--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Bringing people together is what i call…" description: "\"Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, sepa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/447/desmond-tutu-442_connected_bringing-people-together-is-what-i-call_2342063.jpg" --- # Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which… ![“Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of…” quote by Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/447/desmond-tutu-442_connected_bringing-people-together-is-what-i-call_2342063.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/447/desmond-tutu-442_connected_bringing-people-together-is-what-i-call_2342063.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/447/desmond-tutu-442_connected_bringing-people-together-is-what-i-call_2342063.jpg) > “Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.” [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings are interconnected; our actions affect the collective, emphasizing communal responsibility. **In simple terms:** We are linked; act for all. Key Takeaway Practice empathy and community. Themes community interdependence ethics Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - teamwork - social activism - education - policy making Key Concepts ubuntu collective identity Questions to Reflect On - How can you foster ubuntu in daily life? - What barriers exist to communal thinking? A Different Perspective Individualism can clash with collective goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Ubuntu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ubuntu/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [It is GREAT for a person to live life of his own; GREATER if he could also be out of his comfort zone but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/it-is-great-for-a-person-to-live-life-of-his-own-greater-if-he-could/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [It is GREAT for a person to live life of his own; GREATER if he could also be out of his comfort zone but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/it-is-great-for-a-person-to-live-life-of-his-own-greater-if-he-could-2/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human… you are generous, you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/ubuntu-is-very-difficult-to-render-into-a-western-language-it-speaks-2/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [I think that most of us would say that ubuntu basically speaks about what it means to be human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-think-that-most-of-us-would-say-that-ubuntu-basically-speaks-about/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/one-of-the-sayings-in-our-country-is-ubuntu-the-essence-of-being/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [You know when ubuntu is there, and it is obvious when it is absent. It has to do with what it means to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/you-know-when-ubuntu-is-there-and-it-is-obvious-when-it-is-absent-it/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language... It is to say, 'My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/ubuntu-is-very-difficult-to-render-into-a-western-language-it-is-to/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/a-person-with-ubuntu-is-open-and-available-to-others-affirming-of/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Ubuntu really says if you want to be nice to yourself, start in a way by being nice to the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/ubuntu-really-says-if-you-want-to-be-nice-to-yourself-start-in-a-way/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Ubuntu tells us that we can create a more peaceful world by striving for goodness in each moment, wherever we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/ubuntu-tells-us-that-we-can-create-a-more-peaceful-world-by-striving/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu, botho. It means the essence of being human. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/africans-believe-in-something-that-is-difficult-to-render-in-english/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [When we yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-of-lisieux/when-we-yield-to-discouragement-it-is-usually-because-we-give-too/) [Therese of Lisieux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-of-lisieux/) > [Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-thompson/peace-has-to-be-created-in-order-to-be-maintained-it-is-the-product/) [Dorothy Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-thompson/) > [If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the cloistered walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/if-one-cannot-state-a-matter-clearly-enough-so-that-even-an/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [All works of love are works of peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/all-works-of-love-are-works-of-peace/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/each-of-us-is-precious-to-god-because-each-of-us-has-their-name/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/freedom-and-liberty-lose-out-by-default-because-good-people-are-not/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only together, black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/we-shall-be-free-only-together-black-and-white-we-shall-survive-only/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Many people would be surprised that, in fact, I'm quite shy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/many-people-would-be-surprised-that-in-fact-i-m-quite-shy/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Too many people think that reconciliation means you soft-pedal differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/too-many-people-think-that-reconciliation-means-you-soft-pedal/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/our-christian-faith-is-actually-very-subversive-of-the-conventional/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/every-situation-of-justice-is-an-occasion-where-someone-is-being/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Race should not be used to claim privileges and rights for one group, exclusively, which are denied other different groups. Then that is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/race-should-not-be-used-to-claim-privileges-and-rights-for-one-group/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [People are able to justify immense cruelty and say that it is something that is sanctioned by their faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/people-are-able-to-justify-immense-cruelty-and-say-that-it-is/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [South Africa, so utterly improbably, is a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/south-africa-so-utterly-improbably-is-a-beacon-of-hope-in-a-dark-and/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-don-t-often-want-to-speak-i-try-to-be-a-reasonable-person-and-to-be/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [“child of God, known by name and whose very hairs are numbered. Praise and adore God and thank him for ever and ever. Amen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/child-of-god-known-by-name-and-whose-very-hairs-are-numbered-praise/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/to-remain-neutral-in-situations-of-injustice-is-to-be-complicit-in/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/it-s-a-fantastic-thing-that-from-moment-to-the-next-moment-if-god/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Once lost, trust can only be regained if we are as good as our word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/once-lost-trust-can-only-be-regained-if-we-are-as-good-as-our-word/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) [Explore all 558 Desmond Tutu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) ## More Connected quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. 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