Nelson Mandela

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot tell. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.

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.

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.

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

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.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

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.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.

I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.

It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no alternative but to become an outlaw.

There is nothing I fear more than doing nothing, yet that is exactly what I am doing.

Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening.

No one is born hating another person because of the color 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 its opposite.