How Did Nelson Mandela Define True Success in Life?

Success is not measured in the way the world often measures it. It is not the size of your house, the title on your door, or the applause that follows your name. I learned this in the most unlikely place—in a cell eight feet by seven feet on Robben Island.

True success is the number of people whose lives you have touched with dignity and respect. It is whether you have left the world slightly better than you found it. It is whether you have kept your integrity intact when it would have been easier to compromise it. When I was offered my freedom on the condition that I renounce the struggle, that was a test of success—not whether I could walk free, but whether I could walk free and still be myself.

I measure success by whether I have honored the sacrifices of those who came before me. My mother, my teachers, the millions who suffered under an unjust system—their struggles were not so that I could become comfortable. They were so that I could become useful. So that I could work, with whatever strength remained in me, toward a world where others would not have to suffer as they did.

Success is also humility. It is recognizing that you are part of something larger than yourself. The ANC did not belong to me. The struggle did not belong to me. I was merely a vessel through which something greater moved. When you understand this, you stop needing credit for your accomplishments. You become free to accomplish more.

In my final years, I measure success by the peace in my heart. Have I done my best? Have I been truthful? Have I tried to serve rather than to be served? These are the questions that matter. A man can have everything the world offers and still be a failure if he has lost himself in the pursuit of it. But a man can have nothing material and be supremely successful if he has lived with purpose, with integrity, and with love for his fellow human beings.