Nelson Mandela's 1994 Inaugural Speech

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our Light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own Light shine,
We unconsciously give other people persmission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fears,
Our presences automatically liberates others.

 

When you have reached the end of all the Light you know, and you must step out into the Darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen:
Either you will have something solid to stand on or you will be taught how to fly!