1994 Inaugural Speech

I typed this out about 2 years ago and found it in a file recently. It's one of my favourite quotes of all time.


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 darknes, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and 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 us.

We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone of us.

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.


Nelson Mandela, in this 1994 Inaugural Speech