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

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" I have been influenced in my thinking by both west and east. "

" I realized quickly what Mandela and Tambo meant to ordinary Africans. It was a place where they could come and find a sympathetic ear and a competent ally, a place where they would not be either turned away or cheated, a place where they might actually feel proud to be represented by men of their own skin color. "

" Forget the past. "

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

" 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. "

" Without education, your children can never really meet the challenges they will face. So it's very important to give children education and explain that they should play a role for their country. "

" Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. "

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

" It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea. "

" It always seems impossible until it's done. "

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

" I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites. "

" My son has died of AIDS. "

" 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. "

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

" There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty. "

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

" When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer. "

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

" There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile to continue talking about peace and non-violence against a government whose only reply is savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people. "

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

" I was first imprisoned in Pretoria, and then, thereafter, I was taken to Robben Island. I stayed there for a couple of weeks. I was taken back to Pretoria when I was charged in the Rivonia trial, when I was then sent to Robben Island for life. "

" I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. "

" You know, you can only lead them from behind. "

" On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. "

" 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. "

" I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people. "

" 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. "

" People respond in accordance to how you relate to them. If you approach them on the basis of violence, that's how they'll react. But if you say, 'We want peace, we want stability,' we can then do a lot of things that will contribute towards the progress of our society. "