Discover a wealth of wisdom and insight from Desmond Tutu through their most impactful and thought-provoking quotes and sayings. Expand your perspective with their inspiring words and share these beautiful Desmond Tutu quote pictures with your friends and followers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or your personal blog - all free of charge. We've compiled the top 460 Desmond Tutu quotes for you to explore and share with others.

White people found that freedom was indeed indivisible. We had kept saying in the dark days of apartheid's oppression that white South Africans would never be truly free until we blacks were free as well. Many thought it was just another Tutu slogan, irresponsible as all his others had been. Today they were experiencing it as a reality. I used to refer to an intriguing old film The Defiant Ones, in which Sidney Poitier was one of the stars. Two convicts escape from a chain gang. They are manacled together, the one white, the other black. They fall into a ditch with slippery sides. The one convict claws his way nearly to the top and out of the ditch but cannot make it because he is bound to his mate, who has been left at the bottom in the ditch. The only way they can make it is together as they strive up and up and up together and eventually make their way over the side wall and out. By Desmond Tutu White Indivisible Ditch Free People

It always comes back to our insecurities, as we say, "Oh, I'm not as good as you." So instead of accepting that perhaps I am not as good as someone else in some ways and being comfortable with who I am as I am, I spend all my time denigrating you, trying to cut you down to my self-perceived size. The sad problem is that we see ourselves as being quite terribly small. Instead of spending my time being envious, I need to celebrate your and my different gifts, even if mine are perhaps less spectacular than yours. By Desmond Tutu Good Insecurities Back Time Size

Who can stop climate change? We can. You and you and you, and me. And it is not just that we can stop it, we have a responsibility to do so that began in the genesis of humanity, when God commanded the earliest human inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, "to till it and keep it". To "keep" it; not to abuse it, not to make as much money as possible from it, not to destroy it By Desmond Tutu Change Climate Stop Eden God

There's no way in which you can ever win a war against terror. As long as there are conditions in many parts of the world that make people desperate: poverty, disease, ignorance, etc. I hope that we will discover soon, that we can survive, only together. We can prosper only together. And I think people are beginning to realize this, that you can't have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think you can have a stable, secure world. By Desmond Tutu Terror World Win War People

Forgiveness does not relieve someone of responsibility for what they have done. Forgiveness does not erase accountability. It is not about turning a blind eye or even turning the other cheek. It is not about letting someone off the hook or saying it is okay to do something monstrous. Forgiveness is simply about understanding that every one of us is both inherently good and inherently flawed. Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Relieve Responsibility Turning Inherently

When I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on, and you can even help the perpetrator to become a better person too By Desmond Tutu Person Perpetrator Talk Forgiveness Belief

Catharsis returns us to the purpose for which were originally intended - to be called by God to do good - and thus ultimately returns us to ourselves. By Desmond Tutu Returns God Catharsis Intended Good

But suffering from a life-threatening disease also helped me have a different attitude and perspective. It has given a new intensity to life, for I realize how much I used to take for granted-the love and devotion of my wife, the laughter and playfulness of my grandchildren, the glory of a splendid sunset, the dedication of my colleagues. The disease has helped me acknowledge my own mortality, with deep thanksgiving for the extraordinary things that have happened in my life, not least in recent times. What a spectacular vindication it has been, in the struggle against apartheid, to live to see freedom come, to have been involved in finding the truth and reconciling the differences of those who are the future of our nation. By Desmond Tutu Perspective Helped Life Suffering Lifethreatening

There is no peace precisely because there has been no justice. As painful and inconvenient as justice may be, we have seen that the alternative allowing accountability to fall by the wayside is worse. By Desmond Tutu Justice Peace Precisely Worse Painful

Sadly, the things that we have set out as being worth striving for are not ultimately the things that satisfy human longings. And why not? Because we are practically the ultimate paradox: the finite made for the infinite. By Desmond Tutu Things Sadly Longings Set Worth

I often accompanied my father. I really liked riding with him on his bicycle on Saturdays. He was very fond of fishing. I don't think I liked fishing. I mean, you had to sit quietly and still, but I enjoyed the ride. And it was fun, it was fun. I mean, as I say, you didn't go around lugging a deep sense of resentment. We knew, yes, we were deprived. It wasn't the same thing for white kids, but it was as full a life as you could make it. I mean, we made toys for ourselves with wires, making cars, and you really were exploding with joy! By Desmond Tutu Father Accompanied Fishing Saturdays Fun

The heart of the Christian Gospel is precisely that God is the all holy One; the all powerful One is also the One full of mercy and compassion. He is not a neutral God inhabiting some inaccessible Mount Olympus. He is a God who cares about His children and cares enormously for the weak, the poor, the naked, the downtrodden, the despised. He takes their side not because they are good, since many of them are demonstrably not so. He takes their side because He is that kind of God, and they have no one else to champion them. By Desmond Tutu God Christian Gospel Compassion Heart

All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous does not mean never being scared; it means acting as you know you must even though you are undeniably afraid. By Desmond Tutu Fear Courage Experience Confront Acknowledge

Much depends on your attitude. If you are filled with negative judgment and anger, then you will feel separate from other people. You will feel lonely. But if you have an open heart and are filled with trust and friendship, even if you are physically alone, even living a hermit's life, you will never feel lonely. By Desmond Tutu Feel Attitude Lonely Depends Filled

The quality of human life on our planet is nothing more than the sum total of our daily interactions with one another. Each time we help, and each time we harm, we have a dramatic impact on our world. By Desmond Tutu Time Quality Human Life Planet

We are all connected. What unites us is our common humanity. I don't want to oversimplify things - but the suffering of a mother who has lost her child is not dependent on her nationality, ethnicity or religion. White, black, rich, poor, Christian, Muslim or Jew - pain is pain - joy is joy. By Desmond Tutu Connected Christian Pain Joy Muslim

I've never doubted that apartheid - because it was of itself fundamentally, intrinsically evil - was going to bite the dust eventually. By Desmond Tutu Apartheid Fundamentally Intrinsically Evil Eventually

If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is WOMEN! By Desmond Tutu Women Real Development World Investment

Our nation sought to rehabilitate and affirm the dignity and personhood of those who for so long had been silenced, had been turned into anonymous, marginalized ones. Now they would be able to tell their stories, they would remember, and in remembering would be acknowledged to be persons with an inalienable personhood. Our country's negotiators rejected the two extremes and opted for a "third way," a compromise between the extreme of Nuremberg trials and blanket amnesty or national amnesia. And that third way was granting amnesty to individuals in exchange for a full disclosure relating to the crime for which amnesty was being sought. It was the carrot of possible freedom in exchange for truth and the stick was, for those already in jail, the prospect of lengthy prison sentences and, for those still free, the probability of arrest and prosecution and imprisonment. The option South Africa chose raises By Desmond Tutu Personhood Silenced Anonymous Marginalized Amnesty

Forgiveness is the way we return what has been taken from us and restore the love and kindness and trust that has been lost. With each act of forgiveness, whether small or great, we move toward wholeness. Forgiveness is nothing less than how we bring peace to ourselves and our world. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Lost Return Restore Love

You might have thought that a world such as ours, so hard-nosed and cynical and brash, would have very little time for transcendence, spiritual values of goodness and compassion, gentleness, and caring, but we actually do experience them. By Desmond Tutu Gentleness Brash Transcendence Spiritual Compassion

We learn from history that we don't learn from history! By Desmond Tutu Learn History

There is no peace in South Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there is first justice enjoyed by all inhabitants of this beautiful land. The Bible knows nothing about peace without justice, for that would be crying 'peace, peace,' where there is no peace. God's Shalom, peace, involves inevitable righteousness, justice, wholesomeness, fullness of life, participation in decision making, goodness, laughter, joy, compassion, sharing, and reconciliation. By Desmond Tutu Peace Africa South Justice Shalom

When we look squarely at injustice and get involved, we actually feel less pain, not more, because we overcome the gnawing guilt and despair that festers under our numbness. We clean the wound - our own and others' - and it can finally heal. By Desmond Tutu Involved Pain Numbness Squarely Injustice

So often when people hear about the suffering in our world, they feel guilty, but rarely does guilt actually motivate action like empathy or compassion. Guilt paralyzes and causes us to deny and avoid what makes us feel guilty. The goal is to replace our guilt with generosity. We all have a natural desire to help and to care, and we simply need to allow ourselves to give from our love without self-reproach. We each must do what we can. This is all that God asks of us. - , God Has a Dream, p. 87-88 By Desmond Tutu Guilty Guilt Feel World Compassion

Instead of growing old gracefully, at home with my family - reading and writing and praying and thinking - too much of my time has been spent at airports and in hotels. By Desmond Tutu Gracefully Family Reading Thinking Hotels

The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions By Desmond Tutu Fossil Reserves Discovered Exceed Safely

It may seem daunting, but I am a prisoner of hope. We are more connected than ever before, we have more knowledge, and there are solutions if we work together. Today's technology is a great asset in encouraging global cooperation and understanding. By Desmond Tutu Daunting Hope Prisoner Knowledge Today

You tend to think that your time is either the best or the worst, and then when you have a sense of history, you'll realize actually, no, there were times things were quite gusty in the world. I mean, just think, nowadays most people will say they support the advancement of women, woman has been equal, the fact that we're so aware of the gustiness, in a sense, also speaks about the heightening of our own sensitivity. By Desmond Tutu Sense Worst History World Time

Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually rememberingremembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you dont want to repeat what happened. By Desmond Tutu Forgiving Forgetting Back Rememberingremembering Hit

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. By Desmond Tutu Ubuntu Human Country Essence Speaks

Before Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962, he was an angry, relatively young man. He founded the ANC's military wing. When he was released, he surprised everyone because he was talking about reconciliation and forgiveness and not about revenge. By Desmond Tutu Nelson Mandela Angry Man Arrested

I'm so thankful a significant majority of Americans are saying no to military intervention. We've got to find a solution that will in the end be one that makes Syria a better country, a better people. We can be human only together. By Desmond Tutu Americans Intervention Thankful Significant Majority

