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Portrait of Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

(1931–2021) Anti-apartheid Activist South Africa

558 quotes in 2049 categories

Desmond Tutu’s words radiate compassion and a fierce commitment to equality. Across 558 lines you’ll feel his uplifting call for reconciliation, humor, and unwavering optimism.

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Desmond Tutu was an anti-apartheid activist from South Africa, best known for The Bang-Bang Club.

Quick Facts About Desmond Tutu

Born: October 7, 1931
Died: December 26, 2021
Nationality: South Africa
Profession: Anti-apartheid Activist
Notable works: The Bang-Bang Club
Spouse: Nomalizo Leah Tutu

About Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first Black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

Sydney Peace Prize Order of Jamaica Medal of Honor of the Parliament of Catalonia Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism Archbishop of Canterbury's Award for Outstanding Service to the Anglican Communion Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award Delta Prize for Global Understanding J. William Fulbright Prize

Show 38 more awards

Order for Meritorious Service honorary doctor of the University of Warsaw Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour Presidential Medal of Freedom Nobel Peace Prize Catalonia International Prize Templeton Prize Monismanien Prize Pacem in Terris Award Osgar Light of Truth Award Gandhi Peace Prize Marion Dönhoff Award Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Jamnalal Bajaj Award Giuseppe Motta Medal Companion of Honour Four Freedoms Award – Freedom of Worship James Parks Morton Interfaith Award Golden Plate Award Honorary doctor of the University of Groningen Honorary doctor of the University of Fribourg Humanitarian of the Year honorary doctor of the University of Vienna honorary doctorate of Strasbourg-III University honorary doctor of Toulouse-III University honorary doctor of Harvard University honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge honorary doctorate from Columbia University honorary doctorate of Pompeu Fabra University honorary doctorate of the University of Cape Town René Cassin Prize Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of Saint John honorary doctor of the University of Portland honorary doctor of the University of Tromso honorary doctorate at the University of Washington

Quotes by Desmond Tutu

There can be no healing without truth.

Healing

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And every human being is precious.

Being

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To forgive is not just to be altruistic.

Altruistic

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Forgiving is good for your health.

Forgiveness

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Do your little bit of good where you are.

Acts of kindness

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God is on the side of the oppressed.

God

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I am because other people are.

People

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God is not a diversion.

Diversion

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When you nurse a grudge it is not good for your health.

Good health

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In God's family, there are no outsiders, no enemies.

Enemy

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We are fundamentally good, and evil is an aberration.

Aberration

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I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.

Default

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I'd rather go to hell than worship a homophobic God.

Go to hell

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

Capital punishment

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We pray that Aung San Suu Kyi and her country are now on a path to freedom

Country

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We need other human beings in order to be human.

Beings

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

Form

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When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the…

Crash

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Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient…

Economic

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

Break

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Brothers and sisters of Egypt, you have given the world the most precious gift: the belief that ultimately right will prevail.

Belief

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You stand out in the crowd only because you have these many, many carrying you on their shoulders.

Carrying

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I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being…

Able

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

Good

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The things [Pope Francis] has done in a short period of time: the fact that he does not live in a huge…

America

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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…

Bible

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Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what happened seriously...drawing out the sting in the memory that…

Doe

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If forgiving depended on the culprit owning up, then the victim would always be at the mercy of the perpetrator. The victim…

Bounds

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“I'm actually very humbled listening to His Holiness,' the Archbishop said, 'because I've frequently mentioned to people the fact of his serenity…

Archbishop

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My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity especially on the situation in Gaza shames us all. It…

Behaviour

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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…

Accountability

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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,…

Aliens

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When I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side ... a better person than…

Belief

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“You have stood at this junction before You will stand at this junction again And if you pause you can ask yourself…

Ask yourself

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“What about evil, you may ask? Aren’t some people just evil, just monsters, and aren’t such people just unforgivable? I do believe…

Ability to change

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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…

Beautiful

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We must embrace our differences, even celebrate our diversity. We must glory in the fact that God created each of us as…

Celebrate

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

Breaths

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You have to understand that the Bible is really a library of books and it has different categories of material. There are…

Accepted

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Dream of a world where poverty is history, dream of a world where we don't spend those obscene billions on arms, knowing…

Adequate

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Desmond Tutu by topic

People (102) Humans (54) Love (50) Justice (50) Ifs (50) Inspirational (48) Forgiveness (48) Time (45) World (44) Want (38) Life (36) Thinking (35) Peace (32) God (30) Children (29) Mean (28) Persons (27) Way (26) Knows (25) Nature of man (24) Religion (23) Human beings (23) Freedom (23) Speak (22) Made (22)