While shopping for something to nibble on at the cricket match the other day, Shaheema spotted a copy of 'Destiny' magazine. A hardcover copy of this book edited by Jennifer Crwys-Williams was nestled inside the magazine covering.
I ended up buying a copy of the magazine just to get my hands on the book!! I wasn't disappointed. This book brings to light comments made by Nelson Mandela, some witty, others hilarious & then there are the ones that are downright thought provoking!!
I'd like to share some extracts of the book with you. As I feel that it would certainly inspire you as it does me.
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 needs be, it is an ideal for which
I am prepared to die.
Delivered from the dock, Rivonia Treason Trial, 20 April 1964
On my last day I want to know that those who
remain behind will say: "The man who lies here
has done his duty for his country and his people."
On being welcomed home to Qunu on his retirement in 1999.
Many in positions of power and privilege pursue
cold-hearted philosophies which terrifyingly
proclaim: I am not your brother's keeper!
He was speaking to the United Nations in October 1995.
What are jellybeans? Are they something that is
eaten?
In a Radio Good Hope interview, May 1996.
I make my own bed every day. I don't allow the
ladies who look after me to do it. I can cook a
decent meal ...... I can polish a floor.
It's a unique woman who can turn the whole
world around and make it the best living place
to experience.
Nelson Mandela said this in May 2002, some four years after his
marriage to Graca Machel.
Writing is a prestigious profession which puts one
right into the centre of the world and, to remain
on top, one has to work really hard, the aim
being a good and original theme, simplicity in
expression and the use of the irreplaceable word.
From a letter to his daughter Zindzi, 4 September 1977.
When my sentence has been completed I will
still be moved, as men are always moved, by
their consciences; I will still be moved by my
dislike of the race discrimination against my
people when I come out from serving my
sentence, to take up again, as best I can, the
struggle for the removal of those injustices until
they are finally abolished once and for all.
Spoken in court, on 7 November 1962, at the end of the Old Synagogue
Trial, when he was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment
on charges of incitement and two years imprisonment for leaving South
Africa without valid travel documents.
Any man or institution that tries to rob me
of my dignity will lose.
I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who
became a leader because of extraordinary
circumstances.
I seem to arrive more firmly at the conclusion
that my own life struggle has had meaning only
because, dimly and perhaps incoherently, it has
sought to achieve the supreme objective of
ensuring that each, without regard to race,
colour, gender or social status, could have the
possibility to reach for the skies.
I could go on and on, but I suggest you go out and get yourself a copy of the book, if you don't have one already. After having read my copy, I am once again in awe of Nelson Mandela's magnanimous personality. May he continue to inspire South Africans in generations to come!!
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