Nelson Mandela

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

Tread softly, Breathe peacefully, Laugh hysterically.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose.

Where you stand depends on where you sit.

Once you truly understand that it is okay to lose or fail, you are free, you have nothing to fear, and only then, can nothing in this world hold you back.

I could have become a soldier if I had waited; I knew more about retreating than the man who invented retreating.

Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.

Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing.

Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man.

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.

I went to the Bach Choir concert and heard Mozart’s Requiem. I did not rise warmly to it. Then I heard an extract from Parsifal which I disliked very much. If Bach wriggles, Wagner writhes…

Loyalty is still the same, whether it win or lose the game; true as a dial to the sun, although it be not shined upon.

The surest poison is time.

Virtue knows that it is impossible to get on without compromise, and tunes herself, as it were, a trifle sharp to allow for an inevitable fall in playing.

I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.

We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.

It is said that the world is in a state of bankruptcy, that the world owes the world more than the world can pay.

Half the vices which the world condemns most loudly have seeds of good in them and require moderated use rather than total abstinence.

It is a wise tune that knows its own father, and I like my music to be the legitimate offspring of respectable parents.