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.
Nelson Mandela
- Life
- 1918-2013
- Occupations
- politician, autobiographer, lawyer
- Notable works
- Long Walk to Freedom
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
The most famous 'Mandela quote' -- 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate...' -- is not Mandela at all: it is Marianne Williamson, from her 1992 book A Return to Love, endlessly misplaced into his 1994 inauguration speech. His documented lines come from the speeches, the trial addresses, and Long Walk to Freedom, where the register is political and precise: poverty as man-made, freedom as indivisible. Even 'It always seems impossible until it's done' lacks a verified Mandela source.
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.
Nelson Mandela
Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
Nelson Mandela
Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.
Nelson Mandela
There is nothing like returing to a place that remains unchanged to find how you yourself have altered.
Nelson Mandela