After I became president, I asked my escort to go to a restaurant for lunch. We sat down and each of us asked what we wanted.
On the front table, there was a man waiting to be served. When he was served, I said to one of my soldiers: go and ask that gentleman to join us. The soldier went and conveyed my invitation to him. The man got up, took his plate and sat down right next to me.
While he ate his hands trembled constantly and he did not lift his head from his food. When we finished, he said goodbye without looking at me, I shook his hand and he left.
The soldier told me:
Madiba that man must have been very ill, seeing as his hands didn't stop shaking while he ate.-
Absolutely no! the reason for his trembling is another.
Then I told him:
That man was the warden of the prison where I stayed. After he tortured me, I screamed and cried asking for some water and he came humiliated me, laughed at me and instead of giving me water, he urinated in my head.
He is not sick, he was afraid that I, now president of South Africa, would send him to prison and do to him what he did to me. But I'm not like that, this conduct is not part of my character, nor of my ethics.
′′Minds that seek revenge destroy states, while those that seek reconciliation build nations. Walking out the door to my freedom, I knew that if I didn't leave all the anger, hatred and resentment behind me, I would still be a prisoner."
Nelson Mandela
Comments