South African Quotes

I hate writing about personal stuff. I don't have a Facebook page. I don't use my Twitter account. I am familiar with both, but I don't use them.

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.

When I walked out of the gate I knew that if I continued to hate these people I was still in prison.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

It is not a question of patronizing philanthropy towards disabled people. They do not need the patronage of the non-disabled. It is not for them to adapt to the dominant and dominating world of the so-called non-disabled. It is for us to adapt our understanding of a common humanity; to learn of the richness of how human life is diverse; to recognize the presence of disability in our human midst as an enrichment of our diversity.

America is the spirit of human exploration distilled.

I'm reasonably optimistic about the future, especially the future of the United States - for the century, at least.

I am tired of all these golfers who are happy with second place. The only one who will like you if you come in second place is your wife and your dog. And that is only if you have a good wife and a good dog.

At the southern tip of the continent, a rich reward is in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation, for those who suffered in the name of all humanity when they sacrificed everything - for liberty, peace, human dignity and human fulfillment.The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because of the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise.

That's my lesson for taking a vacation: vacation will kill you.

Artists reach areas far beyond the reach of politicians. Art, especially entertainment and music, is understood by everybody, and it lifts the spirits and the morale of those who hear it.

A real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that at the end of the debate we should emerge stronger and more united than ever before.

While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.

The victory of democracy in South Africa is the common achievement of all humanity.

I would like to be remembered not as anyone unique or special, but as part of a great team in this country that has struggled for many years, for decades and even centuries. The greatest glory of living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.

When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?

There are many people who enjoy animal based foods and who have no interest in changing the way they eat. And as you correctly pointed out, animal products are an integral part of some ethnic groups and societies and it would be nearly impossible for them to change thousands of years of traditional eating habits.

I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.

Perhaps the most important thing I can tell you about equipment is to experiment and keep an open mind.

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

I don't think there is much history can say about me. I just want to be remembered as part of that collective.

What has sustained me even in the most grim moments is the knowledge that I am a member of a tried and tested family which has triumphed over many difficulties.

I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me.

Racism is a blight on the human conscience

We must nurture tolerance, collective wisdom, and democracy.

A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.

I just want to retire before I go senile because if I don't retire before I go senile, then I'll do more damage than good at that point.

With freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not ended yet.

Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people.

For me, survival is the ability to cope with difficulties, with circumstances, and to overcome them.

Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.

There is absolutely nothing humorous at the Masters. Here, small dogs do not bark and babies do not cry.

No one in my family had ever attended school [...] On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea.

The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.

Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation

No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.

Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive and determination of the people who do it as it is about the product they sell.

You can always speak with great authority on how well you played today, but never on how you'll play tomorrow.

Many things are improbable, only a few are impossible.

When we decided to take up arms, it was because the only other choice was to surrender and to submit to slavery.

The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced - between the unpalatable and the inedible.

We understand and promote the notion that while children need to be guided they also have an entrenched right to be whatever they want to be and that they can achieve this only if they are given the space to dream and live out their dreams.

The time is always right to do right

That loss was to breed an independence, a toughness of spirit, and an awareness of adversity and discipline that have never left me,.

When you play the game for fun, it's fun. When you play it for a living, it's a game of sorrows.

I think it's important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy. [With analogy] we are doing this because it's like something else that was done, or it is like what other people are doing. [With first principles] you boil things down to the most fundamental truths…and then reason up from there.

There is nobody more dangerous than one who has been humiliated, even when you humiliate him rightly.

Soccer is one of the most unifying activities amongst us.

I am convinced that floods of personal disaster can never drown a determined revolutionary nor can the cumulus of misery that accompanies tragedy suffocate him.

If you are going to keep company with me, don't embarrass me.

People often mistake technology for a static picture. It's less like a picture and more like a movie. It's the velocity of technology innovation that matters. It's the acceleration.

If you are negotiating you must do so in a spirit of reconciliation, not from the point of view of issuing ultimatums.

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

Going from PayPal, I thought: 'Well, what are some of the other problems that are likely to most affect the future of humanity?' Not from the perspective, 'What's the best way to make money?'

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

Starting a business is not for everyone. Starting a business - I'd say, number one is have a high pain threshold.

A strong mind is one of the key components that separates the great from the good.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

Sports have the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope, where there was once only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. Sports is the game of lovers.

If there is one thing in this planet that has the power to bind people it is soccer.