Poverty has a tremendous, and mostly negative, impact on the behavior and health of families across the globe. Spouses in impoverished families are more likely to use violence against their partners, develop addictions and engage in criminal behavior. Parents in impoverished families often face a conflict between their role as a parent and their role as a worker. Children in impoverished families tend to have lower birth rates, struggle with behavioral disorders and perform worse in school. Additionally, they find it more difficult to find employment than those in wealthier families. Because of the negative impact poverty has on the family, impoverished families do not experience the joys and comforts of family life that wealthier families experience. However, Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, knew how essential a happy family is for both enduring life’s hardships and participating in political activism which his quotes on family display.

Mandela was a political leader and philanthropist. Throughout his life, Mandela created a large family of six children, two wives and 17 grandchildren. As he suffered in the prison on Robben Island from 1964 to 1982, Mandela’s meditations on his family were what gave him the comfort and motivation to endure his struggles and continue his life of activism. Below is a list of five quotes on family by Nelson Mandela.

Quotes on Family by Nelson Mandela

1. “From experience I have found that a family photo is everything in prison and you must have it right from the beginning.”
   -From a letter to Winnie Mandela, written on Robben Island on June 22, 1969.
2. “I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.”
   -From an unpublished autobiography manuscript, written on Robben Island, 1975.
3. “I like relaxing at the house, reading quietly, taking in the sweet smell that comes from the pots, sitting around the table with the family and taking out my wife and children. When you can no longer enjoy these simple pleasures, something valuable is taken away from your life and you feel it in your daily work.”
   -From an unpublished autobiography manuscript, written on Robben Island, 1975.
4. “Our families are far larger than those of whites and it’s always a pure pleasure to be fully accepted throughout a village, district or even several districts any time, completely relax, sleep at ease and freely take part in the discussion of all problems, where you can even be given livestock and land to build free of charge.”
   -From a letter to Mrs. N. Thulare, written on Robben Island, July 19, 1977.
5. “A happy family life is an important pillar to any public man. Few people are essential or dangerous to the success or downfall of a politician than a good wife or play-girl.”
   -From a letter to Winnie Mandela, written on Robben Island, May 6, 1979.

Family and Global Poverty

These five quotes on family by Nelson Mandela reveal that healthy families are essential for a good life and a healthy society. One of the primary ways humans can make it easier for everyone to have a good life and form healthy families is by ending global poverty.

When people eradicate global poverty, spouses around the world could be less likely to use violence against their partners or develop addictions and engage in criminal behavior. Fathers and mothers should also be less likely to face any conflict between their role as a parent and their role as a worker. Also, children should have high birth rates, be less likely to have behavioral disorders, perform better in school and find it easier to find employment than those in impoverished families. As organizations around the world work tirelessly to reduce global poverty, the joys and comforts of family life that wealthier families enjoy may no longer be something the poor can only dream of, but a reality they can experience.

– Jacob Stubbs
Photo: Wikimedia