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.

Without education, your children can never really meet the challenges they will face. So it's very important to give children education and explain that they should play a role for their country.

In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life. A leader must also tend his garden; he, too, plants seeds, and then watches, cultivates, and harvests the results. Like the gardener, a leader must take responsibility for what he cultivates; he must mind his work, try to repel enemies, preserve what can be preserved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.

Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.

I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.