When we are talking about the people who have changed the world and dedicated their entire lives to make the world a better place, we should mention Nelson Mandela. He can be considered as one of the most important figures in the 20th century since his fight for the rights of the black people who live in Africa was relentless.
Personal life
He was born on the 18th July in 1918 in Mvezo, Cape Province, in South Africa. He died on the 5th December in 2013 at the age of 95. We should also mention that he has some “royal” blood in him since his patrilineal great-grandfather was the rules of the tribe called Thembu. His father was actually the advisor to the king and it should be added that Nelson’s father was a polygamist and that he believed in the traditional god of his tribe. When he was younger he decided to pursue knowledge and to pursue a career in law. During his studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, he was the only black student and he experienced discrimination and racism in the first hand. His fight officially started when he joined ANC.
Fight for justice
During his lifetime, he was known by his nickname Madiba. He dedicated his life to the fight for the freedom of choice, movement, and life of his fellow black brothers and sisters in South Africa. It should be also noted that he suffered a great sacrifice so that black people in Africa could be free. More precisely, he spent 27 years in prison for the activities and efforts he was performing and all for the purpose of abolishing Apartheid in South Africa.
Quotes
During his lifetime, Nelson Mandela has given a lot of interviews and he has held numerous speeches. During those, we were able to hear a lot of smart things and pieces of wisdom from this man. Let’s see a piece of this in a form of quotes:
1. It is in your hands, to make a better world for all who live in it.
2. When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.
3. It always seems impossible until it’s done.
4. No one is born hating another person because of the color 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.
5. We must strive to be moved by a generosity of spirit that will enable us to outgrow the hatred and conflicts of the past.
6. You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.
7. A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
8. We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
9. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
10. What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.
11. Courage is 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.
12. The greatest glory in living lies not in falling, but in rising every time we fall.
13. Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front.
14. History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.
15. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.
16. For to be free is not merely to cast off ones’ chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
17. Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and Apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.
18. Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.
