Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the 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; politically, he identifies as a socialist. White conservatives who supported apartheid despised him, while many white liberals regarded him as too radical; many black radicals accused him of being too moderate and focused on cultivating white goodwill, while Marxist-Leninists criticized his anti-communist stance.
Some of the best quotes from Desmond Tutu are listed below.
- “A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.” – Desmond Tutu
- “As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you’ve closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu
- “I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.” – Desmond Tutu
- “I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.” – Desmond Tutu
- “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
- “I think that most of us would prefer to be popular than unpopular.” – Desmond Tutu
- “I wish I could shut up, but I can’t, and I won’t.” – Desmond Tutu
- “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Desmond Tutu
- “If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” – Desmond Tutu
- “My father used to say, don’t raise your voice; improve your argument.” – Desmond Tutu
- “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human.” – Desmond Tutu
- “The minute you got the Nobel Peace Prize, things that I said yesterday, with nobody paying too much attention, I say the same things after I got it – oh! It was quite crucial for people, and it helped our morale because apartheid did look invincible.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining.” – Desmond Tutu
- “We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.” – Desmond Tutu
- “We learn from history that we don’t learn from history!” – Desmond Tutu
- “We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.” – Desmond Tutu
- “When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the ground, in South Africa you are blamed when that happens.” – Desmond Tutu
- “When we see the face of a child, we think of the future. We think of their dreams about what they might become, and what they might accomplish.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Without forgiveness, there is no future.” – Desmond Tutu
- “You don’t choose your family, they are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” – Desmond Tutu
- “You stand out in the crowd only because you have these many, many carrying you on their shoulders.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.” – Desmond Tutu
