Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
I'm no saint, Mandela says in excerpt from new book
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Top Stories
Most Popular
Photos
Full Coverage
Sitemap
I'm no saint, Mandela says in excerpt from new book
AFP - 2 hours 50 minutes ago
Send
IM Story
Print
I'm no saint, Mandela says in excerpt from new book
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - – A new collection of Nelson Mandela's private papers reveals his years of heartache at missing his family while in prison and his wariness at becoming idolised, in excerpts published Sunday.
The book "Conversations with Myself" goes on sale Tuesday, but passages printed in British and South African papers show his thoughts on everything from the danger of corruption in power to his grief at his son's death.
Decades' worth of letters, diaries and private recordings were distilled by his eponymous Foundation in a project that purports to show the private man behind the global icon.
Now 92, the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against the white-minority apartheid government says he doesn't want to be remembered as a larger-than-life saint.
"One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image I unwittingly projected to the outside world; of being regarded as a saint," he said in an excerpt printed in South Africa's Sunday Times.
"I never was one, even on the basis of the earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps trying."
After 27 years in prison for resisting apartheid rule, Mandela was released in 1990 and led negotiations with the government that culminated in his election as the country's first black president in 1994.
He stepped down in 1999, after serving one term in office. Today he appears frail and makes few public appearances since retiring from public life in 2004.
He remains deeply revered in South Africa, and although he has spoken publicly about his shortcomings, critical talk is almost non-existent about the man known fondly by his clan name Madiba.
The book appears to invite a more rounded discussion of his life, while also focusing on the enormous personal sacrifices required by his devotion to the liberation struggle.
"As a young man, I combined all the weaknesses, errors and indiscretions of a country boy, whose range of vision and experience was influenced mainly by events in the area in which I grew up and the colleges to which I was sent," he wrote, according to the South African paper.
"I relied on arrogance to hide my weaknesses," he added.
In letters written to his family while in prison, Mandela wrote that he felt "soaked in gall" by being powerless to help his then-wife Winnie and his children, according to Britain's Sunday Times.
"I feel I have been soaked in gall, every part of me, my flesh, bloodstream, bone and soul, so bitter am I to be completely powerless to help you in the rough and fierce ordeals you are going through," he wrote to Winnie Mandela in August 1970.
When Winnie was also jailed for a time in 1969, he wrote to his daughters Zeni and Zindi, then aged nine and 10, that "you may live like orphans without your own home and parents, without the natural love, affection and protection Mummy used to give you."
The letters also reveal his sometimes stormy relations with Winnie, whom he divorced after his release from prison.
In a letter to a friend in 1987, he says that after writing to Winnie to say that their daughters had grown up well: "My beloved wife was furious... she reminded me: 'I, not you, brought up these children whom you now prefer to me.' I was simply stunned."
A poignant letter to a friend records his reaction after Thembi, the elder of two sons from his first marriage, died in a car crash at the age of 24 in 1969. He was not allowed to attend the funeral.
"When I was first advised of my son's death I was shaken from top to bottom," he said, adding that he had experienced similar heartache when he lost a nine-month-old baby girl several years earlier.
Some of his musings resonate in modern South Africa's concerns about corruption in politics.
"Frequently erstwhile revolutionaries have easily succumbed to greed, and the tendency to divert public resources for personal enrichment ultimately overwhelmed them," he said.
"They virtually deserted the masses of the people and joined the former oppressors, who enriched themselves by mercilessly robbing the poorest of the poor."
Mandela himself isn't expected to speak about the book's release. His last public outing was a brief appearance at the World Cup final in July in Johannesburg.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
News Search
Top Stories
I'm no saint, Mandela says in excerpt from new book
Solomon Burke dies: Netherlands airport
Mandela letters show jail heartbreak: report
No US government takeover of economy:Geithner
IMF calls for more study on economic imbalances
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Solomon Burke dies: Netherlands airport
Mandela letters show jail heartbreak: report
Win for husband and wife, Games in race row
British lottery winner gets record 129 mln euros
No US government takeover of economy:Geithner
More Most Viewed »
US state executes first woman in nearly 100 years
Workers swarm Europe's streets in anti-cuts protests
Global marine life census charts vast world beneath the seas
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo!
