Hey, podcast listeners, some of you may know that Oprah began having conversations about the deeper meaning of life in the world around us, even in the early days of the Oprah show.

When you look inward, then you can begin to create another kind of power because we know you love a super soul style discussion.

I went, oh, we opened up the vault of the Oprah Winfrey Show to handpick episodes that will enhance the Super Soul podcast library.

Every experience in our lives is to teach us to learn to love.

Please enjoy this past episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on Super Cell Conversations. Ever since I learned that I would have the privilege of interviewing today's guest, I've been referring to it as the interview of a lifetime. For me, it indeed is. I am thrilled that the day has finally arrived. A legend comes to life as we welcome one of the world's great heroes, Nelson Mandela. He became a universal symbol of hope and courage when he was released from prison after twenty seven years and went on to become president of the country that had persecuted him for so long.

Nelson Mandela's life story has become almost mythical, a testament to the power of the human spirit and one man's ability to change the world by standing up for what he believed in.

He is a universal hero, one of the most extraordinary people of all times of my day. A man whose warmth, courage and unshakeable commitment to freedom has inspired millions of all ages and races all around the world. Few have ever had the global impact of Nelson Mandela. He is revered by the world's political figures, respected by our spiritual leaders, admired by other legends of our century.

That same strength of character has been with Mandela from the beginning.

His tribal name means Shakr of Trees or troublemaker. The name Nelson came courtesy of a local school teacher.

She says you must have a cushiony. So I said, no, I don't have one. She says, you are from today, you're going to be a nurse, a member of the Madiba clan. Mandela was raised among royalty when he was 12. His father died, but his guardian, the tribal king, ensured he received the best education.

When he was 23, he defied the king and fled to Johannesburg. In that city, he confronted the ruthless system of segregation called apartheid for the first time. Under those laws brutally enforced by South Africa's whites, blacks could not vote, moved through the country without showing a passbook or own property injustices which angered and humiliated Mandela during the 1940s, he became a lawyer and a partner in the country's first black law firm. He married and had three children. Mandela also joined the African National Congress, or ANC, to fight for peaceful change.

That commitment quickly took over his life. So much so, it destroyed his marriage. And Mandela divorced. Soon, he became a prominent figure in the fight to end apartheid, even risking prison by burning his past book. Mandela's bravery, charisma and physical strength made him hugely admired in 1957. He met an attractive young social worker named Winnie Madikizela. Soon, Winnie says they were madly in love. Mandela swept her into marriage in 1958. Eventually, they had two daughters.

Then in 1960, security forces viciously attacked a peaceful demonstration, killing 69 black protesters, that brutal massacre changed everything, leaving his family. Mandela went underground. He directed a foreign journalist to his secret hideout and gave this inflammatory interview rejecting non-violence. It made him South Africa's most wanted man. There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and non-violence against the government. His reply is only savage attacks.

He was arrested and in 1964, charged with treason, facing the death penalty. He showed incredible courage and an act of shocking defiance. Mandela astonished the nation wearing tribal dress at his trial. And by giving this speech one of the century's great rallying cries for freedom. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I am very, very clear that terrible pain and suffering that if I may stay in Nigeria for which I am prepared to die.

Just 46 years old, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island, the Alcatraz of South Africa. From the beginning, he refused to let the guards break his spirit. I believe the way in which you have been treated by the prison authorities depends upon your demeanor, and you must fight and win it.

On the very first day during the long years of isolation here, Nelson Mandela was forced to do hard labor. He lost his oldest son and his beloved mother.

Each time, authorities refused to let him attend the funeral. Through it all, Winnie remained his greatest comfort. But he was haunted by his distance from those he most loved. He had reason to worry. Throughout the 1970s, the state responded to protests with increasing violence during his imprisonment when he herself was beaten, arrested and constantly harassed.

Even so, she fought to keep his name alive. By the 1980s, the campaign to free Mandela had ignited at home and abroad. His long captivity had made him a legend.

In the late 80s, responding to international pressure, the government open secret negotiations with Mandela. In February 1990, South Africa's prime minister, F.W. de Klerk, made an announcement the world was waiting to hear. I wish to put it plainly that the government has taken a firm decision to release Mr. Mandela unconditionally.

