Racism must be opposed by all means that humanity has at its disposal.
- Topic: Society
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
More Quotes from Nelson Mandela
Thinking too well of people often allows them to be better than they otherwise would.
Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
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.
As I walked out the door to my freedom I knew that, if I did not leave all the anger, hatred and resentment behind, I would remain a prisoner.
More on Society
Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished.
Teach the ignorant as much as you can; society is culpable in not providing a free education for all and it must answer for the night which it produces. If the soul is left in darkness sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.
No matter how outrageous a lie may be, it will be accepted if stated loudly enough and often enough.
This I learned in Auschwitz: There are only two races. The race of the decent and the race of the indecent.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
We know of no culture that has said, articulately, that there is no difference between men and women except in the way they contribute to the creation of the next generation.
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.
What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.
It never ceases to amaze me: We all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
Every civilization is, among other things, an arrangement for domesticating the passions and setting them to do useful work.
Since men are neither omniscient nor infallible, they must be free to agree or disagree, to cooperate or to pursue their own independent course, each according to his own rational judgment. Freedom is the fundamental requirement of man's mind.