The following
quote has been falsely credited to Nelson Mandela's 1994
Inauguration Speech. Although these are NOT the words of Mandela,
these inspirational words do represent how Mandela has lived is
life. If he "played small",
present day South Africa may very well still be a nation gripped
by aparteid.
"...Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our
deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It
is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We
ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually,
who are you not to be?
You
are a child of God.
Your
playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you.
We
are all meant to shine, as children do.
We
were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's
not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And
as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As
we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others..."
by Marianne Williamson ©
1992
from
A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course
in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section
3 (Paperback;
pp 190-191)
This quote has been a major
inspiration in my life.
I'd like to think that Ms .Williamson
would be very flattered by the association to Mandela. I believe
I first heard these words when Williamson
first appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. If you've never heard
of Williamson, I can tell
you that she is no small player
in the world. She inspires many millions with her books, lectures,
and activism. It's no wonder that so many people think that Mandela
spoke those words, at the same time ... I believe in giving credit
where credit is due :)
Williamson
comments on the Mandela link to her quote:
Posted by Marianne Williamson on July 21, 1996 at 09:56:08:
In Reply to: Mandela's speech posted by Bill Cecil on July 20,
1996 at 17:57:49:
Dear Bill,
Yep, that writing is two paragraphs from my l992 book "A
RETURN TO LOVE."(In the WORK section, in a chapter called
PERSONAL POWER) Seeing it printed everywhere as a Nelson Mandela
quote has been a rather strange experience .. he definitely did
not quote it in his inaugural, by the way. I have heard that he
used the material in a lesser speech (so said his office), but
I have never seen the text, so I don't know what the context or
attribution was.
Thanks for the compliment.
Please keep visiting.
My best,
Marianne
From: http://www.famous-quotations.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30&PN=1
Original post comes from a dead link on quoteland.com
Here are Mandela's
actual
speeches.
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