On February 11th, 1990, Nelson Mandela walked free for the first time in 27 years. There's Mr. Mandela, Mr. Nelson Mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new South Africa. For Mandela and for millions around the world, it was a moment of incandescent joy. Nelson Mandela left prison free of bitterness and embracing forgiveness, it seemed, and those first joyous moments of freedom that the struggle was over, but it had only just begun. It was among his country's saddest hours as the white minority resisted calls for the country's first open election.

Violence erupted. Rivalries between black political parties exploded into vicious fighting soon. South Africa stood on the brink of civil war and Mandela was the only hope using the force of his moral integrity. He worked to unite his divided country, urging South Africans to seek reconciliation, not revenge.

Go back to your calls. Mines and communities, we are going forward. In 1993, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of that effort, but it was a joint award with South Africa's president, F.W. de Klerk.

He accepted the award as a gesture of forgiveness. This is another time for me to speak of our well justified the grievances of the past as South Africa. This is the time for us to speak of what is best for the future of our country.

But as Mandela's struggle to heal his nation's wounds, his personal life came under increasing strain after 34 years of marriage. He and Winnie separated through it all.

Nelson Mandela continued pushing for true democracy and the right to vote for all.

Finally, six years ago, he achieved that dream. South Africa's first ever free election would take place April 26, 1994. Nelson Mandela would run for president for two days.

Millions of people lined up across South Africa waiting to exercise the basic right Nelson Mandela had sacrificed so much to attain for black South Africans, including Mandela.

It was the first time ever they could vote as he cast his own ballot. Nelson Mandela told reporters it made him feel like a complete man.

Will you please raise your right hand and say so? Help me God, so help me God.

In May 1994, after an overwhelming victory, Nelson Mandela arrived for his presidential inauguration. The man he appointed as his deputy president, former rival F.W. de Klerk, was at his side as leaders from all over the world gathered to celebrate. Nelson Mandela made clear that he would lead a racially mixed government of reconciliation and gave this heartfelt speech never. Never and never came. He had this beautiful love, we love carrying that spirit, the oppression of one another.

The sun never set on so glorious a human actually let freedom ring lots of it. It is one of the greatest honors of my career to welcome Nelson Mandela.

Every time Nelson Mandela walks into a room, we all feel that we always stand up.

We all want to cheer because we'd like to be him on our best day.

Thank God that the person who occupied the cell was able to live all those years in that way without having his heart turned to stone. Mr. President, for millions upon millions of Americans, South Africa's story is embodied by your heroic sacrifice and your breathtaking walk out of the darkness and into the glorious light. Madiba. While we are honored to be talking with Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, whose unshakable courage, his faith and integrity have inspired millions to see what is possible in their own lives.

I've had the pleasure, the honor of meeting Mr. Mandela on a couple of occasions before. And I will tell you, to be in your presence is like being in the presence of royalty and grace at the same time. I wonder how does a man spend 27 years in prison put there by an oppressor and come out of that experience with not a heart of stone, not a cold heart, but a heart that is willing to forgive and embrace? I remember talking to you one night over dinner and you had said to me that our hatred for the oppressor was so intense we did not see the value of talking to him.

So at what point did you see the value of letting go of the hatred and begin the process of talking?

Well, let me say first. That is a great tragedy. To spend at the best of your lives in prison. But although it looks ironic to. There are advantages and that. If I had not been to prison, I would not have been able to achieve the most difficult task in life, and that is changing yourself. Hmm. I would not have that opportunity. I had that opportunity because in prison, you have what we don't have in our work outside prison.

The opportunity to sit down and think. Which is an important part, did you need twenty seven years of it to be you could have taken a few days a week of vacation, did you need twenty seven years?

Well, even to try to change yourself? It's a process. Right, which comes in due course by also of discovering what is happening in the ranks of the enemy. One thing we are not out of was that amongst the warders prison orders that were thrown so said. Let us treat this people harshly, not because we hate them. But because we now have a duty of saving white supremacy, they must not think that prison. Is that five star hotel?

Mm hmm. But the others say no. These people frequently win. Let us treat them very well in accordance with the present regulations so that if one day they win, they should give us also decent treatment.