Many people ask me what I have learned from all of the experiences in my life, and I say unhesitatingly: People are wonderful. It is true. People really are wonderful. By Desmond Tutu Wonderful People Life Unhesitatingly Learned

That's the chief lesson I have learned: the texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but that good and laughter and justice will prevail. By Desmond Tutu Learned Prevail Chief Lesson Texture

This is a moral universe, which means that despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word ... that is what has upheld the morale of our people, to know that in the end good will prevail. By Desmond Tutu Universe Contrary Word People Prevail

I give great thanks to God that he has created a Dalai Lama. Do you really think, as some have argued, that God will be saying: 'You know, that guy, the Dalai Lama, is not bad. What a pity he's not a Christian'? I don't think that is the case - because, you see, God is not a Christian. By Desmond Tutu Lama Dalai God Christian Give

Cultivate your forgiveness with your friends, with your family, with strangers, and with yourself. Remind yourself that every person you encounter carries a sorrow and a struggle. Recognize that we all share a fundamental humanity. Model the By Desmond Tutu Cultivate Friends Family Strangers Forgiveness

I don't struggle to forgive people. I find it quite easy to forgive people for the harms that they have inflicted on me. What I do find challenging is to forgive people for the harms they inflict on my daughters and family. So, I find it challenging when I see somebody else experience hurt. I also look at my children and family and then I realize, I don't stand inside their skin and that is for me a forgiveness practice I still need to engage in. By Desmond Tutu Forgive People Find Struggle Harms

When will we learn, when will the people of the world get up and say, enough is enough? God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the human family, existing together because we were made for one another. We are not made for an exclusive self-sufficiency but for interdependence and we break the law of our being at our peril. By Desmond Tutu God Learn Created People World

Forgiveness is the only way to heal ourselves and to be free from the past. Without forgiveness, we remain tethered to the person who harmed us. We are bound to the chains of bitterness, tied together, trapped. Until we can forgive the person who harmed us, that person will hold the keys to our happiness, that person will be our jailor. When we forgive, we take back control of our own fate and our feelings. We become our own liberator. By Desmond Tutu Person Forgiveness Past Harmed Heal

I'd rather go to hell than worship a homophobic God. By Desmond Tutu God Hell Worship Homophobic

If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God. By Desmond Tutu God Homophobic Worship

I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much rather go to hell - than go to a homophobic heaven. By Desmond Tutu Utterly God Hell Absolutely Homophobic

It is a remarkable feat to be able to see past the inhumanity of the behavior and recognize the humanity of the person committing the atrocious acts. This is not weakness. This is heroic strength, the noblest strength of the human spirit. By Desmond Tutu Acts Remarkable Feat Past Inhumanity

The future of our fragile, beautiful planet home is in our hands. As God's family, we are stewards of God's creation. We can be wantonly irresponsible, or we can be caring and compassionate. God says, "I have set before you life and death ... Choose life." By Desmond Tutu God Fragile Beautiful Hands Future

And you remember the rainbow in the Bible is the sign of peace. The rainbow is the sign of prosperity. We want peace, prosperity and justice and we can have it when all the people of God, the rainbow people of God, work together. By Desmond Tutu Bible Rainbow Sign God Peace

What we try to do as Elders is help those who are trying to change their own societies and communities for the better. We hope that by supporting the good work that is being done, especially at the grass roots, we can help to alleviate the suffering of human beings. That is our core mission - to draw attention to the impact that conflict, injustice and poverty have on ordinary people. By Desmond Tutu Elders Change Societies Communities Roots

Human beings have a vested interest in being trustworthy. By Desmond Tutu Human Trustworthy Vested Interest

We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God's family. By Desmond Tutu Made Family Goodness Educated God

We have allowed the interests of capital to outweigh the interests of human beings and our Earth. By Desmond Tutu Earth Interests Allowed Capital Outweigh

What has happened to us? It seems as if we have perverted our freedom, our rights into license, into being irresponsible. Perhaps we did not realise just how apartheid has damaged us so that we seem to have lost our sense of right and wrong. By Desmond Tutu Happened Freedom License Irresponsible Wrong

There is no religion in fact that I know that encourages or propagates violence in that its adherents should carry out. By Desmond Tutu Religion Fact Encourages Propagates Violence

I would love to know who killed my father. So would my brother." Her next words stunned me and left me breathless. "We want to forgive them. We want to forgive, but we don't know who to forgive. By Desmond Tutu Father Forgive Love Killed Brother

I want my commitment to ending girl marriage to be equal to my commitment to ending apartheid. By Desmond Tutu Commitment Ending Apartheid Girl Marriage

After all, we are created in the image of a God who is a diversity of persons who exist in ineffable unity. This By Desmond Tutu God Unity Created Image Diversity

For Christians, who believe they are created in the image of God, it is the Godhead, diversity in unity and the three-in-oneness of God, which we and all creation reflect. By Desmond Tutu God Christians Godhead Diversity Reflect

I mean in the South African case, many of those who were part of death squads would have been respectable members of their white community, people who went to church on Sunday, every Sunday. By Desmond Tutu Sunday South African Case Community

You are either on the side of the oppressed or on the side of the oppressor. You can't be neutral. By Desmond Tutu Side Oppressor Oppressed Neutral

Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you've closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart. By Desmond Tutu Closed Curtains Forgiveness Room Dank

Anger, resentment, lust for revenge, even success through aggressive competitiveness, are corrosive of this good. To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. What dehumanizes you inexorably dehumanizes me. It gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them. When uhuru, or freedom and independence, By Desmond Tutu Anger Resentment Lust Revenge Competitiveness

Beware when you take on the Church of God. Others have tried and have bitten the dust. By Desmond Tutu God Church Beware Dust Bitten

You and I are created for transcendence, laughter, caring. God deliberately did not make the world perfect, for God is looking for you and me to be fellow workers with God. By Desmond Tutu Laughter Caring God Transcendence Created

In the Bible, we first encounter God when he sides with a bunch of slaves against a powerful Pharaoh, an act of grace freely given. By Desmond Tutu Bible Pharaoh God Encounter Sides

I have heard and seen many examples of the cruelty that we are able to visit on one another during my time ... I have also seen incredible forgiveness and compassion. Yes, each of us has the capacity for great evil. But for every act of evil there are a dozen acts of goodness in our world that go unnoticed. It is only because we believe that people should be good that we despair when they are not. Indeed, if people condoned the evil, we would be justified in losing hope. But most of the world does not. We know that we are meant for better. By Desmond Tutu Time Evil Heard Cruelty Visit

And God says to all of us, you are no chicken; you are an eagle. Fly, eagle, fly. And God wants us to shake ourselves, spread our pinions, and then lift off and soar and rise, and rise toward the confident and the good and the beautiful. Rise towards the compassionate and the gentle and the caring. Rise to become what God intends us to be-eagles, not chickens. By Desmond Tutu God Rise Eagle Fly Chicken

Ubuntu [...] speaks of the very essence of being human. [We] say [...] "Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu." Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours." We belong in a bundle of life. We say, "A person is a person through other persons."[...] A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are. By Desmond Tutu Ubuntu Speaks Human Person Essence

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. By Desmond Tutu Family Choose God Gift

We are living in an historic moment. We are each called to take part in a great transformation. Our survival as a species is threatened by global warming, economic meltdown, and an ever-increasing gap between rich and poor. Yet these threats offer an opportunity to awaken as an interconnected and beloved community. By Desmond Tutu Moment Living Historic Transformation Called

There's no question about the reality of evil, of injustice, of suffering, but at the center of this existence is a heart beating with love. That you and I and all of us are incredible. I mean, we really are remarkable things. That we are, as a matter of fact, made for goodness. By Desmond Tutu Evil Injustice Suffering Love Question

Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human ... you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, 'My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.' We belong in a bundle of life. By Desmond Tutu Western Ubuntu Language Difficult Render

You have stood at this junction before You will stand at this junction again And if you pause you can ask yourself Which way to turn You can turn away from your own sadness And run the race named revenge You will run that tired track again and again Or you can admit your own pain And walk the path that ends In this direction lies freedom, my friend I can show you where hope and wholeness make their homes But you can't push past your anguish on your way there To find the path to peace You will have to meet your pain And speak its name By Desmond Tutu Junction Pain Path Turn Run

Most of the leading figures of the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham had several wives and concubines. If they wanted, they could say this was approved in the Bible. By Desmond Tutu Testament Polygamists Leading Figures Bible

The acknowledgement that this person is English, white, or French, or German, this is Portuguese, this is Rwandan, this is Senegalese, this is a black South Africans is a glorious thing. To speak of those positively, to say that they have characteristics, each one of them, that the others almost always do not have, and that there is a complementarily about it. By Desmond Tutu English French German Portuguese Rwandan

Isn't it sad, that in a time when we face so many devastating problems - poverty, HIV/AIDS, war and conflict - that in our Communion we should be investing so much time and energy on disagreement about sexual orientation?" [The Communion, which] "used to be known for embodying the attribute of comprehensiveness, of inclusiveness, where we were meant to accommodate all and diverse views, saying we may differ in our theology but we belong together as sisters and brothers" now seems "hell-bent on excommunicating one another. God must look on and God must weep. By Desmond Tutu Hiv Aids Time Communion Poverty

When we are uncaring, when we lack compassion, when we are unforgiving, we will always pay the price for it. It is not, however, we alone who suffer. Our whole community suffers, and ultimately our whole world suffers. We are made to exist in a delicate network of interdependence. We are sisters and brothers, whether we like it or not. To treat anyone as if they were less than human, less than a brother or a sister, no matter what they have done, is to contravene the very laws of our humanity. And those who shred the web of interconnectedness cannot escape the consequences of their actions. In By Desmond Tutu Suffers Uncaring Compassion Unforgiving Lack

