"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 will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is
an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Nelson Mandela,
defence statement during the Rivonia Trial, 1964. Also repeated during the
closing of his speech delivered in Cape Town on the day he was released from
prison 27 years later, on 11 February 1990.
"…the only [other] thing my
father bestowed upon me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla. In Xhosa, Rolihlahla
literally means 'pulling the branch of a tree', but its colloquial
meaning more accurately would be 'troublemaker'."
Nelson
Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom, 1994.
"There is nothing like
returning to a place that remains unchanged to find ways in which you yourself
have altered."
Nelson Mandela, A Long Walk To Freedom,
1994.
"Never, never and never
again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression
of one by another…"
Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Address, Pretoria 9 May 1994.
"Our single most important
challenge is therefore to help establish a social order in which the freedom of
the individual will truly mean the freedom of the individual. We must construct
that people-centred society of freedom in such a manner that it guarantees the
political liberties and the human rights of all our citizens."
Nelson
Mandela, speech at the opening of the South African parliament, Cape Town 25 May
1994.
"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 will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is
an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Nelson Mandela,
defence statement during the Rivonia Trial, 1964. Also repeated during the
closing of his speech delivered in Cape
Town on the day he was released from prison 27 years
later, on 11 February 1990.