Nelson Mandela

Tread softly, Breathe peacefully, Laugh hysterically.

The greatest glory in living lies in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

When you’ve got them by their wallets, their hearts and minds will follow.

Loyalty is still the same, whether it win or lose the game; true as a dial to the sun, although it be not shined upon.

As a rule, adversity reveals genius and prosperity hides it.

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.

Believing that I was born for the service of mankind, and regarding the care of the commonwealth as a kind of common property which, like the air and the water, belongs to everybody, I set myself to consider in what way mankind might be best served, and what service I was myself best fitted by nature to perform.

Surely life, if it be not long, is tedious, since we are forced to call in the assistance of so many trifles to rid us of our time, of that time which never can return.

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

Man – a creature made at the end of the week’s work when God was tired.

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.

All Excess is ill: But Drunkenness is of the worst Sort. It spoils Health, dismounts the Mind, and unmans Men: It reveals Secrets, is Quarrelsome, Lascivious, Impudent, Dangerous and Mad. In fine, he that is drunk is not a Man: Because he is so long void of Reason, that distinguishes a Man from a Beast.

Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Moms. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingrained opinions, but generally act according to custom.

There is no daily chore so trivial that it cannot be made important by skipping it two days running.

If people misunderstand you, do not worry…it is your voice that they hear, but what goes through their mind is…their own thoughts.

Death is the king of this world: ‘Tis his park where he breeds life to feed him. Cries of pain are music for his banquet.