One might go on to say that perhaps justice fails to be done only if the concept we entertain of justice is retributive justice, whose chief goal is to be punitive, so that the wronged party is really the state, something impersonal, which has little consideration for the real victims and almost none for the perpetrator. We contend that there is another kind of justice, restorative justice, which was characteristic of traditional African jurisprudence. Here the central concern is not retribution or punishment. In the spirit of ubuntu, the central concern is the healing of breaches, the redressing of imbalances, the restoration of broken relationships, a seeking to rehabilitate both the victim and the perpetrator, who should be given the opportunity to be reintegrated into the community he has injured by his offense. By Desmond Tutu Justice Perpetrator Punitive State Impersonal

Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems. By Desmond Tutu South Africa Favor Labor Systems

Goodness is stronger than evil.Love is stronger than hate.Light is stronger than darkness.Life is stronger than death.Victory is ours through Him who loved us. By Desmond Tutu Stronger Goodness Evillove Hatelight Darknesslife

If you are setting out to be joyful you are not going to end up being joyful. You're going to find yourself turned in on yourself. It's like a flower. You open, you blossom, really because of other people. And I think some suffering, maybe even intense suffering, is a necessary ingredient for life, certainly for developing compassion. By Desmond Tutu Joyful Setting End Suffering Find

True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know. By Desmond Tutu True Cheap Costly Based Forgiveness

History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder, so when you read that, for example, David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls, you might be forgiven for thinking that there was nobody around the Falls until Livingstone arrived on the scene. By Desmond Tutu Livingstone Falls David History Victoria

At home in South Africa I have sometimes said in big meetings where you have black and white together: 'Raise your hands!' Then I have said: 'Move your hands,' and I've said 'Look at your hands - different colors representing different people. You are the Rainbow People of God. By Desmond Tutu Hands Raise South Africa People

You are the indispensable agent of change. You should not be daunted by the magnitude of the task before you. Your contribution can inspire others, embolden others who are timid, to stand up for the truth in the midst of a welter of distortion, propaganda, and deceit; stand up for human rights where these are being violated with impunity; stand up for justice, freedom, and love where they are trampled underfoot by injustice, oppression, hatred, and harsh cruelty; stand up for human dignity and decency at times when these are in desperately short supply. God calls on us to be his partners to work for a new kind of society where people count; where people matter more than things, more than possessions; where human life is not just respected but positively revered; where people will be secure and not suffer from the By Desmond Tutu Stand Change Human People Indispensable

God is not upset that Gandhi was not a Christian, because God is not a Christian! All of God's children and their different faiths help us to realize the immensity of God. By Desmond Tutu Christian God Gandhi Upset Children

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Beginning Chance Make

Because there is global insecurity, nations are engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction, when millions are starving. And yet, just a fraction of what is extended so obscenely on defense budgets would make a real difference in enabling God's children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives. By Desmond Tutu Insecurity Nations Race Spending Destruction

If you are invisible, you are vulnerable. Birth Registration must be everyone's priority. Let's make all children visible and let's give every child a birthday! By Desmond Tutu Invisible Vulnerable Registration Birth Priority

Each of us is precious to God because each of us has their name written on the palms of God's hands. And God says there are no outsiders - black, white, yellow, short, tall, young, old, rich, poor, gay, lesbian, straight - everyone. All belong. And God says, I have only you to help me realize my dream. Help me. By Desmond Tutu God Hands Precious Written Palms

We used to say to the apartheid government: you may have the guns, you may have all this power, but you have already lost. Come: join the winning side. His Holiness and the Tibetan people are on the winning side. By Desmond Tutu Side Government Guns Power Lost

We must embrace our differences, even celebrate our diversity. We must glory in the fact that God created each of us as unique human beings. God created us different, but God did not create us for separation. God created us different that we might recognize our need for one another. We must reverence our uniqueness, reverence everything that makes us what we are: our language, our culture, our religious tradition. By Desmond Tutu God Created Differences Diversity Embrace

But God can only smile because only God can know what is coming next. By Desmond Tutu God Smile Coming

We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters. By Desmond Tutu Change Stop Climate South Africa

We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew ... Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful ... and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things. By Desmond Tutu Enjoy Beautiful Music Sunsets Dew

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. By Desmond Tutu Diminished Affirming Good Oppressed Person

Forgiveness is truly the grace by which we enable another person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew. To not forgive leads to bitterness and hatred. Like self-hatred and self-contempt, hatred of others gnaws away at our vitals. Whether hatred is projected out or stuffed in, it is always corrosive to the human spirit. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Dignity Anew Hatred Grace

Symptoms of chronic stress are feelings of fragmentation and of chasing after time - of not being able to be present. What we are looking for is a settled, joyful state of being, and we need to give this state space. The Archbishop once told me that people often think he needs time to pray and reflect because he is a religious leader. He said those who must live in the marketplace - business people, professionals and workers - need it even more. By Desmond Tutu Symptoms Present Chronic Stress Feelings

We give kudos to people who have succeeded. We don't care in what they succeeded as long as they succeeded. The worst thing that can happen to anybody in this cultural environment is to fail. By Desmond Tutu Succeeded Give Kudos People Fail

He's a tremendous breath of fresh air. The things he [Pope Francis] has done in a short period of time: the fact that he does not live in a huge papal mansion and just dropped by in the dining room where ordinary people have meals. You think of his background, where he didn't use limousines in South America, that he used public transport. I'm so, so thrilled that he is there at this crucial moment in the history of our world. By Desmond Tutu Air Tremendous Breath Fresh Pope

A very important but difficult piece of renewing relationships is accepting responsibility for our part in any conflict. If we have a relationship in need of repair, we must remember that the wrong is not usually all on one side, and we are more easily able to restore relations when we look at our contribution to a conflict. By Desmond Tutu Conflict Important Difficult Piece Renewing

Racism, xenophobia and unfair discrimination have spawned slavery, when human beings have bought and sold and owned and branded fellow human beings as if they were so many beasts of burden. By Desmond Tutu Racism Human Xenophobia Slavery Burden

Reconciliation is a long process. We don't have the kind of race clashes that we thought would happen. What we have is xenophobia, and it's very distressing. But maybe you ought to be lenient with us. We've been free for just 12 years. By Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Process Long Happen Years

Where we come from does not determine who we can become. What we look like places no limits on what we can achieve. We should all have the right to express ourselves, all have the right to be heard, all have the right to be what we can be: To reach for the sky and touch the stars. No matter who we are, no matter whether we are man or woman, or rich or poor: My voice, my right. My voice counts. By Desmond Tutu Determine Voice Matter Achieve Places

Like humility, generosity comes from seeing that everything we have and everything we accomplish comes from God's grace and God's love for us ... Certainly it is from experiencing this generosity of God and the generosity of those in our life that we learn gratitude and to be generous to others. - God Has a Dream, p. 86. By Desmond Tutu God Generosity Humility Accomplish Grace

The Dead Sea in the Middle East receives fresh water, but it has no outlet, so it doesn't pass the water out. It receives beautiful water from the rivers, and the water goes dank. I mean, it just goes bad. And that's why it is the Dead Sea. It receives and does not give. In the end generosity is the best way of becoming more, more, and more joyful. By Desmond Tutu Water Middle East Dead Sea

It is for real that injustice and oppression will not have the last word. There was a time when Hitler looked like he was going to vanquish all of Europe, and where is he now? By Desmond Tutu Word Europe Real Injustice Oppression

It was relatively easy, we now realize, to categorize countries and nations. You knew who your enemies were and whom you could count on as collaborators and friends. And even more importantly, you had ready-made scapegoats to take the blame when things were going wrong. By Desmond Tutu Easy Realize Nations Categorize Countries

Dream of a world where poverty is history, dream of a world where we don't spend those obscene billions on arms, knowing full well that a tiny fraction of those budgets of death would ensure that children everywhere had clean water to drink, could afford the cheap inoculations against preventable diseases, would have good schools, adequate healthcare and decent homes. By Desmond Tutu Dream World History Arms Knowing

Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value. By Desmond Tutu Ordinary Acts Love Hope Point

I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a higher authority. Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged. By Desmond Tutu Vulnerable Authority Firsthand Injustice Overlooked

If we could but recognize our common humanity, that we do belong together, that our destinies are bound up in one another's, that we can be free only together, that we can be human only together, then a glorious world would come into being where all of us lived harmoniously together as members of one family, the human family. By Desmond Tutu Family Human Humanity Recognize Common

Oh, 1994, April 27. There won't be a day like that ever again. I mean, the sky was blue, with a blueness that had never been there before. By Desmond Tutu April Blue Day Sky Blueness

Dear Child of God, I write these words because we all experience sadness, we all come at times to despair, and we all lose hope that the suffering in our lives and in the world will ever end. I want to share with you my faith and my understanding that this suffering can be transformed and redeemed. There is no such thing as a totally hopeless case. Our God is an expert at dealing with chaos, with brokenness, with all the worst that we can imagine. God created order out of disorder, cosmos out of chaos, and God can do so always, can do so nowin our personal lives and in our lives as nations, globally ... Indeed, God is transforming the world nowthrough usbecause God loves us. By Desmond Tutu God Child Lives Suffering Dear

We who advocate peace are becoming an irrelevance when we speak peace. The government speaks rubber bullets, live bullets, tear gas, police dogs, detention, and death. By Desmond Tutu Peace Bullets Detention Advocate Irrelevance

There would be no call for ecological campaigning had nature not been exploited and abused. We experience the ground now bringing forth thistles as soil erosion devastates formerly arable land and deserts overtake fertile farms. Rivers and the atmosphere are polluted thoughtlessly and we are fearful of the consequences of a depleted ozone layer and the devastation of the greenhouse effect. We are not quite at home in our world, and somewhere in each of us there is a nostalgia for a paradise that has been lost. By Desmond Tutu Abused Call Ecological Campaigning Nature

Child of God, known by name and whose very hairs are numbered. Praise and adore God and thank him for ever and ever. Amen. By Desmond Tutu God Child Numbered Hairs Amen

A person is a person through other persons.None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, or walk, or speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are. A person is entitled to a stable community life, and the first of these communities is the family. By Desmond Tutu Human Person Formed Personsnone World

