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

[Benjamin Barrett]

That's a great find, thank you, but it still is anecdotal as she merely saw the quote.

Also, I forgot to mention that the quote did not appear in an autobiography or biography of Mandela on GB.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On May 26, 2012, at 5:48 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:

> 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:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> 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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