The smuggled Shakespeare book that inspired Nelson Mandela

(CNN) -- Nelson Mandela spent almost three decades in jail, but he wasn't alone -- he had two Indian goddesses and a 17th century playwright for company.

Locked in solitary confinement on Robben Island, newspapers were banned and letters from loved ones a rare treat.

Where did he find the inspiration to continue his long struggle for freedom?

As the twittersphere explodes with quotes from the legendary leader, it's perhaps easy to forget there was a time when Mandela was in need of a few words of wisdom himself.

He found them in the musings of another great thinker -- one born centuries before and on the other side of the world.

A tattered book covered in luminous Hindu deities might have seemed like a strange choice for the South African political activist languishing in his cell.

But the beatifically smiling women on the cover knew something the prison wardens didn't.