Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice... Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.

Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.

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

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

We recall our terrible past so that we can deal with it, to forgive where forgiveness is necessary, without forgetting; to ensure that never again will such inhumanity tear us apart; and to move ourselves to eradicate a legacy that lurks dangerously as a threat to our democracy.

We must look within ourselves, become responsible and provide fresh solutions if we ever want to do more than complain,or make excuses.