When God grabs you by the scruff of the neck then although theoretically you have a freedom to say 'no', in another sense, actually, you can't say no because it's like Jeremiah. 'God, you have cheated me. You called me to be a prophet against the people that I love, and all that I proclaim is words of doom and judgement.' And yet if I say "I will shut up", I can't. By Desmond Tutu Jeremiah God Sense Grabs Scruff

We must act now and wake up to our moral obligations. The poor and vulnerable are members of God's family and are the most severely affected by droughts, high temperatures, the flooding of coastal cities, and more severe and unpredictable weather events resulting from climate change. We, who should have been responsible stewards preserving our vulnerable, fragile planet home, have been wantonly wasteful through our reckless consumerism, devouring irreplaceable natural resources. By Desmond Tutu Obligations Act Wake Moral Vulnerable

Children learn about the nature of the world from their family. They learn about power and about justice, about peace and about compassion within the family. Whether we oppress or liberate our children in our relationships with them will determine whether they grow up to oppress and be oppressed or to liberate and be liberated. By Desmond Tutu Family Learn Nature World Children

One of the things that people sense is that you are not doing this for self-glorification, you are doing it for the sake of others. The Dalai Lama has been in exile for so many years, yet the Chinese are running scared of him. By Desmond Tutu Selfglorification Things People Sense Sake

I don't often want to speak. I try to be a reasonable person and to be diplomatic, but you go to that place and you see the settlements, you see what has happened to the land that was owned by the Palestinians. I have often said to my Jewish friends: "Please just remember where you come from. Remember Yahweh, who said to the Israelites, 'Treat the alien well with justice.'" By Desmond Tutu Speak Palestinians Remember Jewish Yahweh

I think we need to grow in our self-assurance that is not scared of being challenged, that the truth we uphold can stand up to the closest possible scrutiny. By Desmond Tutu Challenged Scrutiny Grow Selfassurance Scared

We can enjoy a self-assurance that doesn't depend on the state of things outside ourselves, be it downturns or booms or whatever. By Desmond Tutu Enjoy Selfassurance Depend State Things

When we ignore the pain, it grows bigger and bigger, and like an abscess that is never drained, eventually it will rupture. When that happens, it can reach into every area of our lives - our health, our families, our jobs, our friendships, our faith, and our very ability to feel joy may be diminished by the fallout from resentments, anger, and hurts that are never named. By Desmond Tutu Bigger Pain Drained Eventually Rupture

Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies. By Desmond Tutu Inclusive Goodquality Societies Education Foundation

Jesus could weep. Sometimes when you look at the ugliness that makes you weep, you know that the heart of God is also weeping. Jesus is for real. He does not give up on anyone, least of all on me. By Desmond Tutu Weep Jesus God Weeping Real

What about evil, you may ask? Aren't some people just evil, just monsters, and aren't such people just unforgivable? I do believe there are monstrous and evil acts, but I do not believe those who commit such acts are monsters or evil. To relegate someone to the level of monster is to deny that person's ability to change and to take away that person's accountability for his or her actions and behavior. By Desmond Tutu Evil People Monsters Person Acts

In order to turn around and do something better, we must first escape the vicious circle of self-righteousness and denial. And that calls for the humility to say "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." By Desmond Tutu Denial Order Turn Escape Vicious

My flock is black, my flock is white. One has got to say to our people, "I love you. I care for you, enormously." And when I care about black liberation, it is because I care about white liberation. By Desmond Tutu Flock Care Liberation Black White

Serve others. The failing recipe for happiness and success is to want the good of others. By Desmond Tutu Serve Failing Recipe Happiness Success

Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another, and cherish one another and seek the greater good of the other. By Desmond Tutu Maturity Judged Agree Disagree Continue

In order to truly forgive oneself, one must either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that one's behavior was wrong and accept responsibility or blame for such behavior. Without these elements, self-forgiveness is irrelevant and pseudo self-forgiveness becomes likely. By Desmond Tutu Oneself Behavior Order Forgive Explicitly

Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness. The ones that are held in high regard are not militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try and make the world a better place. By Desmond Tutu Human Goodness World Ghastliness Made

Let girls be girls and not brides By Desmond Tutu Brides Girls

To travel only blocks in his own homeland, a grandfather waits on the whim of a teenage soldier. More than an emergency is needed to get to a hospital; less than a crime earns a trip to jail. The lucky ones have a permit to leave their squalor to work in Israel's cities, but their luck runs out when security closes all checkpoints, paralysing an entire people. The indignities, dependence and anger are all too familiar. By Desmond Tutu Homeland Soldier Travel Blocks Grandfather

I am passionately opposed to the death penalty for anyone ... I think, myself, that it is an obscenity ... By Desmond Tutu Passionately Opposed Death Penalty Obscenity

Don't raise your voice, improve your argument.[Address at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 November 2004] By Desmond Tutu Johannesburg November Address Houghton South

In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. By Desmond Tutu Africa God South Human Children

Renewing a relationship is a creative act. We make a new relationship. It is possible to build a new relationship regardless of the realities of the old relationship. By Desmond Tutu Relationship Renewing Act Creative Make

You know when ubuntu is there, and it is obvious when it is absent. It has to do with what it means to be truly human, to know that you are bound up with others in the bundle of life. By Desmond Tutu Absent Ubuntu Obvious Human Life

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring. By Desmond Tutu Man Feed Fish Teach Give

I am deeply moved by the warmth and courage of the Canadian people which I felt so strongly during my recent visit to your country. Your support of the struggle against apartheid restored me in my journey home and reassured me that many just people around the world are with us. By Desmond Tutu Canadian Country People Deeply Moved

It is quite exhilarating to speak about a God who has an incredible bias, a notorious bias in favor of the downtrodden. You look at Exodus and the Israelites' escape from a bottomless pit. God is not evenhanded. God is biased up to his eyebrows. By Desmond Tutu Bias God Downtrodden Exhilarating Speak

Forgiveness is something that we are often asked to grant and very few of us ever have the roadmap of how to get from the pain that we have experienced to being able to forgive someone. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Asked Grant Roadmap Pain

True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin or any other identity attribute. By Desmond Tutu Religion Gender True Humans Ethnicity

We need rituals for all traumas and loss, whether it is betrayal or infidelity or violence or murder. Ritual helps us heal, and ritual helped me heal and become ready to consider the person who murdered Angela, his story, his pain. By Desmond Tutu Loss Murder Angela Traumas Betrayal

I think that because this is a moral universe, then right will prevail, goodness will prevail, compassion will prevail, laughter will prevail, love, caring, sharing will prevail. Because we are made for goodness. We are made for love. By Desmond Tutu Prevail Caring Love Universe Compassion

We pray that Aung San Suu Kyi and her country are now on a path to freedom By Desmond Tutu Aung San Suu Kyi Freedom

I would hope that wherever I was I would be me. I have been influenced by some wonderful people who showed me that there is an integral relationship between faith and life at home. Evil is evil, repression is repression anywhere. And if it is not consistent with what one believes is God's will, then I would hope that one would be able to witness it, and there are wonderful people who do so in very great risks to themselves. By Desmond Tutu Hope People Wonderful Evil Repression

Freedom translates into having a supply of clean water, having electricity on tap; being able to live in a decent home and have a good job; to be able to send your children to school and to have accessible healthcare. I mean what's the point of having made this transition if the quality of life ... is not enhanced and improved? If not, the vote is useless. By Desmond Tutu Freedom Water Tap Job Healthcare

Freedom is indivisible. Whites can't enjoy their separate freedoms. They spend too much time and resources defending those freedoms instead of enjoying them. By Desmond Tutu Indivisible Freedoms Whites Enjoy Separate

All modern humans are related to what scientists call "Mitochondrial Eve." This refers to our common matrilineal ancestor. She lived approximately 200,000 years ago and depending on how you estimate the length of a generation, we are only 5,000 to 10,000 generations from one another. To put it another way, each of us is a cousin of one another at most 10,000 times removed. And yes, Mitochondrial Eve lived in Africa, so, in a very real way, we are all Africans. By Desmond Tutu Mitochondrial Eve Call Modern Humans

We prayed earnestly that God would bless our land and would confound the machinations of the children of darkness. There had been so many moments in the past, during the dark days of apartheid's vicious awfulness, when we had preached, "This is God's world and God is in charge!" Sometimes, when evil seemed to be on the rampage and about to overwhelm goodness, one had held on to this article of faith by the skin of one's teeth. It was a kind of theological whistling in the dark and one was frequently tempted to whisper in God's ear, "For goodness' sake, why don't You make it more obvious that You are in charge? By Desmond Tutu God Darkness Charge Prayed Earnestly

The minute you got the Nobel Peace Prize, things that I said yesterday, with nobody paying too much attention, I say the same things after I got it - oh! It was quite crucial for people, and it helped our morale because apartheid did look invincible. By Desmond Tutu Prize Nobel Peace Things Yesterday

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. We cannot afford to use methods of which we will be ashamed when we look back, when we say, ' ... we shouldn't have done that.' We must remember, my friends, that we have been given a wonderful cause. The cause of freedom! And you and I must be those who will walk with heads held high. We will say, 'We used methods that can stand the harsh scrutiny of history.' By Desmond Tutu Oppose System Methods Back Afford

Life is funny and we are really funny, especially when we get to be hoity toity; we can be so ridiculous. Life is fun. By Desmond Tutu Life Funny Toity Ridiculous Hoity

I would like to share with you two simple truths: there is nothing that cannot be forgiven, and there is no one un-deserving of forgiveness. By Desmond Tutu Truths Forgiven Forgiveness Share Simple

If we have loved well while we were alive, there is life after death here-our love will go on for generations. By Desmond Tutu Alive Generations Loved Life Death

When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others. By Desmond Tutu Enemy Hate Risk Humanity Oppress

Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing. By Desmond Tutu Forgiving Reconciled Enemies Loved Pretending