Here's what Microsoft's billionaire Bill Gates and Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington say about how Nelson Mandela influences them.

About six or seven years ago, my family and I went to to South Africa and we went to visit Mr. Mandela at his home presidential home.

We finally get to see Mr. Mandela. And my little twins are like clamming up, giving them a headlocks and stuff. But he was so sweet. He was so honest and genuine. I'll just say, Mr. Mandela, that I have, as you know, obviously the utmost respect for you and and love for you.

I've been so impressed by by your humanity. Humility, well, he's probably of all the people in the world, the one I was most interested to meet because it is his personal leadership made all the difference in his ability to step back and be wise.

And it can be explained through purely human values, the wisdom to think about what will be best and and to sort of get people to stop and think, you know, when you're in his presence, you just want to listen, you know, to what he's saying.

He's like, you know, the wisest person you've ever met. Hi, Mr. Mandela. I believe that mine is a more useful life because of your life. I believe that I am a better human being than ever I could have been had I not been living in the time of your life, for your life and for all that it represents. I thank you, sir. Thank you, Sidney Poitier. I met him for the first time in 1958.

Really? And then he ends up portraying you in the movie.

How did you get the racist guards to treat you with respect? You're in prison and you said I will only respond to the name Mandela or Mr. Mandela. Now, that is true when you have got certain obligations in whatever situation you find yourself in, they'd ask you to call them boss. Well, yes, yes, you must fight the battle for dignity on the very first day you'll go to jail. Really? That's what we did. We put our foot down and insisted in being respected, even though we are prisoners and we don't want to succeed in that eventually.

I know they thought that sending you to the lime quarry and working on the rocks would destroy you, but it did the opposite. How so? I was in the company of Great Bernadotte. Some of them are more qualified, more talented than I am. To sit down with them to exchange views was one of the most revealing experiences I had. To sit down with those men and exchange views established your own life, it fortified your morality. It gave you courage.

To do Brothertown your best, and it was also a collective effort which changed our minds and our approach, and it also said to me one evening you said we made the brain dominate the blood.

No, that's true, because we had that conflict. Our emotions said.

The white minority is an enemy, we must never talk to them. But our president said, if you don't talk to this man. Your country will go up in flames. And. For many years to come. This country will be engulfed in rivers of blood, so we had to reconcile that conflict. I was talking. Toward the end was the result of the domination of the brain of our emotions. OK, I'm still trying to understand, though, you began the peace talk and you end up coming out of prison and there is no bitterness.

How is there no bitterness?

Well, I hated oppression. And when I think about the past, the top of things they did. I feel anger. But again, that is my feeling. The brain always dominates. Says. As I have pointed out, you have a limited time to stay. UNEF. You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country into what your desire to be. Democratic. Non-Racial. Nonsexist country. And that was a great task, and therefore you had to reject all negative fissures in your own soul, in your blood system and focus your attention on the positive things during this 27 years.

I mean, babies are born. People come into the world who've never heard you. You became almost a man of mythical proportions. Do you find it difficult to live up to that myth or did you when you first came out of prison because people looked at you as though you were not even real there you were. Nobody even knew because you're your photos were banned. Nobody even knew what to expect you would look like. And so did you find that difficult to live up to whatever that was created?

One that is one of the things that dewatered. Be raised up to the position of a summit court. Because then you are no longer a human being. Right. I want to be known as Mandana, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental. That worried me a great deal, especially because I knew it was not the contribution of an individual which would bring about liberation and the peaceful transformation of the country. And my first task when I came out was that to destroy that myth.

That I was something other than an ordinary human being, whatever position I occupied, it was as the result of my colleagues, my comrades in the movement who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me, not because I had any better veterans than themselves, but because this was their decision. You say you are a man with weaknesses. Obviously, everybody has some. What are yours?

Why not?

Yes, there are so many that if I started telling you about them, this would take the whole day, you know, just a couple.

Just a couple that you think, you know, I wish I could do this better. What is there something like that, though?

As I say, I cannot concentrate on myself because I see what has happened in South Africa. Is that collective act the result of collective action, of teamwork. And it'll be difficult, therefore, for me to say if I had done this, this would have happened. As far as the liberation of our people, you are not even not modest, but a very humble man. I wanted to ask because I think that is the characteristic that stands out for you above all of them, that you are a peacemaker inside yourself.

