Quick answer“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” is a famous quote by Nelson Mandela. It comes from Address at the launch of Mindset Network (16 July 2003). It is widely quoted on learning and leadership.
Nelson Mandela called education 'the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world' at the launch of the Mindset Network in Johannesburg on 16 July 2003. The line has since become his most quoted statement about learning.
Origin: Spoken by Nelson Mandela at the launch of the Mindset Network, an educational satellite network, in Johannesburg on 16 July 2003. The Nelson Mandela Foundation's transcript reads 'Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world'; the form with 'which you can use' is the wording in which the line is usually quoted, including in the United Nations' Mandela Day exhibit. The 'which you can use' form traces to an earlier speech at Madison Park High School, Boston, on 23 June 1990, reported in various forms.
Key facts
| Quote | “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” |
|---|---|
| Author | Nelson Mandela |
| Source | Address at the launch of Mindset Network (16 July 2003) |
| Themes | learning, leadership |
| Language | English |
Overview
Mandela was speaking nine years after becoming South Africa's first democratically elected president, and four years after leaving office. The Mindset Network was a satellite television project bringing lessons and health information to schools and clinics, and Mandela's speech, 'Lighting your way to a better future', praised the companies and the Nelson Mandela Foundation for backing it. Calling education a weapon was deliberate: under apartheid, black South Africans had been given deliberately inferior schooling, and Mandela saw learning as the tool that could undo that damage. The line is now quoted on classrooms and posters around the world, usually in the form 'which you can use', although the Foundation's own transcript of the speech reads 'we can use'.
Frequently asked questions
When did Mandela say education is the most powerful weapon?
On 16 July 2003, in an address at the launch of the Mindset Network in Johannesburg, South Africa. The speech was called 'Lighting your way to a better future', and Mandela was speaking as the founder of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Did Mandela say 'which you can use' or 'we can use'?
The Nelson Mandela Foundation's transcript of the speech reads 'Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world'. The version with 'which you can use' is how the line is usually quoted, including by the United Nations.
What was the Mindset Network?
An educational satellite network launched in South Africa in 2003, carrying school lessons and health information to classrooms and clinics across the country. Mandela's Foundation supported it, and his launch speech called it part of 'that world changing arsenal' of learning.
What did Mandela mean by calling education a weapon?
He meant that learning, not violence, is the tool that changes a society. Under apartheid, black South Africans received deliberately inferior schooling, so for Mandela education was the practical way to undo that injustice and open up opportunity. That is why he called it the most powerful weapon of all.
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- “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” — Abraham Lincoln
- “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” — Albert Einstein
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Sources & last updated
Last updated: . Figures are shown with their year; where sources disagree, the value is left out rather than estimated.