# Nelson Mandela: Education

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

#Nelson Mandela: Peace

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Bad by name; bad by nature?#Mandela

Source: "Long Walk To Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

During Nelson Mandela's 19 years imprisoned on Robben Island, one particular commanding officer was the most brutal of them all:

"A few days before Badenhorst's departure, I was called to the main office. General Steyn was visiting the island and wanted to know if we had any complaints. Badenhorst was there as I went through a list of demands. When I had finished, Badenhorst spoke to me directly.

He told me he would be leaving the island and added: 'I just want to wish you people good luck'. I do not know if I looked dumbfounded, but I was amazed. He spoke these words like a human being and showed a side of himself we had never seen before. I thanked him for his good wishes and wished him luck in his endeavours.

I thought about this moment for a long time afterwards. Badenhorst had perhaps been the most callous and barbaric commanding officer we had had on Robben Island. But that day in the office, he had revealed that that there was another side to his nature, a side that had been obscured but still existed.

It was a useful reminder that all men, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have a core of decency and that, if their hearts are touched, they are capable of changing. Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted upon him by an inhuman system. He behaved like a brute because he was rewarded for brutish behaviour."

A story of compassion

Gandhi, like Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela, is regarded world-wide as a person who walked with great humility and wisdom.

The story is told of the time Gandhi stepped aboard a train and, as he walked up the boarding stairs, one of his shoes slipped off. Unfortunately, at that exact

moment, the train began to move and there was no way that he could recover the fallen shoe. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off

his other shoe and threw it back down the railway track where it landed close to the one he had lost.

When asked by a fellow passenger why he had done this, he replied: “The poor man who finds the shoe lying next to the tracks, will now have a pair that he can use.”

Remember:

There are always people who are less fortunate than ourselves. Compassion as a value, means being aware of when people are suffering, and wanting to do

 something about it. Even if we haven’t got material things to offer another person, we can always offer words of kindness and support.

I really wanted to retire and rest....

I really wanted to retire and rest and spend more time with my children, my grandchildren and of course with my wife.

Nelson Mandela#