A Nelson Mandela Quote I Will Never Forget

Nelson Mandela had a gift with words and that’s why so many of his quotes are used over and over again. However, there’s one particular quote of his that I haven’t forgotten ever since I read it last year:

This quote has recently resurfaced in my mind partly because of all the xenophobia plaguing our beautiful country and partly because of the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. However, after analyzing the above mentioned events I’ve come to the conclusion that although this quote is interesting it is not completely accurate.

If you look at the world today we see violence, hatred, jealousy, greed, poaching and gossip as outright enemies and because of this we’re inclined to presume that there aren’t any good, caring people left in the world. But, this isn’t the case.

After escaping crumbling buildings and surviving the initial earthquake many of Nepal’s natives and tourists reached out to help strangers. Literally. They pulled rocks and bricks out of the way to rescue the people underneath. Stories like this one are heartwarming and remind us that although there is a lot of evil in the world there is also plenty good.

So, because there are good people who are doing a lot of good and caring for others, society doesn’t need to re-establish a culture of caring instead we need to encourage it to thrive.