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Greece is the mother of democracy and South Africa is its youngest daughter
Nelson Mandela
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the historical roots of democracy in Greece and its evolution in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela's quote captures the essence of democracy as a concept that originated in ancient Greece, where it was first practiced. By referring to South Africa as its 'youngest daughter,' Mandela highlights the relatively recent adoption and nurturing of democratic principles in South Africa, celebrating its emergence from apartheid to a democratic society.

Themes

DemocracyGreeceSouth AfricaHistoryPolitics

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote during a political rally to highlight the significance of democracy in global history.

More from Nelson Mandela

We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.
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The past is a rich resource on which we can draw in order to make decisions for the future, but it does not dictate our choices. We should look back at the past and select what is good, and leave behind what is bad.
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We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people.
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After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one's person.
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I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.
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