Long Walk to Freedom Quotes

When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.

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

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.

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.

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

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.