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What did I find most inspiring about him and ow did they take risks for the wellbeing of others rather than risking others’ wellbeing?

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What did I find most inspiring about him and ow did they take risks for the wellbeing of others rather than risking others’ wellbeing?

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The biggest thing I found inspiring about Mandela was that he was not afraid to put everything on the line for what he believed in and his morals. He told everyone he was prepared to die and that he was sorry for his past but he wanted to change it. I found it inspirational that he turned his whole life around after he left prison. He knew that the person

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http://theiranproject.com/blog/tag/nelson-mandela-death/

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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.- Nelson Mandela

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.- Nelson Mandela

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others- Nelson Mandela

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

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

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Nelson Mandela speech that changed the world

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Nelson Mandela speech that changed the world

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So Mandela set out to kill apartheid through persuasion and reconciliation.

"I learned," he wrote in his memoirs, "that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate. I sought always to defeat my opponents without dishonouring them."

Defeating apartheid without dishonouring South Africa's white inhabitants was Mandela's crowning achievement.

Today, few can remember how illusory a prospect this once seemed. An opinion poll conducted in 1985 found that 70 per cent of South Africans expected a civil war. During that dismal era, when PW Botha - the last of the unyielding Afrikaner leaders - held absolute power, the black townships were in flames and many hundreds of thousands simply voted with their feet by emigrating.

After all, Botha insisted that apartheid would continue into an indefinite future - and with Mandela behind bars and a negotiated settlement ruled out, South Africans genuinely feared their country was heading towards the abyss of racial conflict.

"We will not take the road to abdication and national suicide. Don't push us too far," declared Botha in his infamous "Rubicon" speech in 1985 - so named because he was decidedly not crossing the Rubicon to reform the system.

Yet only nine years later, apartheid had not been diluted, but consigned to history. Mandela was serving as the first black president, South Africa had become the democratic "Rainbow Nation" of his promises - and Botha had retired, seeing out his days on the Cape coast until his death in 2006. And all this happened without a civil war.

This peaceful achievement of democracy was Mandela's monument. He was the key to everything. Mandela was South Africa's indispensable man, providing the personal ballast which saved his country from tipping into that abyss of conflict.

Born in 1918, he was a member of the royal family of the Thembu clan of the Xhosa people. Mandela's father, Henry, served as a traditional chief and adviser in the court of the Thembu king, Jongintaba Dalindyebo.

Mandela was groomed to become a royal counsellor, like his father, and was deeply influenced by what he remembered - perhaps rosily - as the king's benign rule. On Mandela's telling, the royal court was a collegiate place where everyone had their say and, so far as possible, Jongintaba secured universal agreement for every decision.

As part of Mandela's preparation for his role, Jongintaba arranged for him to go to a prestigious school, Healdtown college. There, Mandela developed his lifelong love of English literature and a deep knowledge of British history.

In his memoirs, he would "confess" to being "something of an Anglophile", writing of his attachment to "British style and manners". He spoke of his acquired English name with pride, explaining that "Lord Nelson is a famous historical figure" and "the name Nelson is too famous for you just to throw it away".

Mandela progressed to study law at Fort Hare University, then the only institution offering degree-level education for young blacks. With his father dead, he soon fell out with Jongintaba over a proposed marriage and fled to Johannesburg. Without this incident, Mandela might have lived out his days as a Thembu chief in a remote area of South Africa.

Instead, Mandela arrived in Johannesburg and joined the African National Congress (ANC), forming the only black law firm in the country along with his friend Oliver Tambo.

Mandela delivered flamboyant courtroom performances - and lost case after case. The redress his black clients needed from apartheid was, quite simply, impossible to obtain.

So he became a young radical. At some point in the 1950s, the evidence suggests he was a secret member of the banned Communist party, although he probably left after a few years.

The ANC was formally outlawed in 1960, helping to convince Mandela that drastic steps were needed. Tambo later recalled the Mandela of this era as a combative hardliner. "If you wanted confrontation, you called Mandela," he said.

Mandela resolved to lead an "armed struggle" and became the first commander of "Umkhonto we Sizwe", the "Spear of the Nation", as the ANC's new guerrilla army was known.

He organised a brief bombing campaign in December 1961. Sabotage was the only aim - there was no plan to kill anyone - and bombs were placed at power stations, electricity pylons and empty government offices.

The whole effort was a fiasco. Some bombs failed to explode, others blew up too early. The only casualty was a young recruit, Petrus Molife, who was so badly trained that he accidentally killed himself with his own explosives - a fact that Mandela omitted from his memoirs.