I don't want a moratorium on the death penalty. I want the abolition of it. I can't understand why a country [USA] that's so committed to human rights doesn't find the death penalty an obscenity. By Desmond Tutu Death Usa Penalty Moratorium Country

The abolition of the death penalty is making us a civilized society. It shows we actually do mean business when we say we have reverence for life. By Desmond Tutu Society Abolition Death Penalty Making

VICTORY IS OURS Goodness is stronger than evil; Love is stronger than hate; Light is stronger than darkness; Life is stronger than death; Victory is ours through Him who loves us. DESMOND TUTU By Desmond Tutu Stronger Victory Light Life Goodness

I want us to see a resurgence, a revival, a renaissance of so many of the wonderful attributes and values that Africa has. You know we have had a jurisprudence, a penology in Africa which is not retributive. We've had a jurisprudence which was restorative. When people quarreled in the traditional setting, the main intention was not to punish the miscreant but to restore good relations. For Africa is concerned, or was concerned, about relationship, about the wholeness of relationship. That is something we can bring to the world, a world that is polarized, a world that is fragmented, a world that destroys people. By Desmond Tutu Africa World Resurgence Revival Renaissance

Our Lord wanted us to be Christ-like. Christ-like doesn't mean not having faults. It means that you do actually have a capacity to draw out the good that is in others. By Desmond Tutu Lord Christlike Wanted Faults Capacity

As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love. By Desmond Tutu World Holocaust Slavery Racism War

God has such a deep reverence for our freedom that he'd rather let us freely go to Hell than be compelled to go to Heaven. By Desmond Tutu Heaven Hell God Deep Reverence

Men and boys, we show our manhood through the way we treat our women. Our wives, our sisters, our mothers. By Desmond Tutu Men Boys Women Show Manhood

For both the offender and the victim, the pain is there, often unacknowledged and that is when it can cause harm through festering. When I ignore a physical wound, it does not go away. No, it festers and goes bad. By Desmond Tutu Victim Festering Offender Pain Unacknowledged

There are very good Christians who are compassionate and caring. And there are very bad Christians. You can say that about Islam, about Hinduism, about any faith. That is why I was saying that it was not the faith per se but the adherent. People will use their religion to justify virtually anything. By Desmond Tutu Christians Caring Good Compassionate Islam

Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional. By Desmond Tutu God Child Dear Optional Suffering

I am a strong supporter of the recent extradition proceedings against General Pinochet. It would be quite intolerable that the perpetrator should decide not only whether he should get amnesty but that no one else should have the right to question the grounds on which he had so granted himself amnesty and for what offense. By Desmond Tutu Pinochet General Strong Supporter Recent

Our common experience in fact is the opposite - that the past, far from disappearing or lying down and being quiet, has an embarrassing and persistent way of returning and haunting us unless it has in fact been dealt with adequately. Unless we look the beast in the eye we find it has an uncanny habit of returning to hold us hostage. By Desmond Tutu Fact Opposite Past Quiet Adequately

My father always used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right. By Desmond Tutu Voice Father Raise Improve Argument

Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity. They think, "I am a human being and I may not be able to defeat these people or destroy them, but I will hit out at them, because I am not a thing, I am human." By Desmond Tutu Dignity Situation Justice Occasion Humiliated

Every praying person, every person who has an encounter with God, must have a passionate concern for his or her brother and sister, his or her neighbor. To treat any of these as if he were less than the child of God is to deny the validity of one's spiritual existence. By Desmond Tutu God Person Sister Neighbor Praying

How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns? By Desmond Tutu Goalkeepers Soccer Team French Horns

There is no justice in killing in the name of justice. By Desmond Tutu Justice Killing

Have you seen a symphony orchestra? There is a person at the back carrying a triangle. Now and again the conductor will point to him or her and that person will play "ting." That might seem so insignificant, but in the conception of the composer something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony if that "ting" did not happen. By Desmond Tutu Ting Orchestra Symphony Person Triangle

No peace is impossible when people are determined to achieve it By Desmond Tutu Peace Impossible People Determined Achieve

Trust is one of the fundamentals of human existence. We need to be able to trust one another. A man who can no longer trust anyone will become sick. By Desmond Tutu Existence Trust Fundamentals Human Sick

An abusive relationship should be easy to identify though often one of the most difficult to end. By Desmond Tutu End Abusive Relationship Easy Identify

The only separation the Bible knows is between believers on the one hand and unbelievers on the other. Any other kind of separation, division, disunity is of the devil. It is evil and from sin. By Desmond Tutu Bible Separation Believers Hand Unbelievers

We can carry the burden of hurt throughout our lives. We can make the hurt that we have experienced the defining aspect of our stories of ourselves. That means that somebody else gets to say who we are, somebody else gets to decide how we feel, and somebody else gets to decide how we see the world. Forgiveness not only frees us from the burden of someone else's opinion of us, but it allows us the opportunity to really write a story of ourselves that we can love, enjoy, relish, and live into. By Desmond Tutu Hurt Burden Carry Decide Lives

To treat anyone as if they were less than human, less than a brother or a sister, no matter what they have done, is to contravene the very laws of our humanity. By Desmond Tutu Human Sister Humanity Treat Brother

Love is universal. You don't have to tell somebody that loving is better than hating. You don't have to believe in God to know that stealing is bad. All of God's children and their different faiths help to realize the immensity of God. No faith contains the whole truth about God. And certainly Christians don't have a corner on God. All of us belong to God. By Desmond Tutu God Love Universal Christians Hating

Once lost, trust can only be regained if we are as good as our word. By Desmond Tutu Lost Trust Word Regained Good

We do not need to succumb to the temptation to meet such a violation with retaliation. The only way to heal this hurt is to give voice to what ails us. It is only in this way that we can keep our pain and loss from taking root inside us. It is only in this way that we have a chance for freedom. By Desmond Tutu Retaliation Succumb Temptation Meet Violation

The cycle of reprisal and counter reprisal that had characterized their national history had to be broken and that the only way to do this was to go beyond retributive justice to restorative justice, to move on to forgiveness, because without it there was no future. By Desmond Tutu Reprisal Justice Forgiveness Future Cycle

Are you able to restore to those people the time when their freedom was denied them? If you have evidence for goodness sake produce it in a court of law. People with power have an incredible capacity for wanting to be able to retain that power and don't like scrutiny. By Desmond Tutu Restore Time Freedom Denied People

As we say in our African idiom, a person is a person through other persons. To dehumanize another inexorably means that one is dehumanized as well. By Desmond Tutu African Person Idiom Persons Dehumanize

Look at Nelson Mandela. Why did people want to follow him? He's a lousy speaker. If he hadn't got all the other things, you wouldn't spend time listening to him. But people actually don't listen to what he's saying, in a way. They are listening to him because he has communicated that he is ready to put his life on the line. By Desmond Tutu Mandela Nelson Listening People Follow

Race should not be used to claim privileges and rights for one group, exclusively, which are denied other different groups. Then that is an illegitimate use of race. By Desmond Tutu Exclusively Group Groups Race Claim

When I became Archbishop I set myself three goals for my term of office. Two had to deal with the inner workings of our Anglican (Episcopalian) Church - the ordination of women to the priesthood which our Church approved in 1992 and through which our Church has been wonderfully enriched and blessed; and the other in which I failed to get the Church's backing, the division of the large and sprawling Diocese of Cape Town into smaller episcopal pastoral units. The third goal was the liberation of all our people, black and white, and that we achieved in 1994. By Desmond Tutu Church Archbishop Office Set Term

Is Zionism racism? I would say yes. It's a policy that to me looks like it has very many parallels with racism. The effect is the same. Whether you call it that or not is in a sense irrelevant. By Desmond Tutu Zionism Racism Irrelevant Policy Parallels

If you are able to talk about your life and the joys and sorrows you have experienced, if you know your story, you are much more likely to be a skillful parent. By Desmond Tutu Experienced Story Parent Talk Life

A leader is someone you are not disappointed in placing trust in. When that person makes suggestions, you are inclined to trust [them]. Often it is people who have been there [in a similar situation to the people he or she is leading]. They would generally be people who are ready to take the risks themselves. Most leaders would be people who don't ever give commands and remain at home and let the foot soldiers be the ones who bear the brunt. By Desmond Tutu People Trust Disappointed Placing Suggestions

Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse. No more can it be dismissed as science fiction; we are already feeling the effects. By Desmond Tutu Twentyfive Change Years Ago People

Only if we face up to our past can we regain our credibility. If we pretend that our trust is greater than it is, we will be like someone who tries to patch over a crack. By Desmond Tutu Credibility Face Past Regain Crack

Until women are deeply involved in opposing the violence in the world, we are not going to bring it to an end. All women must be equally at the forefront of the movements for social justice. And By Desmond Tutu World End Women Deeply Involved

The miracle was the result of the negotiated settlement. There would have been no negotiated settlement and so no new democratic South Africa had the negotiators on one side insisted that all perpetrators be brought to trial. While the Allies could pack up and go home after Nuremberg, we in South Africa had to live with one another. By Desmond Tutu Africa South Negotiated Settlement Miracle

The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda. It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked. By Desmond Tutu Agenda Matter Abuse Cruelty Inflict

As human beings, even if we were to have tried to forget the past, if you dealt with it in a cavalier fashion, it would return to haunt you. By Desmond Tutu Past Fashion Human Forget Dealt

Consider what we sometimes do with our children: We imbue them with this sense, very early on, that they have got to succeed. We are not content that they just do well, they have got to wipe the floor with the opposition. By Desmond Tutu Children Sense Succeed Imbue Early

The reprisal against the suicide bomber does not bring peace. There is a suicide bomber, a reprisal and then a counter-reprisal. And it just goes on and on. By Desmond Tutu Peace Suicide Bomber Reprisal Bring

It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. And never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant. By Desmond Tutu Great Deal Oppressed Insignificant

God says, "Please, please help me realize this dream." And some of God's best collaborators are the young, because you dream. You dream God's dream. By Desmond Tutu God Dream Realize Young Collaborators

