A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.
--Desmond Tutu
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.
--Desmond Tutu
Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.
--Desmond Tutu
Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
--Desmond Tutu
Forgiveness is an absolute necessity for continued human existence.
--Desmond Tutu
Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.
--Desmond Tutu
Fundamental rights belong to the human being just because you are a human being.
--Desmond Tutu
Good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death.
--Desmond Tutu
History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder.
--Desmond Tutu
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.
--Desmond Tutu
I call on men and boys everywhere to take a stand against the mistreatment of girls and women. It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men.
--Desmond Tutu
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....
--Desmond Tutu
I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.
--Desmond Tutu
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
--Desmond Tutu
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
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?
--Desmond Tutu
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
--Desmond Tutu
Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion.
--Desmond Tutu
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?'
--Desmond Tutu
There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative- not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew.
--Desmond Tutu
We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.
--Desmond Tutu
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.
--Desmond Tutu
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
Without forgiveness, there's no future.
--Desmond Tutu
You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.
--Desmond Tutu
Found 25 occurence(s) in 52,059 quotation(s).