This episode showed that Mandela's gifts did not include the ability to run a guerrilla campaign. Unable to organise any effective explosions, he also ignored basic security procedures, often carrying incriminating documents and taking his habitual early-morning jogs even while supposedly in hiding. He was duly arrested in 1962 and jailed for leaving the country illegally.

Whether as township lawyer or ANC activist, Mandela had shown himself courageous, charismatic and dedicated. Yet the young Mandela was also arrogant, stubborn and feckless. His incompetence during his brief leadership of the "armed struggle" verged on the absurd.

It was the prison years that brought out his greatness. Twelve months after he was jailed, police raided an ANC training camp in Rivonia, outside Johannesburg. Mandela was brought from his cell and placed on trial for sabotage and "acts of violence".

The Rivonia trial provided the world's last glimpse of Mandela for almost three decades. He was charged with treason, a capital offence, and his own lawyers put his chances of being hanged at 50-50.

With his life in the balance, Mandela gave an address from the dock which ranks among the greatest speeches of the 20th century. "I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people," he said. "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 which I hope to live for, and to see realised."

Then, knowing that he faced the scaffold, Mandela looked directly at the judge. "But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

In the event, Mr Justice Quartus de Wet sentenced Mandela to life imprisonment with hard labour, a verdict that brought sighs of relief from the public gallery.

At the age of 46, Mandela was consigned to Robben Island, a windswept rock in the Atlantic, used variously as a leper colony and maximum security jail. The prison routine was merciless: Mandela broke rocks in the courtyard, forbidden to talk to other inmates. He lived alone in a tiny and frigid cell. Later, he worked in a quarry, where the glare of sunlight glittering off limestone permanently damaged his eyes.

He endured a series of personal tragedies. Mandela's mother, Nosekeni, died in 1968. Police raided his family home and wrenched his headstrong wife, Winnie, from their daughters before placing her in solitary confinement. Then his son, Thembekile, died in a car accident in 1969.

"What can one say about such a tragedy?" Mandela wrote. "I was already overwrought about my wife, I was still grieving for my mother, and then to hear such news. I do not have words to express the sorrow or the loss I felt."

Mandela fought his despair by setting out to become the master of his prison life. He treated the guards as unsentimental equals, embracing the maxim "know your enemy" and learning reasonable Afrikaans.

Mandela, intensely reserved and self-contained, was quietly imbued with a sense of destiny. His favourite poem was W.E. Henley's "Invictus":

It matters not how strait the gate

How charged with punishments the scroll

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

The more far-sighted ministers in South Africa's regime began to realise that prisoner no. 46664 was no ordinary inmate. If a negotiated end to apartheid was possible, then Mandela was the man to deal with.

As early as 1986, the regime began talking to Mandela. In complete secrecy, Mandela held scores of meetings with Kobie Coetsee, then justice minister, and later Niel Barnard, then head of intelligence. During these remarkable negotiations, the prisoner, the cabinet minister and the spy chief agreed the outlines of what became South Africa's historic settlement: majority rule combined with constitutional guarantees for racial minorities.

By the time FW de Klerk ousted Botha in 1989, the regime had concluded that Mandela was someone who they could - and must - do business with. De Klerk duly released Mandela in February 1990 and opened formal talks with the ANC.

At the age of 71, Mandela walked free after 27 years behind bars. That fact alone gave him the credibility to achieve what followed.

No black radical could question Mandela's dedication to the struggle and, by the same token, no white South African could doubt that his gestures of reconciliation were genuine and heartfelt.

But first came the long, hard business of negotiation. No one who dealt with Mandela was allowed to doubt his skills as a canny lawyer and shrewd politician.

The talks to produce a new constitution were always on the brink of collapse. Infuriated by massacres of ANC supporters, which he blamed on de Klerk's security forces, Mandela showed a ruthlessness that belied his saintly image.

After 45 people were murdered in Boipatong township, Mandela walked out of the talks, called a general strike and personally led a march by 100,000 demonstrators.

In the end, the deal which he alone had the standing to deliver was concluded, and South Africa's first free elections followed in 1994. After millions of blacks and whites had queued together to vote, Mandela won the presidency.

His gestures of reconciliation went beyond anything that whites had expected. Mandela summoned Percy Yutar, the prosecutor who had tried to have him hanged at the Rivonia trial, and gave him an official lunch. He sought out one of his old jailers, Jannie Roux, the former prison commissioner, and made him Ambassador to Austria. He took tea with Betsy Verwoerd, the widow of Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid.

He even used rugby - the adopted sport of Afrikanerdom - in the cause of reconciliation.

The Springbok rugby team had once symbolised apartheid and, on principle, black South Africans would always cheer their opponents. But when they played New Zealand at home in the Rugby World Cup final in 1995, Mandela donned a Springbok shirt and embraced their victorious captain.

