Nelson Mandela

New book brings Mandela's quotes to life

Share |

17 May 2011

The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory is to launch the first wholly accurate, fully referenced and authorised record of former president Nelson Mandela's most inspiring and historically important quotations.

Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations will be launched ahead of Mandela Day – Mandela's Birthday – on 18 July.

"This collection – gathered from privileged authorised access to Mandela's vast personal archive of private papers, speeches, correspondence and audio recordings – features more than 2 000 quotations spanning over 60 years," says the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Over 300 categories

The inspirational quotations are organised into over 300 categories for easy reference, including such aspects as what defines greatness in "Character", "Courage" and "Optimism".

One can also learn from him the essence of democracy, freedom and struggle in the categories such as "Democracy", "History", "Racism", "Reconciliation" and "Unity".

Selected quotations from the book:

  • "I accepted that if you have a problem, you must face it and not gloss over it." – Nelson Mandela, 29 December 1992

  • "I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles." – Nelson Mandela, 1975

  • "You sharpen your ideas by reducing yourself to the level of the people you are with." – Nelson Mandela, 13 August 2005

  • "It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die." – Nelson Mandela, Closing Address 13th International Aids Conference, Durban, South Africa, 14 July 2000.

    • SAinfo reporter

    Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material

    Print this page Send this article to a friend

    South African Government Online   •   South African Tourism   •   South African National Parks   •   Wines of South Africa
    South African Broadcasting Corporation   •   South African Airways   •   JSE   •   Business Unity South Africa

    Site published for Brand South Africa by Big Media Publishers