Long Walk to Freedom

by Nelson Mandela

My father, and a few other influential chiefs, had the great respect for education that is often present in those who are uneducated.

Qunu was all that I knew, and I loved it in the unconditional way that a child loves his first home.

I always remember the regent’s axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

Politics, he said, brings out the worst in men. It was the source of trouble and corruption, and should be avoided at all costs.

There is little favorable to be said about poverty, but it was often an incubator of true friendship. Many people will appear to befriend you when you are wealthy, but precious few will do the same when you are poor.

The regent seemed greatly changed, or perhaps it was I who had changed.

I had unconsciously succumbed to the ethnic divisions fostered by the white government and I did not know how to speak to my own kith and kin.

I now believed I was seeing things as they were. That too, of course, was an illusion.

This was a significant achievement, for fear of prison is a tremendous hindrance to a liberation struggle.

To some, the government’s crackdown did not seem imminent so they did not take the precautions necessary to lessen its effect. When the government’s iron fist did descend, they were not prepared.