Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist and statesman 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.

Quotes

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.
Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.
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.
There is nothing like returing to a place that remains uncganged to find how you yourself have altered.
Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

Change
The people are their own liberators.

Liberty
For me, survival is the ability to cope with difficulties, with circumstances, and to overcome them.

Success
The whole purpose of a husband and wife is that when hard times knock at the door you should be able to embrace each other.

Marriage
I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.

Race
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
It always seems impossible until it's done.