The world's forests are a shared stolen treasure that we must put back for our children's future By Desmond Tutu Future World Forests Shared Stolen

Forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up and get up with dignity, to begin anew. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Dignity Anew Grace Enable

If you recall the happiest moments in your life, they are all from when you were doing something for somebody else. By Desmond Tutu Life Recall Happiest Moments

Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary, his will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate, justice over injustice and oppression, peace over exploitation and bitterness. By Desmond Tutu Prevail Easter Contrary Love Hate

This is what healing demands. Behavior that is hurtful, shameful, abusive, or demeaning must be brought into the fierce light of truth, and truth can be brutal. By Desmond Tutu Demands Shameful Abusive Healing Truth

Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining. By Desmond Tutu Universal Necessity Selfsustaining Education Moral

Forgiving is a gift to the forgiver as well as to the perpetrator. By Desmond Tutu Forgiving Perpetrator Gift Forgiver

My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity especially on the situation in Gaza shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma By Desmond Tutu Gaza Message International Community Silence

As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities. By Desmond Tutu Evil Human Extraordinary Capacity Atrocities

In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime. By Desmond Tutu Africa South Apartheid World Divestment

The moment for which I had waited so long came and I folded my ballot paper and cast my vote. Wow! I shouted, 'Yippee!' It was giddy stuff. It was like falling in love. The sky looked blue and more beautiful. I saw the people in a new light. They were beautiful, they were transfigured. I too was transfigured. It was dreamlike. By Desmond Tutu Vote Moment Waited Long Folded

I have absolutely no objection to performance and success as long as they don't become false idols and threaten to rule our lives. By Desmond Tutu Lives Absolutely Objection Performance Success

Love your enemy; it will ruin his reputation. By Desmond Tutu Love Enemy Reputation Ruin

Each person is a V.S.P. (a Very Special Person) because we are each created in the image of God. By Desmond Tutu Person God Special Created Image

Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency. By Desmond Tutu Peace Hate Talk Guy Leader

I am 52 years of age. I am a bishop in the Anglican Church, and a few people might be constrained to say that I was reasonably responsible. In the land of my birth, I cannot vote. By Desmond Tutu Years Age Church Anglican Responsible

To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice. By Desmond Tutu Injustice Remain Neutral Situations Complicit

The destruction of the earth's environment is the human rights challenge of our time. By Desmond Tutu Time Destruction Earth Environment Human

I wish I could shut up, but I can't, and I won't. By Desmond Tutu Shut

There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African underTutustanding is far more restorative - not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew. By Desmond Tutu Western Justice Kinds African Retributive

We would like to see you departing peacefully. By Desmond Tutu Peacefully Departing

When we look at a conflict, it is so often rooted in injustice, prejudice, competition for resources, poverty, poor governance and corruption. By Desmond Tutu Prejudice Poverty Conflict Injustice Competition

Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes. By Desmond Tutu Language Powerful Reality Describe Describes

People are able to justify immense cruelty and say that it is something that is sanctioned by their faith. By Desmond Tutu People Faith Justify Immense Cruelty

I don't know any religion that promotes violence. It is the adherents of whatever religion. By Desmond Tutu Violence Religion Promotes Adherents

Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. By Desmond Tutu Good World Bit Bits Put

One of the most blasphemous consequences of injustice, especially racist injustice, is that it can make a child of God doubt that he or she is a child of God. By Desmond Tutu God Injustice Child Blasphemous Consequences

I have struggled against tyranny. I didn't do that in order to substitute another. By Desmond Tutu Tyranny Struggled Order Substitute

People are scared in this country [the US], to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful - very powerful. By Desmond Tutu Powerful Jewish People Country Wrong

The fundamental law of human beings is interdependence. A person is a person through other persons. By Desmond Tutu Interdependence Fundamental Law Human Person

When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the ground, in South Africa you are blamed when that happens. By Desmond Tutu South Africa Ground Pile Cups

When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All By Desmond Tutu Oppress End Oppressing

I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum. By Desmond Tutu Default Vacuum Leader Nature

When people decide they want to be free, there is nothing that can stop them. By Desmond Tutu Free People Decide Stop

There is only one way to eat an elephant, a bite at a time. By Desmond Tutu Elephant Time Eat Bite

If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out, then the noise will be deafening. By Desmond Tutu Poverty Hunger Deafening End Suffering

There is no situation that is not transformable. There is no person who is hopeless. There is no set of circumstances that cannot be turned about by ordinary human beings and their natural capacity for love of the deepest sort. By Desmond Tutu Transformable Situation Hopeless Person Sort

There is room for everyone; there is room for every culture, race, language and point of view. By Desmond Tutu Race Room Culture Language View

A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly. By Desmond Tutu Time Worry Crisis Anxiety Choose

If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There's nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible. By Desmond Tutu Bible Subjugated People Thing Place

Having looked the past in the eye, having asked for forgiveness and having made amends, let us shut the door on the past - not in order to forget it but in order not to allow it to imprison us. By Desmond Tutu Past Order Eye Amends Looked

God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion. By Desmond Tutu God Family Togetherness Goodness Compassion

When I feel ashamed, it means I feel there isn't just something wrong with what I've done, there is something wrong with who I am. Shame is often a hidden emotion and it can be paralyzing in its power. By Desmond Tutu Wrong Feel Ashamed Shame Power

You have to understand that the Bible is really a library of books and it has different categories of material. There are certain parts which you have to say no to. The Bible accepted slavery. St Paul said women should not speak in church at all and there are people who have used that to say women should not be ordained. There are many things that you shouldn't accept. By Desmond Tutu Bible Material Understand Library Books

If forgiving depended on the culprit owning up, then the victim would always be at the mercy of the perpetrator. The victim would be bound in the shackles of victimhood. By Desmond Tutu Victim Perpetrator Forgiving Depended Culprit

One of the things we might want to learn when considering the failings of others is not to gloat because someone else has tripped up. By Desmond Tutu Things Learn Failings Gloat Tripped

It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul. By Desmond Tutu Soul Weakness Vulnerability Learn Empathy

We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low. By Desmond Tutu Heaven Surprised People Find God

I will never tell anyone to pick up a gun. But I will pray for the man who picks up a gun, pray that he will be less cruel than he might otherwise have been. By Desmond Tutu Gun Pray Pick Picks Man

God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be more togetherness in God's world. By Desmond Tutu God Transfiguration World Places Fellow

I've often been a little concerned by people who say they are color-blind, people who claim, in some ways, not to be aware of race, and I hope that those who will be looking for a vision of the future will be a little more honest, and say race actually does matter. By Desmond Tutu People Race Colorblind Claim Honest

Thus to forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summum bonum, that greatest good, communal harmony that enhances the humanity and personhood of all in the community. By Desmond Tutu Resentment Anger Bonum Good Communal

To forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summum bonum, the greatest good. By Desmond Tutu Resentment Anger Bonum Good Forgive

Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? By Desmond Tutu God Image People Amazing Made

In God's family, there are no outsiders, no enemies. By Desmond Tutu God Family Outsiders Enemies

It is very difficult now in South Africa to find anyone who ever supported apartheid. By Desmond Tutu South Africa Apartheid Difficult Find

We don't want apartheid liberalized. We want it dismantled. You can't improve something that is intrinsically evil. By Desmond Tutu Liberalized Apartheid Dismantled Evil Improve

In many ways, when you're a Nobel peace laureate, you have an obligation to humankind, to society. By Desmond Tutu Nobel Laureate Humankind Society Peace

The pressure to succeed has a lot to do with why people overstep the line. It is a peculiar weakness of western culture where we have made a fetish of success. By Desmond Tutu Line Pressure Succeed Lot People

Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order. A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives. By Desmond Tutu Life Order Cacophony Random Suffering

It's a fantastic thing, a very simple idea. Irrespective of your politics, of your culture, of your race, of your whatever, hierdie ding doen ons saam ... Here is one thing that can unite us irrespective of all of the things that are trying to tear us apart. By Desmond Tutu Idea Thing Fantastic Simple Irrespective

We need to be accountable to God's family. Once we start living in a way that is people-friendly to all of God's family, we will also be environment-friendly. By Desmond Tutu Family God Accountable Environmentfriendly Start

We have a planet that is at risk, where resources don't have a permanent life. We are going to have to make the decision: are we going to survive or are we waiting for our extinction? One day we will wake up and find people are fighting not for oil but water. By Desmond Tutu Risk Life Planet Resources Permanent

Forgiveness is taking seriously the awfulness of what has happened when you are treated unfairly. Forgiveness is not pretending that things are other than the way they are. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Unfairly Taking Awfulness Happened

Stability and peace in our land will not come from the barrel of a gun, because peace without justice is an impossibility. By Desmond Tutu Stability Gun Impossibility Peace Land

We are fragile creatures, and it is from this weakness, not despite it, that we discover the possibility of true joy. By Desmond Tutu Creatures Weakness Joy Fragile Discover

We get most upset with those we love because they are close to us and we know that they are aware of our weaknesses ... If only we could learn to live with our inadequacies, our frailties, our vulnerabilities, we would not need to try so hard to push away those who really know us. By Desmond Tutu Weaknesses Upset Love Close Aware

The time has now come to slow down, to sip Rooibos tea with my beloved wife in the afternoons, to watch cricket, to travel to visit my children and grandchildren, rather than to conferences and conventions and university campuses. By Desmond Tutu Rooibos Afternoons Cricket Grandchildren Campuses

Every single one of us can do something, however small, to make a difference. By Desmond Tutu Small Difference Single Make

Nuclear abolition is the democratic wish of the world's people, and has been our goal almost since the dawn of the atomic age. Together, we have the power to decide whether the nuclear era ends in a bang or worldwide celebration. By Desmond Tutu People Age Nuclear Abolition Democratic

Poverty - the greatest cause of human suffering on the planet - is itself exacerbated by conflict, competition for resources, injustice, even the global downturn and climate change. Diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria cannot be tackled without adequate resources. So you see everything is connected. In order to address any major cause of human suffering, we have to work together across many fronts. By Desmond Tutu Poverty Injustice Resources Planet Conflict

