Nelson Mandela channeled an unjust 27-year prison sentence into a battle cry for world peace and South African freedom.
An advocate for peaceful protest against racist, discriminatory apartheid practices, Mandela’s confinement gripped the world, resulting in him being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and his election as the first Black South African president (again, in Africa). Here are five quotes from the activist and politician.
1. “I am prepared to die."
Nelson was arrested in 1962 for all kinds of counts of fictitious treason and sentenced to five years in prison. A year later, 10 African leaders who were also protesting South African discriminatory political practices joined him. Instead of testifying during the 1964 Rivonia Trial, that would see him defend himself, Mandela gave a three-hour speech denouncing the South African system of discrimination. He was sentenced to life in prison and continued the fight behind bars.
2. “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.” 
Beginning in the late 19th century, white British people moved to South Africa and swiftly decided to displace the brown population and enact laws meant to keep them from owning up to 90% of the land, according to Places Journal. Mandela’s experience navigating colonialism at home made him a keen speaker on the unnaturalness of impoverished and destitute living. Eradicating it was his life's work as he proved yet again during a 2005 speech in London's Trafalgar Square.
3. “A softer approach, especially when you are confident of a case, brings about results far more than aggression.”
The African National Congress sought to evenly redistribute political representation back to African citizens. Of course, the colonizers disagreed. Hence, Mandela's almost 30 years in prison (including 15 months in solitary confinement). In a 1993 interview with Richard Stengel after he was freed from prison, Mandela remained convinced that nonviolence was the solution in overcoming hostile opponents.
4. "Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.”
Nelson and Winnie are as intertwined as peanut butter and jelly. The love the couple shared, even after having been kept apart for nearly three decades, is the stuff of legends. Mandela’s letters to his wife during imprisonment, and her tenaciousness in advocating for his freedom, are the best example of a real-life love story under nightmarish conditions.
5. “I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.” 
With nothing but a pen and paper, Mandela’s words reverberated around the world. Many of his appeals were to officials, including one to then-Commissioner of Prisons General Du Preez, denouncing his treatment while advocating for a free South Africa. Even institutionalized, his advocacy for the oppressed was a priority.
