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Top 10 Revolutionary Nelson Mandela Quotes on Love

Nelson Mandela Quotes on Love

As the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela put persistent effort in dismantling the apartheid that divided the nation for 46 years. His peaceful protests against the racist legislation of the South African government exemplified legendary courage and leadership. These Nelson Mandela quotes on love reflect that through social activism and philanthropy, a passion for the betterment of humankind can change the world.

Nelson Mandela continuously inspires liberation movements across the world. His prison sentence of 27 years for the political offense of organizing and supporting the anti-apartheid movement lives on as a principle of a true hero. After being released from prison, Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize. Then in 1994, he became the nation’s first democratically elected President. Inspiration for any oppressed group of people can be found in Mandela’s quotes about love for others and love of justice.

Ten Nelson Mandela Quotes on Love

  1. “The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.”
  2. “No one is born hating another person because of the color 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.”
  3. “You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.”
  4. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
  5. “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”
  6. “As long as many of our people still live in utter poverty, as long as children still live under plastic covers, as long as many of our people are still without jobs, no South African should rest and wallow in the joy of freedom.”
  7. “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. 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. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
  8. “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
  9. “It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”
  10. “Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves.”

These Nelson Mandela quotes on love depict the ways in which he witnessed the world, and sought to change it. With love for oneself, others and one’s country, anything is possible.

– Nia Coleman
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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10 Quotes to Inspire Activism Within All of Us

10 Quotes To Inspire Activism Within All of Us
Throughout history, activists have played major roles in inspiring change and fighting injustice across the globe. From challenging dictatorships to opposing racism to promoting equality for women, nearly every social and political change has come about due in large part to advocacy and public engagement. With that in mind, here are 10 quotes to inspire activism within all of us.

 

10 Quotes to Inspire Activism

 

1. Malala Yousafzai

“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world,” Yousafzai said while giving a speech to the U.N. Youth Assembly.

Yousafzai has spent her life advocating for Pakistani women and children and fighting for access to education worldwide. The young activist recently collaborated with British journalist Christina Lamb to publish a book titled “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.”

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said during a speech at Harvard University in 2013.

2. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change,” King said in a speech near the Washington Monument in 1968, on the dangers of neglecting important social issues.

As a Baptist minister and social activist, King was a prominent leader of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. His speeches and legacy continue to inspire activists to pursue political and social change.

3. Anne Frank

“How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world,” Frank wrote as a child while hiding with her Jewish family from the Nazis during World War II.

Frank’s writings were later published as a book titled “Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex” and have inspired activists for decades.

4. Sir Ian McKellen

“Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There’s more to life than you know and it’s all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it,” McKellen said.

As an accomplished and well-known actor, McKellen has used his public stance to advocate for LGBT rights across the globe for many years. In 2014, McKellen published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin in an effort to address LGBT issues in Russia.

5. Nelson Mandela

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we lived. It is the difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead,” Mandela said in 2002, at the 90th birthday celebration of Walter Sisulu in Johannesburg.

Mandela dedicated his life to global peacemaking. In 2009, his birthday was declared Mandela Day, an international day to promote peace, celebrate his legacy and inspire activism across the globe.

6. Sue Monk Kidd

“There’s a gap somehow between empathy and activism. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of soul force, something that emanates from a deep truth inside of us and empowers us to act. Once you identify your inner genius, you will be able to take action, whether it’s writing a check or digging a well,” Kidd said to Marie Claire.

Kidd is an accomplished author, best known for her novel-turned-film “The Secret Life of Bees” and has spent her career writing narratives that inspire women in particular.

7. Gary Zukav

“Developing compassion for Congress and politicians is a good way to begin practicing the new social activism if you want to make effective changes in the world. Perhaps the most startling new insight of all is that there is no other way to effectively change the world,” Zukav told the Huffington Post.

Zukav is a New York Times bestselling author, who is well known for advocating for compassion in politics and society.

8. Melinda Gates

“Optimism for me isn’t a passive expectation that things will get better; it’s a conviction that if we can make things better — that whatever suffering we see, no matter how bad it is, we can help people if we don’t lose hope and we don’t look away,” Gates said in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2014 commencement address.

Gates is a well-known philanthropist and businesswoman. She is the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Sometimes it’s the people you can’t help who inspire you the most,” she said.

9. Bill Gates

“Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives,” Gates said in a Harvard University commencement speech.

While Gates is widely known as a co-founder of Microsoft, he has devoted much of his life to philanthropic work to promote global policy and advocacy and is also a co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

10. Kerry Washington

“Do it! What are you waiting on? Do it! Stand up for what you believe in. The world needs your voice. Whoever you are, you have something to say. Say it,” Washington told Women’s Health.

As a well-known actress, Washington has been a vocal proponent for women to stand up for causes they believe in.

“I’m really inspired by women who are unafraid to be of service around social issues,” she said.

