humour and a complete relaxation, even when you're discussing serious things, does help to mobilise friends around you. And I love that.
Nelson Mandela
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Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strenthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.
Nelson Mandela
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Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.
Nelson Mandela