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Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu Quotes

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Famous Desmond Tutu Quotes

“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.”

FeelsPersonsDoeSelfWholeAbleKnowingGreaterAvailableOppressedThreatenedAssuranceUbuntuHumiliatedAffirmingSelf Assurance
Book:No Future Without Forgiveness
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“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.”

RealEndsSometimesRealityEyeHurtHealingEnemyHonestAbuseBlindForgivingPretendingLoved OnesWorthwhileSuperficialReconciliationConfrontationUndertakingsAccepting RealityBlind EyesAwfulness
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“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.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWorldNeedsFirstsHumansPersonsOrderSpeakCommunityHuman BeingsWalksKnow HowBehaveStableEntitled
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“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.”

WorldTryingHumansLittlesMadeBeautifulGivenEnjoyHuman BeingsBeautySeaThis WorldTasksRoseSunsetTruthfulBeautiful ThingsSublimeDewTranscendentBeautiful Sunset
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“... 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.”

IfsMeanChildrenMadeHomeAbleSchoolJobsLife IsWaterQualityVoteCleanUselessYour ChildrenDecentTransitionHealthcareTranslateElectricityGood JobQuality Of LifeClean Water
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“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.”

LifeHumansDoeArtistSufferingOrderOur LivesDependsMarkChaosHuman LifeWholenessSymphonyCacophony
Book:Made For Goodness: And why this makes all the difference
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“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.”

IfsWayNeedsTryingDifferentSelfProblemAcceptingCuttingMinesComfortableSizeSpendingWho I AmCelebrateMy TimeInsecuritySpectacularEnvious
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

IfsSidesJusticeSituationInjusticeChosenIndifferenceProtestBullyingMiceBullyTheologianDeath PenaltyDisobedienceOppressorsBulliedCivil DisobediencePeace And JusticeNeutralityPeace JusticeClergymenEquality And JusticeBeing BulliedNonviolent ResistanceAppreciate What You HaveJustice And MercyJustice And InjusticeBullying InspirationalInjustice And OppressionCyber BullyingInjustice In The WorldPonder This
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“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.”

KnowsWorldHumansMadeBeautifulBlackWhitePoorRichGayGoodnessRedFemaleMalesWelcomeEducatedYellowInspirational LoveOutsidersBeautiful ThingsTogethernessUnity In DiversityCultural DifferencesFriendlinessBlack WhiteHuman FamilyRich PoorIndividual DifferencesMale Female
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“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.'”

LooksHas BeensDoneUseRememberUsedGivenCausesFreedomWalksWonderfulMy FriendsMethodAshamedHarshBack WhenScrutinyUsing Me
Book:The words of Desmond Tutu
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