Lessons From The Life of Nelson Mandela

Born on July 18, 1918, in the Umtata district of the Transkei, at a time when virtually all of Africa was under European colonial rule, Nelson Mandela an Anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first black president has been regarded as one of the great figures of the 20th century. In 1962, he was arrested for conspiring to overthrow the state and sentenced to life and sent to notorious Robben Island to serve his sentence. On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of South Africa’s Victor Verster prison near Cape Town after 27 years in captivity. 

Below are some lessons that can have a profound impact on your lives.

"A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special"

Education played a key role in Nelson Mandela’s life, even though his own parents were illiterate. He attended a mission school as a child and then a Western-style boarding school. As the son of a tribal councillor, he learned the art of listening which helped in his role as a leader and peacemaker throughout his life. Mandela saw education as part of the key to winning the struggle against apartheid. Nelson Mandela said “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another”.

“The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.” 

Never Ever Give Up. Nelson Mandela had very clear objectives; he was committed towards ending apartheid and also bringing people together to live in peace. He knew that the road would be paved with tremendous adversities. But he never gave up. Mandela said “Do not judge me by my successes, but by how many times I fell down and got up back again”

“When people are determined, they can overcome anything.

He spent almost 3 decades of his life in prison, doing back-breaking work in the lime quarry in the harsh sun causing permanent damage to his eyes. Solitary confinement, which drove many insane, could not break him. Along with his indomitable spirit, he braved on. Mandela was also diagnosed with early stage Tuberculosis in 1988, but He fought on.

“We must strive to be moved by a generosity of spirit that will enable us to outgrow the hatred and conflicts of the past.”

It’s easy to stay angry and much harder to forgive and finding the strength to forgive after even the most difficult of experiences is an ability that makes us a better and a happier person. Nelson Mandela showed us the power of forgiveness and the ability that we all have to extend this courtesy to even our most hurtful opponents. As Mandela rightly said when he walked out of the prison gates after 27 years of incarceration: “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison” Who could endure that kind of suffering from the enemy and not wish for revenge? No one would have blamed Nelson Mandela for hating his captors. Yet perhaps Nelson Mandela’s greatest legacy to the world is his incredible capacity for forgiveness.

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”

Nelson Mandela could have made a comfortable life for himself as a young lawyer. He and his friend Oliver Tambo opened the first black legal practice, Mandela & Tambo, in South Africa in 1952, giving affordable and often free advice to black people who could otherwise not afford it. But this wasn’t enough for Mandela. He wanted an anti-apartheid, fair and equal society, where blacks and whites could rule together in a democracy.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done”

Nothing in this world is impossible and Mandela’s own story reminds us of that. Lawyer, Anti-Apartheid revolutionary, Political leader, Philanthropist, President. Mandela had to endure far more than many of us can even imagine.

“We don't all have to have the same opinion”

If more people grasped this concept, the world would be an infinitely better place. We can agree to disagree. Mandela had friends from Natal Indian Congress, Transvaal Indian Congress, Communist Party, and African National Congress. Mandela in his book said “I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my opinion”

There are much more interesting anecdotes in the following books. His views on Gandhi, Armed Struggle, Formation of Umkhonto We Sizwe, Guerrilla faction of African National Congress, Secret Negotiations with the government, etc. He was very fond of reading and in his younger days was a heavyweight boxer. Later he also developed an interest in Gardening, while in prison. Nelson Mandela married thrice. He died at the age of 95 in the year 2013, and the World fondly remembered him on his 100th Birth anniversary.