And how do we begin those of us who aren't leading countries but are just leading our own lives, leading our families, come to a sense of truth and reconciliation with ourselves to be a peacemaker?

How do you do that? The first thing is to be honest with yourself, you'll never have an impact. On society, if you have not changed yourself. And one of the most important weapons. In changing yourself is to recognize. That piece of paper everywhere in the world, one piece about humility. Is one of the most important qualities which you must have, because if. You're a humble. If you make people realize that you are no threat to them, then people will embrace you.

They will listen to your.

I think that Mr. Mandela, President Mandela has helped myself see the world in a different way because he has inspired me to keep going on.

He makes you, deep down, believe in yourself that anything is possible. Mr. Mandela has inspired me to be a better person. Mr. Mandela.

I love you and I'm so very happy that I was born when I was born to witness this kind of greatness. What an incredible human being.

I have the highest respect for you as a God spirit. I wish that all the world could grow up and be like you. Thank you, Stevie Wonder, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. While in prison, Mandela has said he was haunted by feelings of guilt and shame for not being able to take care of his family.

One of the dreams I constantly heard in prison was me going home and finding that there was nobody at home.

And being concerned as to what has happened to women and the children, he says when his love and devotion sustained him during all those lonely years, for 27 years, when he fought to keep the Mandela name and all it stood for alive, he will be one man, one vote in this country and there will be a majority government in this country led by Mandela.

When he was constantly under attack and ended up in prison several times by the time Nelson Mandela was released, he had become the father of a nation, but at a painful price.

I have lost a great deal of others good to seven years and my life has been ruined. All sorts of precious.

Winnie had fallen into a series of scandals and her husband supported her unconditionally back that I have the opportunity to concern myself with my wife and I to try and assure that her problems will now be shared by both of us.

But the relationship was strained after Winnie was convicted on a kidnapping charge in 1991. Then the Mandela marriage collapsed after reports of her infidelities. My love for her remains undiminished, however, in view of the tensions that have arisen where have mutually agreed that a separation would be best for each one of us. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you love. The pain I have gone through. Was that one of the hardest things for you to do, what is truly.

For whatever reason. To part with a leader with whom I tunja at some of the best moments in life. We had suffered and worked hard. For your liberation. I doubt, given your two beautiful children. Was not an easy decision to take. I don't like to go in for details, especially talking to a young lady as famous as you are.

Oh, you can tell me, do you feel that had it not been for Winnie Mandela, your name would not have been kept alive?

Comrade Werneck was part and parcel of that collective, it would be a mistake, however much brave that she was, and nobody can deny that. However, however much she suffered, nobody can deny that the battle for liberation and for the release of prisoners and the return of exiles, the emergence of those who worked on the ground was the result of a collective effort of a disciplined and organized struggle led by the African National Congress. Well, following his divorce from Winnie Nelson, Mandela went through a period of deep sadness.

But he found happiness again when he fell madly in love. We hear the romance made headlines.

Grassa Michelle was considered royalty, the beloved wife of Mozambique's founding president, Samora Michel. But in 1986, she was widowed when her husband died in a plane crash. A president's wife in mourning with two small children, Grassa Michelle was called the Jacqueline Kennedy of Africa.

I was very much in pain. I was very hurt and I was lonely.

Nelson Mandela was also suffering and lonely after his divorce, their official duties brought them together, leading Madiba.

How extraordinarily it helped me really to to be able to smile and to laugh again.

Despite a 27 year age difference, their friendship grew deeper and Mandela never seemed happier later in my life.

I am blooming like a flower because of their love and support she has given.

She seems a good match for Mandela.

Both are national heroes who share a passion for helping to change others lives and for helping children. And on Mandela's 80th birthday.

They exchanged vows in a secret ceremony, this wedding on his 80th birthday.

It was my present to him because I thought, what could they give to Madiba on that day?

The next day, at a lavish birthday party attended by celebrities from around the world of B.V., Mandela introduced his new bride.

My wife and I say thank you very much. Happy. They have now been married two years, and Grassa says their relationship has brought healing and joy to their blended family.

