"After becoming President of South Africa following 27 years in prison, Mandela asked some of his bodyguards to go for a walk... they went for lunch at a restaurant... Mandela noticed a man sitting alone just one table over. In Mandela’s words, “When he was served, I told one of my soldiers: go ask that man to join us... The man stood up, took the plate and sat next to me. While eating, his hands were constantly shaking and he didn’t lift his head from the food. When we finished, he waved at me without even looking at me. I shook his hand and walked away!” The soldier... was curious. What was wrong with that man? He must be very sick, since his hands wouldn’t stop shaking while he was eating... There is another reason... Mandela replied... “That man was the guardian of the jail I was locked up in. Often, after the torture I was subjected to, I screamed and cried for water and he came to humiliate me, he laughed at me and instead of giving me water he urinated on my head. He wasn’t sick, he was scared and shook, maybe fearing that I, now that I’m president of South Africa, would send him to jail and do the same thing he did with me, torturing and humiliating him. But that’s not me, that behavior is not part of my character nor my ethics. Minds that seek revenge destroy states, while those that seek reconciliation build Nations.′′ (From “Echeverría Martínez ′′ Chicali Wall, by Nelson Mandela)"
January 1, 1970