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Yahoo! News Network
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Monday, 11 October 2010 Iran rebels say kidnap nuclear expert
China detains Nobel Peace Prize winner's wife: U.S. rights group
|
I'm no saint, Mandela says in excerpt from new book
Former Afghan president heads peace council
Googles Autonomous Car Aims To Lessen Road Accidents
Roadside bombs kill 7, including 2 NATO troops
Facebook Founders Give Big To Back Marijuana In California
ISAF Welcomes Opening Of Torkhan Gate For NATO Supplies
Pakistan reopens Afghan border for NATO supplies
|
UCLA Researchers Develop Microscope With No Lens
Amber Alert Issued For North Carolina Girl
NY Man Randomly Stabs 8-Year Old Boy at New York Dave and Busters
Orlando Girl Accused Of Poisoning Adoptive Family
10/10/10 Environmental Events Set To Begin
Torture And Rape Of Gay Men In NYC Put City On Edge
U.S. Taking Stock As Pakistan Reopens Border Crossing
Google testing car that drives itself
|
Social gaming sector braces for deal wave
|
Hip-hop videogame aims to catch fire by going social
|
Israeli author Grossman appeals for peace as awarded prize
Rich economies must keep crisis policies: BoJ
Facebook flick tops US box office for 2nd week
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
"Budrus" film captures peaceful change in Middle East
"Social Network" tops box office for second week
Soul singer Solomon Burke dies in Amsterdam
London's Savoy hotel reopens after major refit
US soul 'king' Solomon Burke dies at Amsterdam airport
Photographer's violent 'Playroom' shots rile critics
Tiny town becomes pilgrim centre for Australia's first saint
Googles Autonomous Car Aims To Lessen Road Accidents
Scientific Search for Chinese Bigfoot Relaunched
Social Network tops box office for second week
|
Schwarzenegger, Medvedev exchange tweets in Moscow
Budrus film captures peaceful change in Middle East
|
US-TECH Summary
Hip-hop videogame aims to catch fire by going social
Social gaming sector braces for deal wave
Karzai confirms holding talks with Taliban
China media say dissident Nobel shows West's fear
|
British hearings to probe MI5 over 2005 bombings
Schwarzenegger leads U.S. tech investors to Russia
Roadside bombs kill 11, including 2 NATO troops
Too much TV psychologically harms kids: study
France: UN creation of Palestinian state possible
Japan urges China to set up communication system
|
Former Afghan president heads peace council
Google testing car that drives itself
French Al-Qaeda hostage urgently needs medical aid: mediator
Jaundice newborns prone to develop autism: study
Nine Afghan civilians killed by insurgent bomb: NATO
Indian Railways To Offer Thousands Of Jobs To Americans In The U.S.
UAE renewable energy city launch date pushed back
Myanmar could free 3,000 prisoners before polls
|
After long ordeal, Chile miners prepare to leave
Killer Whale Gives Birth To 7th Calf At Florida Theme Park
Light at end of tunnel as Chile miner rescue nears
|
Roadside bombs kill 7, including 2 NATO troops
Putin takes all key Russia econ decisions: Kudrin
|
Five Kyrgyz parties pass election threshold
|
Sparks fly in Brazil debate, Rousseff on offensive
|
New Australia inquest into baby's 'death by dingo'
Global Weather-Asia-Celsius
Former All Blacks coach stabbed in South Africa
N.Korea starts leadership succession process
Japan, China agree system to avert conflict at sea: media
Japan "urges China to set up communication system"
Russia's top nuclear envoy visits Seoul
Microsoft readies new phone launch with AT&T
|
Seoul pays tribute to North Korean defector
Schwarzenegger leads U.S. tech investors to Russia
|
China, Japan defence chiefs meet after diplomatic row
"Love" knocks "Afterlife" from top spot overseas
Myanmar opposition party says polls step towards democracy
'Oranges and Sunshine' sheds light on dark episode
Asiad: One month ahead, Guangzhou ready to go
Lebanon flags up yet another world record
S.Korea says no withholding tax plan for foreigners' bond buys
S.Korea Lee warns of big trouble if FX accord fails
Seoul shares slip 0.4 pct as techs lose ground
S.Korea not discussed withholding tax on foreigners' bonds
PAKISTAN
Taiwan dlr surges, emerging mkt appetite supports
Seoul shares rise as U.S. Fed hope brews
S.Korea exports up 63 pct in first 10 days of Oct
S.Korean bonds edge higher early after U.S. data
Seoul shares open higher amid Fed support hopes
Social Network tops box office for second week
|
Love knocks Afterlife from top spot overseas
|
France strikes again as pension reform enters crunch week
Karzai: Talks with Taliban on for 'some time'
Brazil eyes microchips in trees for forest management
Rescuers may have killed UK Afghan aid worker: Cameron
|
Karzai confirms informal Taliban talks ongoing
Trio of labour market specialists wins 2010 Economics prize
Google brain drives cars in quest for next auto revolution
'A billion people' go hungry in 2010: report
Israel makes settlement offer; Palestinians say no
|
Shakira, Plan B Added To 2010 MTV EMAs Performers Line-Up
Oman in talks with Iran to help free Americans
|
Hungary state to take control of MAL after spill
|
DreamWorks Announces "How To Train Your Dragon" Sequel For 2013
Miley Cyrus' Music Video Criticized By Parents Organization For Being Too Sexed Up
Qaeda offers to free French if burqa ban ended: TV
|
Georgia Gov. Candidate's Daughter Injured In Car Crash
Rwandan arrested over Congo rapes: ICC prosecutor
|
Oddly, Justin Bieber Launching Nail Polish Line
Warner Bros. Canceling 3D Release Of "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
Tough coalition talks seen after Kyrgyz vote
|
Brazil eyes microchips in trees for forest management
|
Radvision signs pact with Microsoft
|
Ascent Solar passes key reliability test, shares soar
|
Chesapeake sells Texas assets to China's CNOOC
Pakistan Sept CPI up 15.7 pct yr/yr on soaring food
South Korea's Lee warns of big trouble if FX accord fails
Asian currency tensions simmer as dollar sinks
Author Rushdie writing memoir of years in hiding
|
Malaysia Islamists object to Adam Lambert concert
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights