Nelson Mandela Life Lessons For Young People

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

There are few misfortunes in this world that you cannot turn into a personal triumph if you have the iron will and the necessary skill.

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

If a man thinks badly of you-then he is worse than you, those who are better than you… they just don’t care about you.

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Lead from the back- and let others believe they are in front.

Quitting is leading too.

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.

Only free men can negotiate, prisoners can’t enter in contracts.

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

A person does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.

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

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

Nothing is black or white.

The main sign of mutual friendship is the enjoyment of communication.

You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.

Appearances matter-and remember to smile.

Tread softly, breathe peacefully, and laugh hysterically.

Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have.

To find out if your friend is loyal, ask him to lie to another friend.

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times i fell down and get back up again.

We owe our children-the most vulnerable citizens in any society- a life free from violence and fear.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.

A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.

When the water stars boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

It is music and dancing that make me at peace with the world.

Know your enemy-and learn about his favorite sport.

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them, one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.

It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say, part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward.

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.

No single person can liberate a country. You can only liberate a country if you act as a collective.

There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

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

One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.

We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.

Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation.

Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all, let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

In my country we go to prison first and then become president.