Many interviewers when they come to talk to me, think they're being progressive by not mentioning in their stories any longer that I'm black. I tell them, 'Don't stop now. If I shot somebody you'd mention it.'

We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.

An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough in me to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

Work is undoubtedly worship but laughter is life. Anyone who takes life too seriously must prepare himself for a miserable existence. Anyone who greets joy and sorrows with equal facility can really get the best of life.

From the solemn gloom of the temple children run out to sit in the dust, God watches them play and forgets the priest.

The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.