Family Nelson Mandela Quotes & Sayings

My grandfather was a member of Parliament for 40 years. Obviously we're talking here South Africa, a whites only parliament. I grew up in a family that was very involved with the legal battles against apartheid - the great treason trials in the 1950s and early '60s, and later with the legal resources center that my mother founded. My father was involved with a number of very prominent cases that had political aspects to them, whether it was the inquest into the Sharpeville Massacre, the death of Steve Biko, or one of the trials of Nelson Mandela. — William Kentridge

Consider Nelson Mandela who related; "When I had been released from prison and came home to my family, I went to embrace my daughter. She pushed me away. "You may be the father of the nation, but are no father to me." How is it, there are children who — Suzann Dodd

The U.S. government knew that China wanted to acquire sensitive U.S. technology, and instead of implementing a policy to prevent them from acquiring the information, the government all but gave them an invitation to take our equipment and designs. — Charles Bass

I wondered
not for the first time
whether one was ever justified in neglecting the welfare of one's own family in order to fight for the welfare of others. Can there be anything more important than looking after one's aging mother? Is politics merely a pretext for shirking one's responsibilities, an excuse for not being able to provide in the way one wanted? — Nelson Mandela

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. -Nelson Mandela — Michael Gallegos Borresen

There were days when I was on the last $10 in my account, and I was freaking out about paying rent or buying groceries. Then you book a commercial, and you're good for another three months. — Colin Egglesfield

The arbitrary and meaningless tests to decide black from Coloured or Coloured from white often resulted in tragic cases where members of the same family were classified differently, all depending on whether one child had a lighter or darker complexion. Where one was allowed to live and work could rest on such absurd distinctions as the curl of one's hair or the size of one's lips. — Nelson Mandela

To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of a family is a greater joy. — Nelson Mandela

One cannot kick against geography! — Eleftherios Venizelos

I am confident that nobody ... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself. — Nelson Mandela

You never toot your own horn. — Zakk Wylde

I love my mom and dad. — Taylor Momsen

If the scripts are not good, I'll tell somebody, 'This isn't good.' — Dick Wolf

Poverty is not natural; it is man-made — Nelson Mandela

I was neglected by my family because I had disappointed them - I'd run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them. — Nelson Mandela

In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one's social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education ... But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being. Honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others - qualities which are within easy reach of every soul - are the foundation of one's spiritual life — Nelson Mandela

We've got the whole team together! They're pudgier and dorkier than expected, but I'm cool with it. Let's go blow some shit up. — Pittacus Lore

I love playing and chatting with children ... feeding and putting them to bed with a little story, and being away from the family has troubled me throughout my ... life. i like relaxing at the house, reading quietly, taking in the sweet smell that comes from the pots, sitting around a table with the family and taking out my wife and children. when you can no longer enjoy these simple pleasures something valuable is taken away from your life and you feel it in your daily work. — Nelson Mandela

My family is very large. 42 million. — Nelson Mandela

No one in my family had ever attended school [ ... ] On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea. — Nelson Mandela

Freedom alone is not enough without light to read at night, without time or access to water to irrigate your farm, without the ability to catch fish to feed your family. — Nelson Mandela

One day, George Mbekela paid a visit to my mother. "Your son is a clever young fellow," he said. "He should go to school." My mother remained silent. No one in my family had ever attended school and my mother was unprepared for Mbekela's suggestion. But she did relay it to my father, who despite - or perhaps because of - his own lack of education immediately decided that his youngest son should go to school. The — Nelson Mandela

This deluded little rube who really thought the future would be any better. If you just worked hard enough. If you just learned enough. Ran fast enough. Everything would turn out right, and your life would amount to something. — Chuck Palahniuk

After years of imprisonment, physical and emotional abuse, and separation from his family, Mandela said, "I realized that they could take everything from me except my mind and my heart. They could not take those things. Those things I still had control over. And I decided not to give them away." So Mandela's story is really the story of those two things he never gave away: his brilliant mind, and his great heart. — Nelson Mandela

I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others. — Nelson Mandela

What has sustained me even in the most grim moments is the knowledge that I am a member of a tried and tested family which has triumphed over many difficulties. — Nelson Mandela

First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft. — Terry Pratchett

It's 1am, I have fiction to write! — C.S. Woolley

We experience a new life with divine encounter. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Most of my writing consists of an attempt to translate aphorisms into continuous prose. — Northrop Frye

Jeremy shook his head doubtfully. "I don't know. I think you've met your match."
Jason scoffed at the very idea. "There's no such thing."
"Well, from what I've seen and heard so far, the lawyer is up by two."
Jason considered this. He may not have liked losing, but he loved the thrill of the game.
"We'll see how long that lasts ... " he mused out loud. — Julie James