Leaders / Innovators

58 Inspirational Desmond Tutu Quotes (HOPE)

Top 10 Most Famous Desmond Tutu Quotes (BEST)

Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remembering–remembering and not using your right to hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what happened.”

Desmond Tutu
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.Pin
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.Pin
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.Pin
If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.Pin
Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.

“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
You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.Pin
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.
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.Pin
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.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread or stick it in someone’s back.Pin
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread or stick it in someone’s back.
Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.Pin
Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.

13 InspirationalDesmond Tutu Quotes About Life (HUMANITY)

“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
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human.Pin
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human.
It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.Pin
It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.

“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.”

Desmond Tutu
Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.Pin
Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.
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.Pin
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.
Ultimately our greatest joy is when we seek to do good for others.Pin
Ultimately our greatest joy is when we seek to do good for others.

“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.”

Desmond Tutu
We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.Pin
We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.
It's a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela.Pin
It’s a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela.
I’m coming to believe more and more in the truth that everything we do has consequences. a good deed doesn’t just evaporate and disappear.Pin
I’m coming to believe more and more in the truth that everything we do has consequences. a good deed doesn’t just evaporate and disappear.
Dream. Dream. And then go for it!Pin
Dream. Dream. And then go for it!
Ubuntu… my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up in what is yours.Pin
Ubuntu… my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up in what is yours.

3 Motivational Desmond Tutu Quotes About Forgiveness

“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
Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.Pin
Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.
Without forgiveness, there is no future.Pin
Without forgiveness, there is no future.

9 WiseDesmond Tutu Quotes (WISDOM)

“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
My father used to say, don’t raise your voice; improve your argument.Pin
My father 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.Pin
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.
How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?Pin
How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?
Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies.Pin
Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies.
It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone.Pin
It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone.
I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being upheld by the prayers of so many people.Pin
I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being upheld by the prayers of so many people.
If we are going to bring about change, then men, for goodness sake, stand up.Pin
If we are going to bring about change, then men, for goodness sake, stand up.
Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion.Pin
Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion.

6 Desmond Tutu Quotes on Humans

“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.”

Desmond Tutu
We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity.Pin
We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity.
We learn from history that we don't learn from history!Pin
We learn from history that we don’t learn from history!
As human beings, we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities.Pin
As human beings, we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities.
There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep.Pin
There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep.
What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?Pin
What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?

5 Desmond Tutu Quotes on Freedom

“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.”

Desmond Tutu
Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.Pin
Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.Pin
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.Pin
Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.
It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we measure up as men.Pin
It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we measure up as men.

2 Desmond Tutu Quotes on Children

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.Pin
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.
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.Pin
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.

5 Desmond Tutu Quotes on Christians

“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.”

Desmond Tutu
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.Pin
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.
Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.Pin
Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.
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.Pin
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.
Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people?Pin
Isn’t it amazing that we are all made in God’s image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people?

5 EncouragingDesmond Tutu Quotes About God

People often speak of God being even-handed. God is not even-handed. God is biased, in favor of the weak, of the despised.Pin
People often speak of God being even-handed. God is not even-handed. God is biased, in favor of the weak, of the despised.
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.Pin
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.
God's love is too great to be confined to any one side of a conflict or to any one religion.Pin
God’s love is too great to be confined to any one side of a conflict or to any one religion.
God is patient with us to become the God's children he wants us to be but you really can see him weeping.Pin
God is patient with us to become the God’s children he wants us to be but you really can see him weeping.
The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.Pin
The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.
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(MUST READ) The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World

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Inspirational Desmond Tutu Quotes (HOPE) - Gracious QuotesPin
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