... freedom translates into having a supply of clean water, having electricity on tap; being able to live in a decent home and have a good job; to be able to send your children to school and to have accessible healthcare. I mean what's the point of having made this transition if the quality of life ... is not enhanced and improved? If not, the vote is useless.

Desmond Tutu

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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.

Desmond Tutu

bullying elephants peace

If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

Desmond Tutu

friendship peace life

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

rivers people fall

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Desmond Tutu

success peace life

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. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God's family.

Desmond Tutu

inspirational-love gay beautiful

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.

Desmond Tutu

differences different order

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.

Desmond Tutu

eye prayer bible

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

Desmond Tutu

light darkness hope

To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice.

Desmond Tutu

injustice situation

My father always used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument."

Desmond Tutu

voice morning father

You are either on the side of the oppressed or on the side of the oppressor. You can't be neutral.

Desmond Tutu

oppressors oppressed sides

Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human.... you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, 'My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.' We belong in a bundle of life.

Desmond Tutu

ubuntu caring essence

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently 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

ubuntu country thinking

There's no way in which you can ever win a war against terror. As long as there are conditions in many parts of the world that make people desperate: poverty, disease, ignorance, etc. I hope that we will discover soon, that we can survive, only together. We can prosper only together. And I think people are beginning to realize this, that you can't have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think you can have a stable, secure world.

Desmond Tutu

ignorance winning war

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

Desmond Tutu

empathy compassion soul

Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another, and cherish one another and seek the greater good of the other.

Desmond Tutu

agree-to-disagree maturity care

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

Desmond Tutu

family god inspirational

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

ubuntu mean thinking

We are living in an historic moment. We are each called to take part in a great transformation. Our survival as a species is threatened by global warming, economic meltdown, and an ever-increasing gap between rich and poor. Yet these threats offer an opportunity to awaken as an interconnected and beloved community.

Desmond Tutu

beloved-community survival opportunity

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

goodness compassion world