--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I certainly know that I would not be able…" description: "\"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.\" — Desmond Tutu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/desmond-tutu-442_able_i-certainly-know-that-i-would-not-be-abl_1490573.jpg" --- # I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it… ![“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.” quote by Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/desmond-tutu-442_able_i-certainly-know-that-i-would-not-be-abl_1490573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/desmond-tutu-442_able_i-certainly-know-that-i-would-not-be-abl_1490573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/desmond-tutu-442_able_i-certainly-know-that-i-would-not-be-abl_1490573.jpg) > “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.” [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. Survival depends on the prayers of many supporting me. **In simple terms:** Prayers of others sustain me. Key Takeaway Appreciate communal support. Themes faith community resilience spirituality Mood hopeful inspirational Type spiritual motivational When to use this quote - personal hardship - public speaking - leadership - activism Key Concepts interdependence gratitude Questions to Reflect On - How does community support affect personal strength? - In what ways can we give back? A Different Perspective Reliance on prayer may not replace practical action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Prayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayers/) ## Related quotes > [We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/we-imagine-things-that-we-wouldn-t-be-able-to-survive-but-in-fact-we/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Prayers to the people that are going through tough times, it will get better soon, just give it to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayers-to-the-people-that-are-going-through-tough-times-it-will-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have taken a rebirth due to the prayers of the people and my party cadre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-jayalalithaa/i-have-taken-a-rebirth-due-to-the-prayers-of-the-people-and-my-party/) [J. Jayalalithaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-jayalalithaa/) > [“At the time you've got skills and possessions, train yourself to be able to survive without them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/at-the-time-you-ve-got-skills-and-possessions-train-yourself-to-be/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“A long time ago, when you were a wee thing, you learned something, some way to cope, something that, if you did it, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-mckenzie/a-long-time-ago-when-you-were-a-wee-thing-you-learned-something-some/) [Mia McKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-mckenzie/) > [“We were not destined to survive. The fact is, we were not destined at all. The war would take what it could get.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/we-were-not-destined-to-survive-the-fact-is-we-were-not-destined-at/) [Kevin Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-powers/) > [God never answers prayers. It is people who answer their own prayers by knowing how to connect and utilize the divine energy of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-berg/god-never-answers-prayers-it-is-people-who-answer-their-own-prayers/) [Yehuda Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-berg/) > [I am sustained by the prayers of the people in this country. I guess an appropriate way to say this, it's one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-am-sustained-by-the-prayers-of-the-people-in-this-country-i-guess/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“What is required to get a group of people to pray? They must see how big God is and how little they are. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-snyder/what-is-required-to-get-a-group-of-people-to-pray-they-must-see-how/) [John Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-snyder/) > [If we are a people who pray, darkness is apt to be a lot of what our prayers are about. 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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. 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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 Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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