The Top 10 Nelson Mandela Quotes On Education

In this post from Writers Write, your top writing resource, we share a selection of our favourite Nelson Mandela quotes on education.

Rest in peace, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born 18 July 1918, died 5 December 2013

Nelson Mandela was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the first elected President of a democratic South Africa. He was a great believer in education and I chose some of the favourite things he said about the subject in this post.

The Top 10 Nelson Mandela Quotes On Education

1. Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders. (source)
2. Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savour their songs. (source: Long Walk To Freedom)
3. No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated. (source)
4. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. (source)
5. Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. (source: Long Walk To Freedom)
6. There are certain precautions you should take to prepare yourself for a fruitful study career. You must brush up your knowledge through systematic reading of literature and newspapers. (source)
7. Discussion sharpens one’s interest in any subject and accordingly inspires reading and corrects errors. (Source: The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela)
8. One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others. (source)
9. A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. (source)
10. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. (source: Long Walk To Freedom)

And one on freedom: ‘I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.’ (Long Walk to Freedom)

And one more to make you smile: ‘Appearances matter — and remember to smile.’

by Amanda Patterson

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