Nelson Mandela

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

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.

Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.

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

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

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

I have thought of a pulley to raise me gradually; but that would give me pain, as it would counteract my natural inclination. I would have something that can dissipate the inertia and give elasticity to the muscles. We can heat the body, we can cool it; we can give it tension or relaxation; and surely it is possible to bring it into a state in which rising from bed will not be a pain.

Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.

Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.

Shallow people believe in luck and in circumstances; Strong people believe in cause and effect.

Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.

Live as brave men and face adversity with stout hearts.

How much of human life is lost in waiting.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.

Common sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for we all think we possess a good share of it.

Girls, like men, want to be petted, pitied, and made much of, when they are diffident, in low spirits, or in unrequited love. These are services which the weak cannot render to the strong and which the strong will not render to the weak, except when there is also a difference of sex.

You bring out the be(a)st in me. Polarized tension, a raw slash of claw, swathed softly in love. A peace of my mind in tumultuous chaotic razor-sharp clarity, impulsive wit to wisdom, mixing addictive shots of cocktail emotions in a full-spectrum experience.

Ahh, that mountain of self-discovery. Every time you have reached the summit, the clouds clear and you see there is still a ways to go. Don’t look up with thoughts of despair; thinking how much further do I have to go?! Take a moment and look back to see how far you have come. Don’t lose sight of your accomplishments, and focus on the continued commitment to self-discovery and development.

To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.

Trust instinct to the end, even though you can give no reason.