WE CELEBRATE MADIBA'S GREAT SPEECHES.

“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.” From Mandela’s statement from the dock of the opening of the Rivonia Trial on Apr. 20, 1964, where Mandela and several other ANC leaders would later be sentenced to life in prison for attempting to violently overthrow the Apartheid government in 1964.

Nobel Prize Recipient

“The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise.” —From Mandela’s acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Campaign Against AIDS

“The campaign against AIDS is the task of all of us — young and old, government and community organizations, religious and traditional institutions, cultural and sporting bodies. AIDS knows no custom. It knows no color. It knows no boundaries. We have to work together wherever we are to preserve our nation, our continent and humanity as a whole.” —From Mandela’s message on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 1994.

Bidding Farewell

“I hope that decades from now, when history is written, the role of that generation will be appreciated, and that I will not be found wanting against the measure of their fortitude and vision.” —From Mandela’s final address as president of South Africa, March 26, 1999.

Saluting Oprah Winfrey

“It can be said that there are four basic and primary things that the mass of people in a society wish for: to live in a safe environment, to be able to work and provide for themselves, to have access to good public health and to have sound educational opportunities for their children. Currently we as a society may be struggling in each of those four areas, but we must remain confident that with the personal commitment of each and every one of us, we can and will overcome the obstacles towards development.” —From Mandela’s speech at the opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, January 2, 2007.