I don't think I've ever felt that same kind of peace, the kind of serenity that I felt after acknowledging that maybe I was going to die of this TB. By Desmond Tutu Kind Felt Peace Serenity Acknowledging

I believe in MasterPeace. World leaders cannot push back armed conflict alone. We need the whole world to make this happen. By Desmond Tutu Masterpeace World Happen Leaders Push

We are not responsible for what breaks us, but we can be responsible for what puts us back together again. Naming the hurt is how we begin to repair our broken parts. By Desmond Tutu Responsible Breaks Puts Back Naming

If you are neutral in times of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. By Desmond Tutu Injustice Oppressor Neutral Times Chosen

Theology reminded me that, however diabolical the act, it did not turn the perpetrator into a demon. We had to distinguish between the deed and the perpetrator, between the sinner and the sin, to hate and condemn the sin while being filled with compassion for the sinner. By Desmond Tutu Perpetrator Theology Act Demon Reminded

I can't for the life of me imagine that God would say, 'I will punish you because you are black; you should have been white. I will punish you because you are a woman; you should have been a man. I punish you because you are homosexual; you ought to have been heterosexual. I can't, I can't for the life of me believe that that is how God sees things. By Desmond Tutu Punish God Black White Life

Ubuntu tells us that we can create a more peaceful world by striving for goodness in each moment, wherever we are. By Desmond Tutu Ubuntu Moment Create Peaceful World

We struggled against apartheid because we were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about. It is the same with homosexuality. The orientation is a given, not a matter of choice. It would be crazy for someone to choose to be gay, given the homophobia that is present. By Desmond Tutu Struggled Apartheid Blamed Made Suffer

Too many people think that reconciliation means you soft-pedal differences. By Desmond Tutu Differences People Reconciliation Softpedal

When we see the face of a child, we think of the future. We think of their dreams about what they might become, and what they might accomplish. By Desmond Tutu Child Future Face Accomplish Dreams

I believe history teaches us a categorical lesson: that once a people are determined to become free, then nothing in the world can stop them reaching their goal. By Desmond Tutu Lesson Free Goal History Teaches

Instead of separation and division, all distinctions make for a rich diversity to be celebrated for the sake of the unity that underlies them. We are different so that we can know our need of one another. By Desmond Tutu Division Separation Distinctions Make Rich

What the Dalai Lama and I are offering," the Archbishop added, "is a way of handling your worries: thinking about others. You can think about others who are in a similar situation or perhaps even in a worse situation, but who have survived, even thrived. It does help quite a lot to see yourself as part of a greater whole." Once again, the path of joy was connection and the path of sorrow was separation. When we see others as separate, they become a threat. When we see others as part of us, as connected, as interdependent, then there is no challenge we cannot face - together. By Desmond Tutu Dalai Lama Archbishop Offering Added

Discovering more joy does not, save us from th inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily too. Perhaps we are just more alive. Yet as we discover more joy, we can face suffering in a way that ennobles rather than embitters. We have hardship without becoming hard. We have heartbreaks without being broken. By Desmond Tutu Discovering Save Easily Inevitability Joy

We can encourage more of our universities and municipalities, foundations, corporations, individuals and cultural institutions ... to move their money out of the problem (fossil fuels) and into the solutions (renewable energy) By Desmond Tutu Foundations Corporations Municipalities Individuals Institutions

Without forgiveness there can be no future for a relationship between individuals or within and between nations. By Desmond Tutu Nations Forgiveness Future Relationship Individuals

For goodness sake, will they hear, will white people hear what we are trying to say? Please, all we are asking you to do is to recognize that we are humans, too. By Desmond Tutu Hear Sake Goodness White People

I certainly don't think we [The Elders organization] are oracles but I would hope that over our lifetimes we have accumulated some useful experience and perhaps even a modicum of wisdom! We don't have all the answers. By Desmond Tutu Elders Organization Wisdom Oracles Hope

It was spine tingling, actually, when you saw how people kept saying, "Release Nelson Mandela," and meaning really, "Release all of our political prisoners." By Desmond Tutu Release Mandela Nelson Tingling Prisoners

As the victim, you offer the gift of your forgiving to the perpetrator who may or may not appropriate the gift but it has been offered and thereby it liberates the victim. By Desmond Tutu Victim Gift Offer Forgiving Perpetrator

We spend billions on banks when we know that a fraction of this money could save all the children in the world. By Desmond Tutu World Spend Billions Banks Fraction

Fundamental rights belong to the human being just because you are a human being. By Desmond Tutu Human Fundamental Belong

The black person entered the booth one person and emerged on the other side a new, transfigured person. By Desmond Tutu Person Transfigured Black Entered Booth

Niger is not an isolated island of desperation. It lies within a sea of problems across Africa - particularly the 'forgotten emergencies' in poor countries or regions with little strategic or material appeal. By Desmond Tutu Niger Desperation Africa Isolated Island

When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. By Desmond Tutu Africa Bible Land Missionaries Pray

There is a story ... which is fairly well known, told about when missionaries came to Africa, that they had the Bible and we, the natives, had the land. And then they said, "Let us pray," and we dutifully shut our eyes. And when we opened them, why, they now had the land and we had the Bible. By Desmond Tutu Bible Story Africa Land Told

It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible. By Desmond Tutu Moral Obligation Give Child Education

I'm actually very humbled listening to His Holiness,' the Archbishop said, 'because I've frequently mentioned to people the fact of his serenity and his calm and joyfulness. We would probably have said 'in spite of' the adversity, but it seems like he's saying 'because of' the adversity that this has evolved for him. By Desmond Tutu Holiness Archbishop Joyfulness Humbled Listening

We can arrive at better solutions to any problem or pain together, than we can by ourselves. The beauty of the modern age is that you are able to source answers, and sometimes the genius is in the combination of ideas and energy that does not reside in only one person. By Desmond Tutu Arrive Solutions Problem Pain Answers

I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights. By Desmond Tutu Master Interested Picking Crumbs Compassion

You stand out in the crowd only because you have these many, many carrying you on their shoulders. By Desmond Tutu Shoulders Stand Crowd Carrying

Some people are able to use Bible as a means of opposing injustice, whereas others are able to find justification. By Desmond Tutu Bible Injustice Justification People Opposing

A jealous person is doubly unhappy-over what he has, which is judged inferior, and over which he has not, which is judged superior. Such a person is doubly removed from knowing the true blessing of creation. By Desmond Tutu Judged Inferior Superior Person Doubly

Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back. By Desmond Tutu Religion Knife Bread Back Cut

Transformation begins in you, wherever you are, whatever has happened, however you are suffering. Transformation is always possible. We do not heal in isolation. When we reach out and connect with one another - when we tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, and renew or release the relationship - our suffering begins to transform. By Desmond Tutu Transformation Happened Begins Suffering Isolation

To forgive is to abandon your right to pay back the predator in his own coin, but it is the loss that Liberates. By Desmond Tutu Liberates Coin Forgive Abandon Pay

It makes no sense to invest in [fossil fuel] companies that undermine our future By Desmond Tutu Fossil Fuel Companies Future Makes

It may be a procession of faithful failures that enriches the soil of godly success. Faithful actions are not religious acts. They are not even necessary actions undertaken by people of faith. Faithful actions, whether they are marked by success or they end in failure, are actions that are compelled by goodness. By Desmond Tutu Faithful Actions Procession Enriches Soil

We can be human only together. A person is a person to other persons. We so desperately long for all of us to learn that we are meant for one another. We are meant for complementarity. By Desmond Tutu Meant Human Person Persons Complementarity

Once you have been able to forgive, the final step is to either renew or release the relationship you have with the one who has harmed you. Indeed, even if you never speak to the person again, even if you never see them again, even if they are dead, they live on in ways that affect your life profoundly. By Desmond Tutu Forgive Final Step Renew Release

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another. By Desmond Tutu Differences Separate Alienate Intended Precisely

When you set out to change the world, the job seems insurmountable, but each of us can do his or her small part to effect change. We change the world when we choose to create a world of forgiveness in our own hearts and minds. By Desmond Tutu Change World Insurmountable Set Job

We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only together, black and white. By Desmond Tutu Black White Free Survive Human

Forgiveness is abandoning your right to revenge. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Revenge Abandoning

You must show the world that you abhor fighting. By Desmond Tutu Fighting Show World Abhor

Israel will never get true security and safety through oppressing another people. A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice. We condemn the violence of suicide bombers, and we condemn the corruption of young minds taught hatred; but we also condemn the violence of military incursions in the occupied lands, and the inhumanity that won't let ambulances reach the injured. By Desmond Tutu Condemn Israel People True Security

South Africa, so utterly improbably, is a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world. By Desmond Tutu Africa South Improbably World Utterly

Most poor people I know are proud and really want not a handout but a hand up. They do have an inherent pride and dignity, and we should treat them as those who have fallen on bad days. By Desmond Tutu Poor People Proud Handout Hand

It's a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela. By Desmond Tutu Mandela South Africa Nelson Blessing

The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated. By Desmond Tutu God Celebrated Existed Religion Counts

In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we've done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can't. By Desmond Tutu Good God End Matters Loves

Without forgiveness, there is no future. Forgiveness is not nebulous, impractical and idealistic. It's thoroughly realistic. It's real political in the long run. By Desmond Tutu Future Forgiveness Nebulous Impractical Idealistic

We mustn't romanticize suffering. It can turn people bitter and hard, although it does seem to have been almost indispensable in making people into the kind of leaders that we admire. By Desmond Tutu Suffering Romanticize People Hard Admire

We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God. By Desmond Tutu God Ready Learn Claiming Possess

The devastation wreaked by landmines is not only horrendous but immoral By Desmond Tutu Immoral Devastation Wreaked Landmines Horrendous

Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion. By Desmond Tutu Resentment Digestion Anger Bad Blood

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river.We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in. By Desmond Tutu Point Stop Pulling People Riverwe

