I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.

Millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain enslaved by the chains of poverty. It is time to set them free.

Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening.

Abject poverty is demeaning, is an assault on the dignity of those that suffer it. In the end it demeans us all. It makes the freedom of all of us less meaningful.

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.

What we did was to try and exploit that spirit [the idea of giving], which was there even before I approached individual South Africans [to give to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund]. I think we must start from that angle.