So would you say you're still blossoming? Well, I don't you that there are aspects of this relationship which we can't discuss with a young person.

I understand. How many grandchildren do you have now? But you're thirty nine point ninety nine that are more common.

There are more coming. Dr. Maya Angelou has a special message for Nelson Mandela.

I have enjoyed your freedom. Almost as much as if the change had come from my legs and the buyers from my door, I have so identified with the way you survived and thrived, the man you were and the great, great man you've become, you enlighten all of us. To put light around our feet. And around our heads, we are brighter because of you. You have demonstrated that the task of a great leader is to take its society.

From where it is to where it has never been and the remarkable thing is that you have not only done that for your people, but you have made your people become a symbol of what can be done for the people in the world. And for this, we all owe you a profound debt of gratitude. Thank you, Dr. Henry Kissinger. It was only six years ago, six years ago, that black people, any black person in South Africa, was allowed the right to vote.

It was a day of euphoria. Imagine what it felt like, though, for Nelson Mandela, who was also voting for the first time at age 78 in an election that would make him the president. You've said that voting that day made you feel like a complete man did.

That is true. We all felt on top of the world that it was a justification. For the sacrifices which have been made by our people since the arrival of one of those countries, was there ever a moment, I wonder if this happens in other elections where all the votes have been cast?

You now know that you are.

Hello? The votes have been cast and counted and recounted, and you now know that you are the president. Is there a moment where you think, what have I done? Was there ever a moment of hesitation or fear or how will I now lead? Now, I must remind you again that I know the answer. It was not one man was not one man. Yeah, not one man.

No, we were a great. Confident. That time, we could run our country. So you didn't feel alone at all? Not at all. Not at all. You know, of course, that's hardly two years. After I was elected president, I made a public statement and said, I have left. The day to day affairs of government. On the deputy president, Thabo Mbeki, and it was not rhetoric, he actually ran the country and I said.

I was at your president, he was the president. That is why the transformation was so smooth, because it just continued as if there was no break.

But we were to Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Cher, how they've been moved by Mr. Mandela. It makes me feel like a person to be proud to live on this planet, to be able to do something, put something back in knowing it makes me feel very, very special.

Is a profound homeboy.

Meeting Nelson Mandela to me has made me very conscious of trying to be the best that you can be. It just gives you hope and it makes you know that one person can make a difference.

My friend Quincy Jones recently told me about a magical trip that he took to South Africa with five young people from a tough Los Angeles neighborhood.

21 year old Omari Trice grew up on the rough streets of South Central Los Angeles. But in August, he traveled 10000 miles to the impoverished neighborhoods of South Africa on a mission that would change him forever.

You know, the spirit is so intense, you can feel it when you step off the plane. It's a sense of humanity, it's a sense of family. Quincy Jones brought along three and four others from South Central to discover the homeland of Nelson Mandela and to build the first of 100 new homes with Habitat for Humanity.

We also have come to work side by side with the South African people to learn about the culture and if possible, to capture the spirit and take it back to the states is accepting the responsibility, doing the right thing and doing what's supposed to be done.

I find joy in giving. I find joy in doing for other people. When I extend myself to other people, it fills a void within me.

The delegation helped build three houses in just a week, but it was meeting Mandela himself that stirred the real emotion. And when you walked in, you can literally feel his presence is powerful, man.

It is so powerful. When I met him, the first time just broke out into tears right there. I just couldn't handle it.

So everybody was in tears.

You know, they felt what I felt. It just means a lot to me. I can't imagine spending a third of my life in jail and coming out and forgiving the people that put me there. And I want to help people realize what he realized and what he helped me realize, which is it's so much bigger than me. It's about us. It's about everybody that shares this planet. The spirit of Mandela is living in me now. It's like I can't shake.

It makes me appreciate everything more, everything.

Thank you, Mr. Nelson Mandela, for giving me this great opportunity and honor to share your presence with myself in the world.

You are impressive but humble young leader.

A lot of the say I'm Oprah Winfrey and you've been listening to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast, you can follow Super Soul on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you haven't yet, go to Apple podcast and subscribe rate and review this podcast. Join me next week for another super soul conversation. Thank you for listening.