[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[March 27, 1998]
[Pages 454-455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters During a Visit to Robben Island With President 
Nelson Mandela of South Africa
March 27, 1998

    Ahmed M. Kathrada. Ladies and 
gentlemen of the media, this is not a press conference. You've had your 
share in Cape Town, and we don't believe in double features. [Laughter] 
But what we want to do now is, our President is going to hand over to 
President Clinton a quarry rock, with his little finger, authenticated 
by our President that this is a genuine quarry rock from the quarry 
where he worked for 13 years.
    President Mandela. It's a great honor and 
a pleasure because, as we have said on many occasions, our victory here 
is victory in part because you helped us tremendously. Thank you very 
much.
    President Clinton. Thank you.
    Mr. Kathrada. May I just say that this 
is not a press conference. Any question must be confined to Robben 
Island and Robben Island only, please.
    Q. We're just interested in your experience. We'd like to hear 
firsthand from you about your experiences in this cell.
    President Mandela. Well, there were 
pleasant--[laughter]--and unpleasant experiences,

[[Page 455]]

and it depends how you look at the situation. As you know, right down 
the centuries and in many parts of the world, there are men and women 
who are able to turn disaster--what would crush many people--to turn 
that disaster into victory. And that is what these men here, like Mr. 
Kathrada and others, did.
    And so when I come here, I call back into memory that great saga in 
which the authorities, who were pitiless, insensitive, and cruel, 
nevertheless failed in their evil intentions. They were responsible for 
that.
    Q. President Mandela, can we just ask you, is there--you've been 
back to the island many times----
    President Mandela. Let's come closer, 
please.
    Q. You've been back to the islands many times. Can you tell us what 
the special significance is of this particular visit with the American 
President?
    President Mandela. There is no doubt 
that, as I said at the press conference, that the visit by President 
Clinton is a high watermark in relation to all the visits that we've 
held. And coming to Robben Island is something more important, with that 
significant achievement of coming to South Africa. And we appreciate 
that very much.
    Q. President Clinton, what are you feeling?
    President Clinton. Well, my first thought was to thank God that the 
person who occupied this cell was able to live all those years in that 
way without having his heart turn to stone and without giving up on his 
dreams for South Africa.
    The other thing that I would say is that I think this is a good 
object lesson in life for all young people. You know, 99.9999 percent of 
the people will never have a challenge in life like the one Mr. 
Mandela faced when he spent all these years 
in prison. But everyone has difficulties, everyone faces unfairness, and 
everyone faces cruelty. And the one thing that is beyond the control of 
anyone else is how you react to it, what happens to your own spirit, 
what happens to your own heart, what happens to your own outlook on 
life.
    And he is the world's foremost living example of that. And every 
young child, I wish, could think about his or her life that way, and 
there would be a lot more happiness in the world and a lot more 
generosity, because then no one would feel compelled to react in a 
certain way because of what others said or others did. It's a very 
important thing about living.

Note: The exchange took place during a tour which began at 1:15 p.m., 
led by Robben Island Council Chair Ahmed M. Kathrada, a former prisoner 
at Robben Island.