In his inauguration speech, Mandela declared: "Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another."

Nelson Mandela: life in pictures

Those words still ring in the ears of millions of South Africans. Deep down, they know that their country is free because a man called Nelson Mandela lived.

How will you remember Nelson Mandela? Please email your tributes and memories to mandelatributes@telegraph.co.uk

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Nelson Mandela: the man who changed the course of history

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So Mandela set out to kill apartheid through persuasion and reconciliation. "I learned," he wrote in his memoirs, "that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate. I sought always to defeat my opponents without dishonouring them." Defeating apartheid without dishonouring South Africa's white inhabitants was Mandela's crowning achievement.

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Nelson Mandela receiving the Nobel Peace Price in 1993.  

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Nelson Mandela receiving the Nobel Peace Price in 1993.  

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http://www.crossmap.com/news/the-norwegian-nobel-committee-mandela-one-of-the-greatest-names-in-nobel-history-7287/print

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I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe, and that I played a prominent role in its affairs until I was arrested in August 1962. In the statement which I am about to make, I shall correct certain false impressions which have been created by State witnesses; amongst other things I will demonstrate that certain of the acts referred to in the evidence were not, and could not have been committed by Umkhonto. I will also deal with the relationship between the African National Congress and with the part which I personally have played in the affairs of both organisations. I shall deal also with the part played by the Communist Party. In order to explain these matters properly, I will have to explain what Umkhonto set out to achieve; what methods it prescribed for the achievement of these objects, and why these methods were chosen. I will also have to explain how I came, I became involved in the activities of these organisations - Nelson Mandela

This is an exact copy of the first paragraph from Nelson Mandela's "I am prepared to die" speech. He discuss' his past and takes responsibility for his previous actions. This speech was performed in front of thousands of people. I think he was very courageous

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How has his work changed today's society? 

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How has his work changed today's society? 

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The effects that Nelson Mandela has had since he left prison were massive. Not only South Africa was changed but the entire world's view on equality shifted drastically when Mandela was released from prison.

At the age of 65, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in working to defeat apartheid. His service was recognised eventually but he had to spend a long time fighting for what he believed in and he had to stay strong to his morals. I think this has shown lots of people today how that if you want something so badly, whether it would be fighting for something or even achieving a goal

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How did Mandela challenge the 'status quo?' 

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How did Mandela challenge the 'status quo?' 

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In prison, Mandela stood out among prisoners and guards as a man of principle and dignity, willing to sacrifice his life for his beliefs. Despite harsh prison life, Mandela found energy to challenge his keepers. He was unwilling to accept the status quo and his presence on Robben Island held a mirror up to the face of apartheid’s leaders. Through word, deed and symbol, he challenged the system that denied him liberty and freedom to live the way he wanted to and in a place he wanted to. Nelson Mandela was never violent to get what he wanted but that doesn't mean other people weren't. When people didn't agree with his methods and beliefs they would physically, verbally and mentally hurt him.

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Nelson Mandela went against what society told him and as a result of this obviously offended people along the way. Mandela was not given any encouragement and no support . He had to fight for many years for what he believed in.  Mandela had one purpose in his life and he was willing to be killed before anyone told him he couldn't achieve his goals as heard in his speech which is shown below.

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Nelson Mandela - Former President of South Africa | Mini Bio | Biography

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Below is a picture of Mandela graduating Wits University in 1943

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Below is a picture of Mandela graduating Wits University in 1943

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To what extent is Mandela a truly radical figure and how did he not rise to conformity?

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To what extent is Mandela a truly radical figure and how did he not rise to conformity?

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Nelson Mandela changed the way that white people viewed others. Not just people of colour but the entire nation. Him and eight other African National Congress leaders were convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government, and were sentenced to life in jail in 1964. Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).

In 1944 he married Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. He and his wife divorced in 1958.

Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a

more radical policy, the Programme of Action, in 1949.

In 1952 he was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years.

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1. Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017].
2. Freedom, N. (2017). Nelson Mandela - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. [online] HISTORY.com. Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017].
3. YouTube. (2017). Nelson Mandela: Mini Biography. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017].
4. News. (2017). Transcript: Nelson Mandela speech 'I am prepared to die’. [online] Available at: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/07/12/transcript-nelson-mandela-speech-i-am-prepared-die%E2%80%99 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017].
5. Hooper, S. (2017). Mandela the radical. [online] Aljazeera.com. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201358183059392141.html [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017].
6. Biography. (2017). Nelson Mandela. [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/nelson-mandela-9397017 [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017].

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- On the 18th of July, 1918, Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo.
- His Primary school teacher, Miss Mdingane gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all the schoolchildren “Christian” names.
- Began to study the Bachelor of Arts at University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest.