About Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist, statesman, and revolutionary who was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His administration focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation, a national peace accord and eventual multiracial democracy. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
Known for:
Long Walk to Freedom
Notable works:
Long Walk to Freedom
Awards:
Presidential Medal of Freedom|United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights|Bruno Kreisky Award for Services to Human Rights|Nobel Peace Prize|Sakharov Prize|Order of the Smile|Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau|Order of Merit|Order of Lenin|Lenin Peace Prize|Bharat Ratna|Order of the Lion|honorary Canadian citizenship|Congressional Gold Medal|Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo|Order of Friendship|Ambassador of Conscience Award|Alan Paton Award|Order of the Elephant|Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership|World Rugby Hall of Fame|Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal|Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights|Order of the Nile|Nishan-e-Pakistan|Gandhi Peace Prize|Royal Order of the Seraphim|Order of the Star of Ghana|Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize|Order of José Martí|Order of Jamaica|International Simón Bolívar Prize|Arthur Ashe Courage Award|Order of Stara Planina|Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding|Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation|Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize|Isitwalandwe Medal|Order of Playa Girón|Delta Prize for Global Understanding|J. William Fulbright Prize|Atatürk International Peace Prize|Philadelphia Liberty Medal|Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour|honorary doctorate|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav|honorary citizen of Paris|Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali|Giuseppe Motta Medal|Order of Agostinho Neto|Order of Augusto César Sandino|Ahimsa Award|Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class|honorary doctorate of the University of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria|Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle|honorary doctor of the Autonomous University of Barcelona|honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense|Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic|Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal|Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry|Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland|Grandmaster of the Order of Good Hope|Order of Mapungubwe in Platinum|Gold Olympic Order|Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia|Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada|honorary doctor of the University of the Witwatersrand|honorary doctor of the University of Antwerp|honorary doctor of the Howard University|honorary doctor of Paris 8 University|honorary doctorate of the University of Cape Town|honorary doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel|honorary doctor of the University of Hong Kong|honorary doctor of the Peking University|Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of Saint John|Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty|Honorary Doctor at Karolinska Institutet|honorary doctor of the University of Calcutta|honorary doctor of the University of Pretoria|Honorary doctor of Leiden University|Grand Star of People's Friendship|Order of Eduardo Mondlane, 1st class|honorary degree from Spelman College|honorary doctor of the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne|Freedom of the London Borough of Greenwich|Freedom of the Royal Borough of Greenwich|Honorary King's Counsel|Honorary doctor of the University of Fort Hare
Best Nelson Mandela Sayings
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We understand and promote the notion that while children need to be guided they also have an entrenched right to be whatever they want to…
Achieve
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When I walked out of the gate I knew that if I continued to hate these people I was still in prison.
Continued
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You see, when there is danger, a good leader takes the front line. But when there is celebration, a good leader stays in the back…
Back Room
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There is no passion to be found playing small.
Found
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Out of the experience of extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud..
All
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It is time for the next generations to continue our struggle against social injustice and for the rights of humanity. It is in your hands.
Continue
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To deny people of their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of huger and deprivation is…
All
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I came to accept that I have no right whatsoever to judge others in terms of my own customs, however much I may be proud…
Accept
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Only armchair politicians are immune from committing mistakes. Errors are inherent in political action.
Action
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Education is the great engine to personal development.
Achievement
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When we can sit in the face of insanity or dislikes and be free from the need to make it different, then we are free.
Dislike
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Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because [that is] the only way to make it appear like a normal illness
Aids
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Thinking too well of people often allows them to be better than they otherwise would.
Allows
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The calm and tolerant atmosphere that prevailed during the elections depicts the type of South Africa we can build. It set the tone for the…
Africa
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MY greatest regret in life is that I never became the heavyweight boxing champion ofthe world.
Became
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Our economic approach to food and its distribution reflects our basic moral values.
Approach
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I want to sleep for eternity with a broad smile on my face. I want those who remain behind to say this man has done…
Behind
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As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.
Gross
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For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy; there is no moral goodness in using an ineffective weapon.
Goodness
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Blaming things on the past does not make them better.
Better
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I love playing and chatting with children...feed ing and putting them to bed with a little story, and being away from the family has troubled…
Bed
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Our freedom is also incomplete, dear compatriots, as long as we are denied our security by criminals who prey on our communities, who rob our…
Businesses
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During the years I lived here, the people of Alexandra ignored tribal and ethnic distinctions. Instead of being Xhosas, or Sothos, or Zulus, or Shangaans,…
Alexandra
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No problem is so deep that it cannot be overcome, given the will of all parties, through discussion and negotiation rather than force and violence.
All
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Racism is a blight on the human conscience
Blight
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