Mandela at his best - Top 10 quotes : Long Walk to Freedom

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Mandela at his best - Top 10 quotes

Mandela - An institution

South Africa`s first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela died on December 05. The Nobel laureate was 95.

While the world mourns for Madiba, here’s an attempt to spread his light - pearls of wisdom from the great man.

On Success

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

King of Good Head and Good Heart

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special."

Colour Doesn`t Matter

“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.”

Madiba - The Great Leader

"When there is danger, a good leader takes the front line; but when there is celebration, a good leader stays in the back of the room."

Search Your Soul

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

Madiba - By Heart

"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."

On Education

"No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated. Educating ourselves is a way to give ourselves the most powerful weapon for freedom . . . the more informed you are, the less arrogant and aggressive you are."

On Peace

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

On Freedom

"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."

Long Walk to Freedom

"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."

Supriya Jha