Desmond Tutu Quotes

Quotes about:

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  Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

  Desmond Tutu

  Life, Success, Peace

  FaceBook post by Desmond Tutu from Jan 04, 2014

  288 Copy quote
• 

  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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Bullying, Peace, Elephants

  FaceBook post by Desmond Tutu from Jan 22, 2014

  267 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Fall, Rivers, People

  342 Copy quote
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  Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.

  Desmond Tutu

  Order, Differences, Different

  Desmond Tutu (2011). “God Has A Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Times”, p.76, Random House

  294 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Beautiful, Inspirational Love, Gay

  342 Copy quote
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  If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

  Desmond Tutu

  Life, Friendship, Peace

  233 Copy quote
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  Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

  Desmond Tutu

  Hope, Light, Darkness

  "The Priest". Interview with Deborah Solomon, www.nytimes.com. March 4, 2010.

  223 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Country, Thinking, Ubuntu

  193 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Bible, Prayer, Eye

  302 Copy quote

• Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.

  Desmond Tutu

  Believe, Tests, Gaza

  23 Copy quote

• Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.

  Desmond Tutu

  Inspirational, Peace, Ordinary Extraordinary

  "Made for Goodness" by Desmond Tutu, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 12, 2012.

  10 Copy quote

• I can't control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond to it.

  Desmond Tutu

  Happens, I Can

  "Interview with Reverend Mpho Tutu of The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation". Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

  25 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Peace, Hate, Love Is

  14 Copy quote

• Peace without justice is an impossibility.

  Desmond Tutu

  Peace, Justice, Impossibility

  Desmond Tutu, Naomi Tutu (1989). “The words of Desmond Tutu”, Newmarket Pr

  11 Copy quote

• Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu, botho. It means the essence of being human. You know when it is there and when it is absent. It speaks about humaneness, gentleness, hospitality, putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable. It embraces compassion and toughness. It recognizes that my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.

  Desmond Tutu

  Believe, Mean, Compassion

  Desmond Tutu, Naomi Tutu (1989). “The words of Desmond Tutu”, Newmarket Pr

  152 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Maturity, Care, Agree To Disagree

  Desmond Tutu (2011). “God Has A Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Times”, p.22, Random House

  163 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Pain, Forgiving, Able

  21 Copy quote

• My father always used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument."

  Desmond Tutu

  Morning, Father, Voice

  128 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Suicide, Military, Land

  "Apartheid in the Holy Land". www.theguardian.com. April 29, 2002.

  36 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Hurt, Real, Healing

  123 Copy quote

• 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.

  Desmond Tutu

  Destiny, Common Humanity, Oneness

  43 Copy quote

• Too frequently we think we have to do spectacular things. Yet if we remember that the sea is actually made up of drops of water and each drop counts, each one of us can do our little bit where we are. Those little bits can come together and almost overwhelm the world. Each one of us can be an oasis of peace.

  Desmond Tutu

  Thinking, Oasis, Sea

  42 Copy quote

• Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies.

  Desmond Tutu

  Quality, Foundation, Equitable

  "Facing the Future: Global Education at the Crossroads" by Desmond Tutu, Dennis Van Roekel, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 21, 2010.

  44 Copy quote

• You are either on the side of the oppressed or on the side of the oppressor. You can't be neutral.

  Desmond Tutu

  Sides, Oppressed, Oppressors

  "Desmond Tutu is one of a rare breed" by Cath Elliott, www.theguardian.com. September 17, 2010.

  240 Copy quote

• Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.

  Desmond Tutu

  Cutting, Knives, Religion

  85 Copy quote

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