Invictus! = Unconquered!

Hello Everyone –

Five years ago next week, on December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela passed away at the age of 95 in South Africa. Here are a few poems and quotes that celebrate the living spirit of Nelson Mandela – statesman, peacemaker, and Nobel laureate extraordinaire. The first two items were personal favorites of his that brought him great strength and courage during his 27-year imprisonment – and also afterward – as he carried on the struggle against injustice throughout the 67 years of his public life. Mandela is a sterling example of how one person can change the world for the better – and gives lasting proof that positive change can be accomplished in the world, one person at a time.

“INVICTUS” (1875)

By William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

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 MAN IN THE ARENA

By Theodore Roosevelt (1856-1919), 26^th President of the United States

Excerpted from the Speech Citizenship in a Republic

Delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April 1910

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Quotations from Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)

·        “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.”

·        “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

·        “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

·        “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Additional information about Nelson Mandela and the charitable work of the Nelson Mandela Foundation can be found @ http://www.nelsonmandela.org/.

Quotemail will begin its annual series of weekly Yuletide features next Friday, December 7, which will conclude with a special edition on the day of the Winter Solstice, December 21. Stay tuned!

Until next week –

Rob :)