I always do makeup touch-ups myself, especially for blood, wounds, and dirt. It saves so much time.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

I was first imprisoned in Pretoria, and then, thereafter, I was taken to Robben Island. I stayed there for a couple of weeks. I was taken back to Pretoria when I was charged in the Rivonia trial, when I was then sent to Robben Island for life.

If you work day-and-night, you may lose the sense of time.

No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.

Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way.

Karma prevails over predictions of all occult sciences.

What I'm asking for is hard. It's easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn't possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don't matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future.