Mandela quote: If you talk to a man in a language he understands ….

[Garson O'Toole]

It looks like the Peace Corps Director attributed a version of the
quote to Mandela in 1994. HathiTrust has a record from the House of
Representatives:

STATEMENT OF CAROL BELLAMY, DIRECTOR, PEACE CORPS

[Begin excerpt]
I saw a wonderful quote the other day from Nelson Mandela on the power
of language. He was explaining why he forced himself to learn
Afrikaans: When you speak to a man in a language he understands, it
goes to his head; when you speak to him in his language, it goes to
his heart. That's what Volunteers need to do-reach the hearts of the
people
they serve.
[End excerpt]

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951d00273701q
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951d00273701q?urlappend=%3Bseq=198

Garson

On Sat, May 26, 2012 at 7:53 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      =?windows-1252?Q?Mandela_quote=3A_If_you_talk_to_a_man_in_a_lang?
>              = =?windows-1252?Q?uage_he_understands=85=2E?=
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Nelson Mandela is widely attributed as saying "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart," but I cannot find any date or definitive citation. There is also a query on Wikiquote (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Nelson_Mandela).
>
> The earliest Google Books citation I find is 1996 in "At home in the world: the Peace Corps story" (fifth item on http://ow.ly/baNxg).
>
> Can this be dated?
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>
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