We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity — a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

Whenever I am with energetic young people, I feel like a recharged battery.

The most difficult matter is not so much to change the world as yourself.

You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

No single person can liberate a country. You can only liberate a country if you act as a collective.

We recall the joy and excitement of a nation that had found itself, the collective relief that we had stepped out of our restrictive past, and the expectant air of walking into a brighter future.