While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

We have introduced a democratic constitution, which put suvery South African on an equal basis.

It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

It is not the kings and generals that make history, but the masses of the people.

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.