Ahmed Kathrada

"Suffering and hardship have always been the lot of individual men and, more recently, of whole nations."

"The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until it is won."

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

"In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years."

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway."

"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere."

"I am fundamentally an optimist."

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

"Our lives matter according to the lives we touch, the inspiration we give, and the joy we create."

"Where there is reckless power, there is no freedom."

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear."

"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."

"The prison years were not wasted years for me."

"One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen."

"If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies."

"I have never been one for the limelight, but I am honoured by the recognition."

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends."

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

"I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction and, therefore, there must be a divine will."

"Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick."

"The challenges we face require us to abandon outdated thinking and embrace innovation."

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing."

"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."

"Hatred is corrosive of the self. The person who hates is diminished and diseased."

"The greatest threat to freedom is having a population that is ignorant."

"I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom."

"The purpose of imprisonment is not revenge; it is ultimately rehabilitation."

"Unity is strength. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."

"A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hate."