I could not imagine that the future I was walking toward could compare in any way to the past that I was leaving behind.

The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.

If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important - and you do that by being genuine and humble.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Let us give practical recognition to the injustices of the past,by building a future based on equality&social justice

I know that, throughout the world, there are good men and women concerned with the greatest challenges facing society today - poverty, illiteracy, and disease.

The first election in which all South Africans took part was in April, 1994. There were long queues [lines] of employers and employees, black and white. In the sense of Africans, Coloreds and Indians - when I talk about blacks, I mean those three. Blacks and whites mingled to vote without any hitches. Many people would have expected a great deal of tension, clashes and violence, but it did not occur.