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Justice Quotes by Desmond Tutu

50 Justice quotes by Desmond Tutu

All Justice quotes Desmond Tutu’s page

Desmond Tutu says true freedom and justice need everyone to stand together, no matter their skin color. He points out that justice is about fixing humiliation and that staying neutral makes one part of the problem. He also separates revenge from justice and explains the difference between retributive and restorative justice.

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No future without forgiveness.

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We seek a restorative justice, not a retributive justice.

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Peace without justice is an impossibility.

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There is no justice in killing in the name of justice.

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Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.

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To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.

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There are two forms of justice. There is what is called retributive justice and there is restorative justice.

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People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change.

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When I care about black liberation, it is because I care about white liberation.

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If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

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We don't want apartheid liberalized. We want it dismantled. You can't improve something that is intrinsically evil.

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Some people are able to use Bible as a means of opposing injustice, whereas others are able to find justification.

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True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender,…

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I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much…

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We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only…

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This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no…

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And you remember the rainbow in the Bible is the sign of peace. The rainbow is the sign of prosperity. We want…

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There is no peace precisely because there has been no justice. As painful and inconvenient as justice may be, we have seen…

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Making the truth public is a form of justice. This is a moral universe and you've got to take account of the…

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The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems…

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Children learn about the nature of the world from their family. They learn about power and about justice, about peace and about…

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I have often said to my Jewish friends: "Please just remember where you come from. Remember Yahweh, who said to the Israelites,…

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This is a moral universe, which means that despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no…

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I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak…

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When we look squarely at injustice and get involved, we actually feel less pain, not more, because we overcome the gnawing guilt…

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God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into…

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Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity. They think, "I…

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Poverty - the greatest cause of human suffering on the planet - is itself exacerbated by conflict, competition for resources, injustice, even…

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There is no peace in Southern Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace…

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There is no peace in South Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace…

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To be neutral in a situation of injustice is to have chosen sides already. It is to support the status quo.

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People united in pursuit of a righteous cause are unstoppable

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Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity.

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Retributive justice is one that says clobber him or clobber her because they clobbered me. So it emphasizes punishment.

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To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice.

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If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There's nothing more radical,…

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When we look at a conflict, it is so often rooted in injustice, prejudice, competition for resources, poverty, poor governance and corruption.

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Freedom is indivisible. Whites can't enjoy their separate freedoms. They spend too much time and resources defending those freedoms instead of enjoying…

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If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot…

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That's the chief lesson I have learned: the texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but…

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More by Desmond Tutu

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…

Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.

We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only together, black…

Many people would be surprised that, in fact, I'm quite shy.

Too many people think that reconciliation means you soft-pedal differences.

Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is…

Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity.

Race should not be used to claim privileges and rights for one group, exclusively, which are denied other different groups. Then that is an…

People are able to justify immense cruelty and say that it is something that is sanctioned by their faith.

South Africa, so utterly improbably, is a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world.

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…

“child of God, known by name and whose very hairs are numbered. Praise and adore God and thank him for ever and ever. Amen.”

To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice.

It's a fantastic thing that from moment to the next moment if God were to have stopped for a split second we would disintegrate…

Once lost, trust can only be regained if we are as good as our word.