- I have always known that deep down in every human heart, there is mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite (Mandela, 1994: 542).
- I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred; he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not truly free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity (Mandela, 1994: 544).
Source: Mandela, N. A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1994).
A Long Walk to Freedom
Abraham Tiamiyu