“Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front.”

Blaming things on the past does not make them better.

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.

Our task is not to liberate the oppressed, but to liberate the oppressors

It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.

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.

Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up

No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.

Fools multiply when wise men are silent.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

Our persona was not created by accident; it was created in order to camouflage the parts of ourselves we deemed the most undesirable and to overcompensate for what we believe to be our deepest flaws. What persona are you hiding behind?

I believe that any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement, if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day, and as nearly as possible reaching the high-water mark of pure and useful living.

I thank my old self who chose to be brave, how he believed there would be so much in front of me, and by all that, he was ready to face growth.

I am caught between the meadow and the sky knowing I can walk long distances, but believing there’s something greater than where my feet can take me.

I believe that the biggest problem that humanity faces is an ego sensitivity to finding out whether one is right or wrong and identifying what one’s strengths and weaknesses are.

The faithful believe that certain truths have been ‘revealed.’ The skeptics and secularists believe that truth is only to be sought by free inquiry and trial and error. Only one of those positions is dogmatic.

Some of the things you believe were never true. They were someone else’s fears. Give yourself a chance to examine your thoughts. Change those that are negative. You are deserving.

When the stakes are this high- when calling God by the right name can make the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, it is impossible to respect the beliefs of others who don’t believe as you do.