In its history, Europe has committed so many massacres and horrors that it should bow its own head in shame. By Desmond Tutu Europe History Shame Committed Massacres

Suffering is part and parcel of the human condition, but suffering can either embitter or ennoble us. It can ennoble us and become a spirituality of transformation when we find meaning in it. By Desmond Tutu Condition Suffering Ennoble Part Parcel

I don't preach a social gospel; I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. By Desmond Tutu Period Gospel Preach Social Lord

There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep. By Desmond Tutu Asleep Difficult Waking Pretending

We must not only speak about forgiveness and reconciliation, we must act on these principles. By Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Principles Speak Forgiveness Act

Giving the emotion a name is the way we come to understand how what happened affected us. After we've told the facts of what happened, we must face our feelings. We are each hurt in our own unique ways, and when we give voice to this pain, we begin to heal it. By Desmond Tutu Happened Giving Emotion Understand Affected

I am a Nobel Peace laureate and my business should be to try to bring stability, not to be a red rag to bulls. By Desmond Tutu Nobel Peace Stability Bulls Laureate

It was Christians, you know, not Pagans, who were responsible for the Holocaust. It was Christians, not Pagans, who lynched people here in the South, who burned people at the stake, frequently in the name of this Jesus Christ. By Desmond Tutu Christians Pagans Holocaust Responsible South

When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, "Now is that political, or social?" He said, "I feed you." Because the good news to a hungry person is bread. By Desmond Tutu Jesus Political Social People Hungry

People united in pursuit of a righteous cause are unstoppable By Desmond Tutu People Unstoppable United Pursuit Righteous

You show your humanity by how you see yourself not as apart from others but from your connection to others. By Desmond Tutu Show Humanity Connection

Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice. By Desmond Tutu Exclusion Justice Forward Shared Paths

True forgiveness deals with the past, all of the past, to make the future possible. We cannot go on nursing grudges even vicariously for those who cannot speak for themselves any longer. We have to accept that we do what we do for generations past, present and yet to come. That is what makes a community a community or a people a people-for better or for worse. By Desmond Tutu Past True Forgiveness Deals Future

The way to understand any enemy is to realize that, from his perspective, he is not a villain but a hero. By Desmond Tutu Perspective Hero Understand Enemy Realize

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter - you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you. By Desmond Tutu Front Fire Winter Sit Smart

in the sentiment of Mahatma Gandhi, when we practice the law of an eye for an eye, we all end up blind. By Desmond Tutu Gandhi Mahatma Eye Blind Sentiment

We have an extraordinary God. God is a mighty God, but this God needs you. When someone is hungry, bread doesn't come down from heaven. When God wants to feed the hungry, you and I must feed the hungry. And now God wants peace in the world. By Desmond Tutu God Hungry Extraordinary Feed Mighty

Just as I need other human beings in order to learn from them, so I also need their trust. If we aren't aware of that, if we fail to take it to heart and instead betray other people's trust, things will go badly with us. By Desmond Tutu Trust Human Order Learn Things

Arrogance really comes from insecurity, and in the end our feeling that we are bigger than others is really the flip side of our feeling that we are smaller than others. By Desmond Tutu Feeling Arrogance Insecurity End Bigger

Sometimes you want to whisper in God's ear, 'God, we know you are in charge, but why don't you make it slightly more obvious?' By Desmond Tutu God Ear Charge Obvious Whisper

We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths. By Desmond Tutu Goodness Love Compassion Made Truths

A person is a person because s/he recognizes others as persons. By Desmond Tutu Person Recognizes Persons

People sometimes strive after and think they will find deep satisfaction for their psyches in wealth, sex or drugs, but then find that ultimately these things do not satisfy human longings. By Desmond Tutu People Wealth Sex Drugs Longings

If you are going to be a leader, you must have a record where people saw you are standing up against injustice at a risk. Then that builds up your stock of credibility so that, when you speak on another occasion about a different thing, people will pay attention. By Desmond Tutu Leader Risk People Record Standing

It is not too surprising that, having been involved in a policy as evil and dehumanizing as apartheid, By Desmond Tutu Apartheid Surprising Involved Policy Evil

Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future. By Desmond Tutu Memory Healing Forgiveness Future

God is not a diversion. By Desmond Tutu God Diversion

do not heal in isolation. Connecting with others is how we develop compassion for others and for ourselves. By Desmond Tutu Isolation Heal Connecting Develop Compassion

Order to truly forgive oneself, one must either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge that one's behavior was wrong and accept responsibility or blame for such behavior. By Desmond Tutu Order Oneself Behavior Forgive Explicitly

Once you have women liberated, it's amazing how many other problems get resolvedpover ty, education, health. Women are the key in any community. By Desmond Tutu Education Health Liberated Women Amazing

I suppose being the kind of creatures we [people] are, we like to censor the past, and are selective, or want to be selective about the things that we remember. If you want to destroy people, destroy their memory, destroy their history. By Desmond Tutu People Selective Past Remember Destroy

To be impartial ... is indeed to have taken sides already ... with the status quo. By Desmond Tutu Impartial Quo Sides Status

No one is self-sufficient. And it's not a one-way thing- -the generosity of spirit from one side provokes a response in kind from the other side. By Desmond Tutu Selfsufficient Side Thing Oneway Generosity

I have no doubt that in the future, the laws that criminalize human love and commitment will look the way the apartheid laws do to us now, so obviously wrong By Desmond Tutu Laws Future Wrong Doubt Criminalize

Never let anyone make you feel inferior for being who you are. When you live the life you were meant to live, in freedom and dignity By Desmond Tutu Make Feel Inferior Live Dignity

Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime. By Desmond Tutu Moment Good Lifetime Wrong Gratifies

None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, or walk, or speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are. By Desmond Tutu Human Formed World Fully Walk

Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity. By Desmond Tutu Whites Humanity Nice Rediscover

Europe became rich because it exploited Africa; and the Africans know that. By Desmond Tutu Africa Africans Europe Rich Exploited

I regard Abraham as my ancestor. Some of the greatest inspiration I have got has come from what we call the Old Testament prophets and what Jews would say "our prophets." By Desmond Tutu Abraham Ancestor Regard Testament Jews

One of the ways of helping to destroy a people is to tell them they don't have a history that they have no roots. By Desmond Tutu Roots Helping Destroy People History

There are things that must evoke our anger to show we care. It is what we do with that anger. If we direct that energy we can use it positively or destructively. By Desmond Tutu Care Anger Things Evoke Show

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. By Desmond Tutu Humanity Bound Human

We will only truly be free when those in bondage are finally free By Desmond Tutu Free Bondage Finally

Healing means that our dignity is restored and we are able to move forward in our lives. By Desmond Tutu Healing Lives Dignity Restored Move

We need other human beings in order to be human. By Desmond Tutu Human Order

Each one of us can be an oasis of peace. By Desmond Tutu Peace Oasis

Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is something extrinsic. By Desmond Tutu Christian Success Extrinsic Notion Faith

Forgiveness is an absolute necessity for continued human existence. By Desmond Tutu Forgiveness Existence Absolute Necessity Continued

Human beings can be awful, but they can also be tremendous. By Desmond Tutu Human Awful Tremendous

God's love is too great to be confined to any one side of a conflict or to any one religion. By Desmond Tutu God Religion Love Great Confined

We worshipped in the temple of cutthroat competition, and so some cooked the books, because the treasure is so great. By Desmond Tutu Competition Books Great Worshipped Temple

Catharsis is about cleansing and healing at one and the same time - healing memories and attitudes, healing the spirit and the heart. By Desmond Tutu Healing Catharsis Time Attitudes Heart

There is a certain kind of dignity we admire, and to which we aspire, in the person who refuses to meet anger with anger, violence with violence, or hatred with hatred. By Desmond Tutu Admire Aspire Anger Violence Hatred

To be neutral in a situation of injustice is to have chosen sides already. It is to support the status quo. By Desmond Tutu Neutral Situation Injustice Chosen Sides

To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice. By Desmond Tutu Life Revenge Justice Lost

Love is much more demanding than law. By Desmond Tutu Love Law Demanding

As long as we fail to face up to the past and deal with it accordingly, the future will smack of corruption. By Desmond Tutu Corruption Long Fail Face Past

It is small comfort to a mouse, if an elephant is standing on its tail, to say 'I am impartial.' In this instance, you are really supporting the elephant in its cruelty. By Desmond Tutu Mouse Tail Impartial Elephant Small

In terms of the New Testament the Jews must suffer, therefore we will put it into practice if we will in charge and there will be no sympathy for the Jews when the blacks take over. By Desmond Tutu Jews Testament Suffer Terms Put

We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity. By Desmond Tutu Diversity Inhabit Universe Characterized

The world needs a revolution led by women By Desmond Tutu Women World Revolution Led

Hate has no place in the house of God. By Desmond Tutu God Hate Place House

Making the truth public is a form of justice. This is a moral universe and you've got to take account of the fact that truth and lies and goodness and evil are things that matter. By Desmond Tutu Making Justice Truth Public Form

Many people would be surprised that, in fact, I'm quite shy. By Desmond Tutu Fact Shy People Surprised

My vote is my secret. By Desmond Tutu Secret Vote

A person who is assured of the love of God will see his fellow men in a different light and treat them and himself differently, and of course this also applies to business leaders. By Desmond Tutu God Differently Leaders Person Assured

We are made for loving. By Desmond Tutu Loving Made

What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled? By Desmond Tutu Recycled Black Empowerment Benefit Vast

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. By Desmond Tutu Injustice Oppressor Neutral Situations Chosen

I am because other people are. By Desmond Tutu People

All the United States, it is a society that is split like to the bottom, that had very poor people in the country that is one of the wealthiest countries. By Desmond Tutu States United Bottom Countries Society

Nursing a grudge is bad for your heath. By Desmond Tutu Nursing Heath Grudge Bad

Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are. By Desmond Tutu Children Gift Wonderful Extraordinary Capacity

The truth of who we are is that we are because we belong. By Desmond Tutu Belong