– Lauren Lewis

Sources: Anne Frank House, Bio. 1, Bio. 2, Gaiam Life, Good Reads, Huffington Post 1, Huffington Post 2, Huffington Post 3, Inc., Invisible Children, Marie Claire, Stanford News, The Washington Post, Women’s Health
Photo: Flickr

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10 Quotes to Inspire You This Election

Voting Elections
With the presidential election coming up in November of this year, it is important to focus on the issues that matter most and remember the value of the vote. Every vote counts and determines the future direction of the U.S. and the world.

With that said, here are some of the best quotes from several well-known and influential figures to inspire you this election:

  1. “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
    – John Quincy Adams
  2. “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.”
    – Emma Goldman
  3. “A man without a vote is a man without protection.”
    – Lyndon B. Johnson
  4. “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
    – Lyndon B. Johnson
  5. “People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote – a very different thing.”
    – Walter H. Judd
  6. “Do the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day, do what young people all over the world are dying to do: vote.”
    – Rick Mercer
  7. “That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything.”
    – Lou Henry Hoover
  8. “Voter apathy was, and will remain the greatest threat to democracy.”
    – Hazen Pingree
  9. “Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights. ”
    – Thomas Jefferson
  10. “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
    – Franklin D. Roosevelt

– Mayra Vega

Sources: Goodreads, Intentblog, Politico, Cafemom
Photo: Glamour

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10 Quotes About Helping Others

quotes about helping
Here is a list of 10 quotes about helping others, compiled by The Borgen Project:

1. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” – Booker T. Washington

3. “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” – Maya Angelou

4. “Many small people, in many small places, do many small things, that can alter the face of the world.” – Unknown

5. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Audrey Hepburn

6. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens

7. “Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.” – Helen Keller

8. “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

9. “I know of no great men except those who have rendered great service to the human race.” – Voltaire

10. “No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

– Hannah Cleveland

Sources: GoodReads
Photo: The Motion Machine

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5 Lessons From the Late Dr. Maya Angelou

world_globe_borgen_africa
This past week, Wake Forest University students opened their emails to the following message from the University:

“Today members of the Wake Forest University community mourn the loss of beloved poet, author, actress, civil rights activist and professor Dr. Maya Angelou.”

Angelou passed away in her North Carolina home on Wednesday, May 28, at the age of 86. She served as the University’s Reynolds Professor of American Studies since 1982 and published more than 30 books of fiction and poetry, including her autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

“Maya Angelou has been a towering figure — at Wake Forest and in American culture. She had a profound influence in civil rights and racial reconciliation. We will miss profoundly her lyrical voice and always keen insights,” said Nathan Hatch, President of Wake Forest University, in a press release.

As a Wake Forest student myself, I have had the honor to be an audience to her melodic voice on a few occasions, feeling as if each syllable shared with the room was a personal invitation to become a part of her world.

But these words were not merely pretty verses, but heartfelt, aching testaments to a life filled with obstacles, grit and determination. With her parents divorcing when she was only 3, Angelou continued to face tumultuous circumstances as she was later raped by her mother’s boyfriend around age 8. At age 17, she gave birth to son, Guy.

“I will always treasure “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” because by revealing the sexual abuse she suffered as a child, Angelou opened the door to emotional healing for a lot of girls,” wrote Mary Mitchell in the article “Young Black Mothers Can Learn A Lot from Maya Angelou’s Life,” in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Through her openness about her own mistakes, Angelou helps others find the courage to confront their own struggles and failings. Below you will find five small lessons, from among many, left behind from one of the most “phenomenal” women of our time.

  1. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Interview for Beautifully Said Magazine (2012)
  2. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” — Excerpted from “Letter to My Daughter,” a book of essays (2009)
  3. “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” — Interview in USA TODAY (March 5, 1988)
  4. “Your destiny is to develop the courage to flesh out the great dreams, to dare to love, to dare to care, to dare to want to be significant and to admit it, not by the things you own or the positions you hold, but by the lives you live.” — 1985 Commencement Speech at Wake Forest University
  5. “I am a Woman Phenomenally, Phenomenal Woman, that’s me.” — “Phenomenal Woman,” poem (1978)

A remembrance website and guestbook for Maya Angelou can be found here.

