As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life . . .

A real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that at the end of the debate we should emerge stronger and more united than ever before.

In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.

Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

Let us remind ourselves that it is ordinary people - men and women, boys and girls - that make the world a special place.

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

The call now is for each of us to ask ourselves: are we doing all we can to help build the country of our dreams?

We should take heart from our own experience and performance. In a cynical world we have become an inspiration to many.

We have introduced a democratic constitution, which put every South African on an equal basis.

There's one place where (Fidel Castro's) Cuba stands out head and shoulders above the rest – that is in its love for human rights and liberty!

I've never had a single moment of depression, because I know my cause will triumph.

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.

No child in Africa, and in fact anywhere in the world, should be denied education.

No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated. Any nation that is progressive is led by people who have had the privilege of studying.

One effect of sustained conflict is to narrow our vision of what is possible. Time and time again, conflicts are resolved through shifts that were unimaginable at the start.

It is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education.

Disasters will always come and go, leaving their victims either completely broken or steeled and seasoned and better able to face the next crop of challenges that may occur.

The curious beauty about African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad story.

You can start changing our world for the better daily, no matter how small the action.

It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.

The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption for the black people of the world.