35+ Desmond Tutu Quotes On Hope, Justice and Forgiveness

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a hero for humanity and hope. He devoted his life to the betterment of the earth by spreading the light of hope and the beauty of love and forgiveness. He was born on 7 October 1931 in Klerksdorp, a northwestern city of South Africa, to a teacher father Zachariah Zelilo Tutu, and homemaker mother Allen Dorothea Mavoertsek Mathlare. He was given the nickname of Mpilo, meaning life, by his grandmother.

As a kid, Tutu loved to read comic books and fairy tales. He also played in the school rugby team, a sport he grew an everlasting love with. He worked as a caddie for white golfers and sold oranges to make money in his school days. He became a server at the church in later days, where he got the greatest single influence of his life from priest Trevor Huddleston.

Desmond Tutu drew national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid. He emphasized nonviolent protest and encouraged the application of economic pressure on South Africa. From 1978 to 1985, Tutu was the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches. He emphasized nonviolent protest and encouraged the application of economic pressure on South Africa. He headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was intended to help heal the country by investigating human rights violations that had occurred during the apartheid era.

We lost Desmond Tutu on December 26, 2021. He will be remembered for his work and enlightenment towards humanity.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. Desmond Tutu

Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value. Desmond Tutu

The universe can take quite a while to deliver. Desmond Tutu

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you. Desmond Tutu

We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water. Desmond Tutu

A person is a person through other persons; you can't be human in isolation; you are human only in relationships. Desmond Tutu

Without forgiveness, there's no future. Desmond Tutu

There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep. Desmond Tutu

We learn from history that we don't learn from history! Desmond Tutu

Racism, xenophobia and unfair discrimination have spawned slavery, when human beings have bought and sold and owned and branded fellow human beings as if they were so many beasts of burden. 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

And every human being is precious. Desmond Tutu

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

We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity. Desmond Tutu

Europe became rich because it exploited Africa; and the Africans know that. Desmond Tutu

Don't raise your voice, improve your argument. Desmond Tutu

It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul. Desmond Tutu

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

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Desmond Tutu

A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons. 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

We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. Desmond Tutu

Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back. Desmond Tutu

Peace always comes to those who choose to forgive. Desmond Tutu

Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. Desmond Tutu

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in. Desmond Tutu

There will be no future unless there is peace. There can be no peace unless there is reconciliation. But there can be no reconciliation before there is forgiveness. And there can be no forgiveness unless people repent. Desmond Tutu

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. 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 and white. Desmond Tutu

Forgiveness is not a choice you make for someone else; it is a choice you make for yourself. Desmond Tutu

Healing does not mean reversing. Healing does not mean that what happened will never again cause us to hurt. It does not mean we will never miss those who have been lost to us or that which was taken from us. Healing means that our dignity is restored and we are able to move forward in our lives. Desmond Tutu

Somewhere deep inside us we seem to know that we are destined for something better than strife. 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

If you are able to talk about your life and the joys and sorrows you have experienced, if you know your story, you are much more likely to be a skillful parent. Desmond Tutu

I am human because you are human. My humanity is caught up in yours. Desmond Tutu

The quality of human life on our planet is nothing more than the sum total of our daily interactions with one another. Each time we help, and each time we harm, we have a dramatic impact on our world. Desmond Tutu