Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.

There will be life after Mandela. On my last day I want to know that those who remain behind will say: 'The man who lies here has done his duty for his country and his people.'

[Giving] is the essence of the great religions of the world - whether you are discussing the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Christian religion. It is an essential fundamental principle of all religions, whatever stage of development a society has reached, to sympathize with others and to promote that spirit of equality.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

That was one of the things that worried me – to be raised to the position of a semi-god – because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed, but never the less, sometimes he fails to live up to expectations.

To truly lead one's people, one must also truly know them.

If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government.