Nelson Mandela’s words have been read, analyzed, celebrated, and memorialized for decades.

They’re engraved on statues, recited in classrooms, and strung across banners. And they’ve been culled from decades of intense thought.

During his early years as a lawyer and activist, Mandela spoke with a sharp, revolutionary fervor against the brutal oppression of apartheid. Later, stuck in solitary confinement for nearly three decades, his letters pondered the pursuit of justice, reflecting the slow-drip of time and the anticipated omissions of a censor.

And then when he became the human rights champion who toppled apartheid, his speeches were aflame with hope, rising beyond South Africa to dream of an end to poverty and injustice everywhere.

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