It always seems impossible until it's done.

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

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

Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front.

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

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.

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.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Appearances matter — and remember to smile.

I am the captain of my soul.

A leader. . .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.

It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Courage is not the absence of fear — it s inspiring others to move beyond it.

A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it's lowest ones

One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.

You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.

Nothing is black or white.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening.

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.

Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires

It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.

I am not an optimist, but a great believer of hope.

Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation

Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.

Quitting is leading too.

I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE AND THE CAPTAIN OF MY DESTINY.

Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.

The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.

We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status.

I have never cared very much for personal prizes. A person does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards.

I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.

We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.