At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.

— Nelson Mandela

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up

— Nelson Mandela

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

— Nelson Mandela

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

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.

— Nelson Mandela

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

— Nelson Mandela

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

— Nelson Mandela

Crime must be brought under control... Freedom without civility, freedom without the ability to live in peace, was not true freedom at all.

— Nelson Mandela

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?

— Nelson Mandela

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

— Nelson Mandela