I have
finished reading the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ which was long overdue. I find it impossible
not to love this man!
Here are
some of my favourite quotes from the book (not all of it are quotes from Nelson
Mandela):
§ “Exercise dissipates tension, and
tension is the enemy of serenity”.
§ “…education was the enemy of
prejudice”.
§ “Black by nature, proud by choice”.
§ “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”.
§ “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 its opposite”.
§ “Man’s goodness is a flame that can
be hidden but never extinguished”.
§ A quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“It is wise to persuade people to do things and
make them think it is their own idea”.
§ And the concept of “Ubuntu” in African culture – it comes
from the Zulu proverb “Umuntu ngumuntu
ngabantu” which means a person is a person through other people; people are
empowered by other people; that we become our best selves through unselfish
interaction with others
