out of the night that covers me
black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul
in the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or cried aloud
under the bludgeoning of fate
my head is bloody, but unbowed
beyond this place of wrath and tears
looms but the horror of the shade
and yet the menace of the years
finds, and shall find, me unafraid
it matters not how strait the gate
how charged with punishment the sroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
A victorian poem by William Ernest Henley that motivated Mandela living his 27 years in prison during apartheid. This poem also a key of the movie with same name wherein Morgan Freeman played Mandela
HPY