Every year on the 18th of July, people around the world participate in helping communities, charities, and those in need for 67 minutes, to honour the belated and beloved Nelson ‘Tata’ Mandela. Why exactly 1 hour and 7 minutes? Because it’s a small way each of us can recognise Mandela’s 67 years of commitment to social justice and human rights. While we’ve previously covered 67 ways to give back to your community, as well as where to walk in Madiba’s footsteps to discover Mandela’s years from Prisoner to President, this year we’d like to remember Tata for his courage, his kindness, and his inspiring and quotable quotes:
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”
“I believe that in the end it is kindness and accommodation that are the catalysts for real change.”
“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”
“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.”
“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
“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.”
“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 need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
“For to be free is not to merely cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
“One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.”
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which is treats its children.”
“Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front.”
“A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.”
“You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.”
“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”
“Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace.”
“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity”
“It always seems impossible until it is done.”
Let us know what you’ll be doing for your 67 minutes.
Main image credited to travelworlds (Creative Commons)
