Long Walk To Freedom

by Nelson Mandela

‘I realized that they could take everything from me except my mind and my heart. They could not take those things. Those things I still had control over. And I decided not to give them away.’

Running taught me valuable lessons. In cross-country competition, training counted more than intrinsic ability, and I could compensate for a lack of natural aptitude with diligence and discipline. I applied this in everything I did.

which was that men who take great risks often suffer great consequences.

but life has a way of forcing decisions on those who vacillate.

There is little to be said in favour of poverty, but it was often an incubator of true friendship.

all remained loyal to him, not because they always agreed with him, but because the regent listened to and respected different opinions.

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

‘Nelson,’ he said, ‘I have been involved in politics for a long time, and I regret every minute of it. I wasted the best years of my life in futile efforts serving vain and selfish men who placed their interests above those of the people they pretended to serve. Politics, in my experience, is nothing but a racket to steal money from the poor.’