Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.

I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

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

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

It always seems impossible until its done.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

There is no such thing as part freedom.

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.

Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

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

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.

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.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

Africans require, want, the franchise on the basis of one man one vote. They want political independence.

After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one's person.

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

Apart from life, a strong constitution, and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla.

As an attorney, I could be rather flamboyant in court. I did not act as though I were a black man in a white man's court, but as if everyone else - white and black - was a guest in my court. When trying a case, I often made sweeping gestures and used high-flown language.

As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.

Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.

By ancestry, I was born to rule.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.

Even if you have a terminal disease, you don't have to sit down and mope. Enjoy life and challenge the illness that you have.

Forget the past.

Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS.

I am confident that nobody... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself.

I came across few whites as a boy at Qunu. The local magistrate, of course, was white, as was the nearest shopkeeper. Occasionally, white travelers or policemen passed through our area. These whites appeared as grand as gods to me, and I was aware that they were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect.

I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world.