I don't know him but I love him

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