Mlie’s Reviews > Long Walk to Freedom: 1918-1962: Vol 1 > Status Update

p681 I expresed my delight to be back among them, but then i scolded the people for some of the crippling problems of urban black life. Students, I said, must return to school. Crime must be brought under control (...) Freedom without civility, freedom without the ability to live in peace, was not true freedom after all.

p.671 I did not dwell on the prospect of my release, but on all the many things i had to do before them. As so often happens in life, the momentousness of an occassion is lost in the welter of a thousand details.

P616. It was if I were still dreaming. I held her to me for what felt like an eternity. We were still silent except for the sounds of our hearts (...) It had been 21 years since I had even touched my wife's hand

P 605. Once again, i thought it necessary to draw a distinction between principle and tactics.

P.581 To survive in prison, one must develop ways to take satisfaction in one's daily life. One can feel fulfilled by washing one's clothes so that they are particularly clean, by sweeping one's corridor so that it is free of dust, by organizing one's cell to conserve as much space as possible.

P.576. During the Rivonia trial, i remarked to a security policeman that if the government did not reform itself, the freedom fighters who would take our place would someday make the authorities yearn for us. That day had indeed come to Robben Island.

(of eigenlijk 549: mijn versie heeft meer dan 700p)

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

I spent my first day in Cairo at the museum (..)This was not amateur archaelogical interest; it is important for African ntionalists to be armed with evidence to refute the fictious claims of whites that Africans are without a civilzed past that compares with that of the West. In a single morning, I discovered the Egyptians were creating great works of arts and architecture, when whites were still living in caves.

The delegates assembled at the tiny town of Debra Zaid.

When the troups had marched directly in front of the grandstand, an order rang out in Amharic, and the five hunderd soldiers halted as one man, spun around an dexecuted a precise salute to an elderl man in a dazzling uniform, His Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie.

Denk eerste keer dat ik Debre Zeit in een boek zie (ben ik geweest)

When underground, I did not walk as tall or stand as straight. I spoke more softly, with less clarity and distinction. I was more passive, more unobtrusive; I did not ask for things but let people tell me what to do. I did not ask for things, but let people tell me what to do. I did not shave or cut my hair. My most frequent disguise was chauffeur, chef or 'garden boy'.