Nelson Mandela's woorden

Inspirerende uitspraken
De uitspraken van Nelson Mandela worden vaak gebruikt in tal van publicaties. We hebben een aantal van zijn mooiste en meest inspirerende uitspraken onder elkaar gezet:

• "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination"
• "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner"
• "It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership"
• "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"
• "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people, I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" 
• "As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others"
• "As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility"
• "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb"
• "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness"
• "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"
• "Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another"
• "That was one of the things that worried me - to be raised to the position of a semi-god - because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed, but never the less, sometimes he fails to live up to expectations"
• "I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended"
• "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another"
• "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children"
• "Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all"
• "The time is always ripe to do right"

Nelson Mandela

Gedicht
Tijdens zijn inauguratiespeech droeg Nelson Mandela dit prachtige en inmiddels wereldbekende gedicht voor:

Laat je licht schijnen

Onze diepste angst is niet dat we ontoereikend zijn,
onze diepste angst is dat we onmetelijke kracht bezitten.
Het is ons licht, niet onze duisternis, die ons angst aanjaagt.

We vragen ons af,
wie ben ik om briljant, fantastisch, talentvol, geweldig te zijn?
Maar wie ben jij om dat niet te zijn? Je bent een kind van God.

Met je onbelangrijk voordoen, bewijs je de wereld geen dienst.
Er is niets verlichts aan je klein te maken opdat andere mensen
zich bij jou niet onzeker voelen.

Wij zijn bestemd om te stralen, zoals kinderen dat doen.
We zijn geboren om de glorie van God die in ons is, te manifesteren.
Die glorie is niet slechts in sommigen van ons, maar in iedereen.

En als wij ons licht laten stralen,
geven we anderen onbewust toestemming hetzelfde te doen.
Als we bevrijd zijn van onze eigen angst,
dan bevrijdt onze aanwezigheid automatisch ook anderen.

Nelson Mandela