That was one of the things that worried me – to be raised to the position of a semi-god – because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed, but never the less, sometimes he fails to live up to expectations.

Political division, based on color, is entirely artificial; and when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group by another.

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.

The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.

Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly? All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil.

The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.

One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.