Audio transcripts
When people are determined they can overcome anything.
From a conversation with Morgan Freeman, Johannesburg, South Africa, 14 November 2006
[Duration: 0:05 sec]
I approach every problem with optimism.
At home, Soweto, South Africa, 14 February 1990
[Duration: 0:05 sec]
I can’t remember losing my sense of control; after all, in that situation you can only survive if you keep calm and cool.
At home, Soweto, South Africa, 14 February 1990
[Duration: 0:18 sec]
It was difficult to concentrate on the negative aspect of your life. The important thing is that I was in the company of men of great experience and great talent.
Revisiting Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa, 11 February 1994
[Duration: 0:17 sec]
I am committed to ensuring that the president of a country like ours must not live in a style which is totally different from that of the masses of the people who put him in power.
From an interview with Tom Cohen and Sahm Venter for the Associated Press, Tuynhuys, Cape Town, South Africa, 22 September 1994
[Duration: 0:16 sec]
South Africa is a country of many races. There is room for all the various races in this country.
From an interview with Brian Widlake for ITN Television (uK), Johannesburg, South Africa, 31 May 1961
[Duration: 0:07 sec]
During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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 for which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, my Lord , if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
Speech from the dock, Rivonia Trial, Palace of Justice, Pretoria, South Africa, 20 April 1964
[Duration: 1:26 sec]
I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did.
[Duration: 0:11 sec]
It is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and non-violence against a government whose reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed and defenceless people and I think the time has come for us to consider, in the light of our experiences in this stay-at-home, whether the methods which we have applied so far are adequate.
From an interview with Brian Widlake for ITN Television (UK), Johannesburg, South Africa, 31 May 1961
[Duration: 0:14 sec]
There’s nothing as bad as a leader making a demand which you know can never succeed.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, circa December 1992
[Duration: 0:08 sec]
People will feel I see too much good in people. So it’s a criticism I have to put up with and I’ve tried to adjust to because, whether it is so or not, it is something which I think is profitable.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 29 December 1992
[Duration: 0:20 sec]
I accepted that if you have a problem, you must face it and not gloss over it.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 29 December 1992
[Duration: 0:21 sec]
Success in politics demands that you must take your people into confidence about your views and state them very clearly, very politely, very calmly, but nevertheless state them openly.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 29 April 1993
[Duration: 0:21 sec]
A common touch is of immense advantage, especially on the part of a head of state.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 2 February 1993
[Duration: 0:09 sec]
The masses like to see somebody who is responsible and who speaks in a responsible manner. They like that, and so I avoid rabble-rousing speeches.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 3 February 1993
[Duration: 0:21 sec]
A softer approach, especially when you are confident of a case, brings about results far more than aggression.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 8 February 1993
[Duration: 0:09 sec]
We are fighting for a society where people will cease thinking in terms of colour.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 8 March 1993
[Duration: 0:06 sec]
I didn’t want to be presented in a way that omits the dark spots in my life.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 16 March 1993
[Duration: 0:12 sec]
Once you have rid yourself of the fear of the oppressor and his prisons, his police, his army, there is nothing that they can do. You are liberated.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 9 March 1993
[Duration: 0:14 sec]
I don’t think I was fundamentally different from what I was before I went to jail, except that in jail I had a lot of time to think about problems and to see the mistakes that we had committed. I came out mature.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, circa March 1993
[Duration: 0:19 sec]
Prison – far from breaking our spirits – made us more determined to continue with this battle until victory was won.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 10 March 1993
[Duration: 0:11 sec]
When you are a public figure, you have to accept the integrity of other people until there is evidence to the contrary.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 3 May 1993
[Duration: 0:08 sec]
Well, it would be an exaggeration to say I never become depressed. Many people, of course, may not discover that.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, circa April or May 1993
[Duration: 0:09 sec]
At the beginning of the year, I used to take resolutions that this is what I would do, then I find that I can’t even stick to that resolution for two days.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 3 May 1993
[Duration: 0:08 sec]
I never think of the time I have lost. I just carry out a programme because it’s there. It’s mapped out for me.
From a conversation with Richard Stengel, 3 May 1993
[Duration: 0:07 sec]
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