Nelson Mandela’s best quotes to mark his 98th birthday

o mark his birthday, people around the world are being asked to devote 67 minutes of their time to helping others (to honour his 67 years as South Africa’s President).

So if you’re a little unsure what to do, here are some of his most famous quotes to give you a little encouragement.

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’

Nelson Mandela was born into a South African tribe in a small village where he became the first person in his family to receive a formal education.

‘There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living’

Nelson Mandela became a leader in the African National Congress and fought to oppose racial segregation.

‘We must use time wisely and forever realise that the time is always ripe to do right’

He was branded a terrorist for advocating human rights and was given a life sentence in prison, of which he served 27 years before his release in 1990.

‘After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb’

Once released, Nelson continued to campaign for equality. His hard work finally paid off when all races were allowed to vote in the 1994 election.

‘I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear’

He won the election and became president of South Africa.

‘A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.’

Nelson was a strong force in keeping the peace in South Africa and in preventing the breakout of civil war.

‘Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronisingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future’

He passed away in 2013 surrounded by his family, but his endurance to promote peace and democracy have had a lasting affect on the world.