— Blythe Riggan

Sources: Maya Angelou, WFU, Old Gold and Black, Sun Times, USA Today
Photo: Oprah

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Quotes About Poverty

Quotes_about_poverty
The World Bank reports that we are making significant strides towards reducing global poverty.  In 1981, approximately 50% of the developing world was living on less than $1.25 per day.  Today that number is reduced to just 21% despite rapid increases in population. To continue pushing forward on the battle against poverty, here are some quotes about poverty that will inspire while provoking honest reflection:

  • Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. —Aristotle
  • We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. —William James
  • The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man. —Napolean Bonaparte
  • I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life. —Anatole France
  • I’d grown up thinking that a [sanitary toilet] was my right, when in fact it’s a privilege — 2.5 billion people worldwide have no adequate toilet. —Rose George
  • Child mortality [since 2000] is down by 2.65 million a year. That’s a rate of 7,256 children’s lives saved each day… It drives me nuts that most people don’t seem to know this news. —Bono
  • The opposite of poverty is not wealth. … In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice. —Bryan Stevenson
  • We have two choices: One is to continue to see a poor, ill, crying Africa, carrying guns, that depends on other people forever, or to promote an Africa which is confident, peaceful, independent, but cognizant of its huge problems and great values at the same time. — Zeresenay Alemseged
  • When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched. I am well aware that when someone needing food knocks at your door, you always find a way of sharing food; as the proverb says, one can always ‘add more water to the beans’! Is it possible to add more water to the beans?…Always?…And you do so with love, demonstrating that true riches consist not in materials things, but in the heart! –Pope Francis
  • If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. –John F. Kennedy

We hope these quotes about poverty allow you to reflect and perhaps gain a new perspective.  It is never a wrong time to get involved in your local community or to help advocate for a world without poverty!

– Sunny Bhatt

Sources: World Bank, Confront Global Poverty, TED, Proverbia
Photo: Personal Excellence

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10 Quotes From People That Changed the World

quotes from people that changed the world
What do a French priest, Spanish poet, U.S. President, Scottish philosopher and self-freed African American all have in common?

They all think it’s time to end world poverty. Famous and brilliant men and women have been saying for years that at last we have the ability to make lasting change in the war on hunger.  Below are ten quotes from people that changed the world.

1. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, abolitionist leader and supporter of woman’s rights.

2. “The war against hunger is truly mankind’s war of liberation.” – John F. Kennedy, former U.S. President

3. “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.” – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher

4. “Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice.” – Jacques Diouf, Food and Agricultural Organization Director-general

5. “This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.” – Hubert H. Humphrey, former U.S. Vice President

6. “[P]eace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.”– Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma

7. “What I would say to the young men and women who are beset by hopelessness and doubt is that they should go and see what is being done on the ground to fight poverty, not like going to the zoo but to take action, to open their hearts and their consciences.” – Abbé Pierre, French priest and member of the Resistance in WWII

8. “Poverty is everyone’s problem. It cuts across any line you can name: age, race, social, geographic or religious. Whether you are black or white; rich, middle-class or poor, we are ALL touched by poverty.” – Kathleen Blanco, former Governor of Louisiana

9. “The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world.” – Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet

10. “Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank, Holocaust victim

Change isn’t just needed, it’s also possible. It’s time to join the movement that’s fighting back against the greatest killer of people the world has ever seen – hunger. If any of these people inspire you, it’s because they accomplished something in the face of great opposition.

People are what change the world. Join us.

– Lydia Caswell

Sources: Do One Thing, Brainy Quote, Do Something Now
Photo: PBS

Inspirational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes
When life presents you with an obstacle, it can be very easy to give up and accept defeat. This is why healthy practices to keep yourself motivated should include reading and listening to inspirational quotes from your favorite leaders. To assist you in this challenge, we have compiled a list of inspirational quotes that we hope will give you that extra push to progress forward.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –Michael Jordan

“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” –Farrah Gray

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” –Henry Ford

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” –Muhammad Ali

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” –Nido Qubein

“I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she will make the same effort, and have the same hope and faith.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” —Albert Einstein

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” –Dennis Waitley

“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” –Emily Bissell

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” –Vince Lombardi

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” –Thomas Jefferson

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” –Winston Churchill

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.” –Russell Warren

Read them, learn from them, and keep these inspirational quotes near. They can serve as a constant reminder and rejuvenate your drive to overcome your obstacles.

– Sunny Bhatt

Sources: Bright Drops, Forbes, Brainy Quotes
Photo: Prairie Eco Thrifter

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Nelson Mandela Quotes – Top 5

nelson-mandela-quotes
Nelson Mandela convey tend to convey the heart of experiences he’s encountered. Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president and the recipient of a Nobel Peace Price, has inspired generations with his determination for justice. Mandela was instrumental in the anti-apartheid movement, directing a peaceful campaign against the South African government for more than 20 years. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the movement, allow he refused to adopt armed resistance because of his fierce desire to put an end to apartheid. Elected as South Africa’s first black president in 1994, Mandela became a symbol of fortitude, justice and equality.

Though the former president’s health continues to decline, Nelson Mandela quotes still inspire millions and will be remembered long after his death. Listed below are five of the most thought-provoking and inspirational Nelson Mandela quotes:

  1. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
  2. “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
  3. “No one is born hating another person because of the color 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.”
  4. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
  5. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

– Katie Bandera

Sources: News One, DNA Medium, Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory
Photo: UBM

 

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