“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”
Religion
“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”
ReligionAll Quotes by Desmond Tutu
“In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime.”
Freedom“But God can only smile because only God can know what is coming next.”
God“God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.”
Family“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”
God“Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency.”
Courage“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.”
Education“I mean in the South African case, many of those who were part of death squads would have been respectable members of their white community, people who went to church on Sunday, every Sunday.”
Death“Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.”
Freedom“God is not upset that Gandhi was not a Christian, because God is not a Christian! All of God's children and their different faiths help us to realize the immensity of God.”
God“Without forgiveness, there's no future.”
Forgiveness“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
History“Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people?”
Amazing“Do your little bit of good where you are its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Good“In many ways, when you're a Nobel peace laureate, you have an obligation to humankind, to society.”
Peace“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
Freedom“Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.”
Hope“The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.”
Family“I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.”
Nature“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.”
Peace