F. W. de Klerk, as quoted in The Citizen (10 October 1992), Johannesburg, South Africa
“

There are powers that are trying to manipulate our country's history by trying to portray it as dark, suppressive and unfair... Yes, we have made mistakes. Yes, we have often sinned and we don't deny this. But that we were evil, malignant and mean–to that we say "no"!

— F. W. de Klerk on South Africa

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "There are powers that are trying to manipulate our country's history by trying to portray it as dark, suppressive and unfair... Yes, we have made mistakes. Yes, we have often sinned and we don't deny this. But that we were evil, malignant and mean–to that we say "no"!" in the context of "F. W. de Klerk, as quoted in The Citizen (10 October 1992), Johannesburg, South Africa" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "South Africa" (Quotes, K) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
F. W. de Klerk

About F. W. de Klerk

Frederik Willem de Klerk (18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party from 1989 to 1997.