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.

My respect for human beings is based not on the colour of a man’s skin nor authority he may wield, but purely on merit.

Our experience has taught us that with goodwill a negotiated solution can be found for even the most profound problems.

I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one, whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a Black man in a White man's court. This should not be I should feel perfectly at ease and at home with the assurance that I am being tried by a fellow South African, who does not regard me as an inferior, entitled to a special type of justice.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

Together as a nation, we have the obligation to put sunshine into the hearts of our little ones. They are our precious possessions. They deserve what happiness life can offer.

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.