Quotes About Inspiration

Lead from the front — but don t leave your base behind.

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world

Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place.

Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great...

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

Some mornings I walked out into the courtyard and every living thing there, the seagulls and wagtails, the small trees, and even the stray blades of grass seemed to smile and shine in the sun. It was at such times, when I perceived the beauty of even this small, closed-in corner of the world, that I knew that some day my people and I would be free.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front.

I always remember the regent's axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind. It

our father came back and he left us alone because he has now become the father of the nation.

un líder es como un pastor que permanece detrás del rebaño y permite que los más ágiles vayan por delante, tras lo cual, los demás les siguen sin darse cuenta de que en todo momento están siendo dirigidos desde detrás.

I believed that I would become a counsellor to the Thembu king,

Een leider, zegt hij, is als een herder. Hij blijft achter de kudde en laat de behendigste voorlopen, waarop de anderen volgen, zonder te beseffen dat ze steeds vanuit de achterhoede worden geleid.

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

But in Johannesburg I found that many of the most outstanding leaders had never been to university at all.

O mais importante da vida é a marca que deixamos na vida dos outros.

and when we did come out [of prison], my children said, "We thought we had a father and one day he'd come back. But to our dismay, our father came back and he left us alone because he has now become the father of the nation.

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead,

tenían ese gran respeto por la educación que tan a menudo muestran quienes carecen de ella...

Gaur was an example of a man without a BA who seemed infinitely better educated than the fellows who left Fort Hare with glittering degrees. Not only was he more knowledgeable, he was bolder and more confident. Although I intended to finish my degree and enter law school, I learned from Gaur that a degree was not in itself a guarantee of leadership and that it meant nothing unless one went out into the community to prove oneself.

Truth will rise like the sun from the morning clouds!

Although it was not published while I was in prison, it forms the spine of this memoir.