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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.

Tutu Desmond

God is transforming the world now–through us–because God loves us.
TUTU DESMOND

God Philosophy Religious Transform World
Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Discover Humanity Nice Race
Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime.
TUTU DESMOND

Good Life Moment Wrong
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.
TUTU DESMOND

Care Cherish Good Great Love Philosophy
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone’s back.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Hurt Religion
Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful, and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things.
TUTU DESMOND

Beautiful Human Truth World
If you are setting out to be joyful you are not going to end up being joyful. You’re going to find yourself turned in on yourself. It’s like a flower. You open, you blossom, really because of other people.
TUTU DESMOND

Flower Joy People Philosophy Yourself
We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.
TUTU DESMOND

God Heaven People Religious Sin Spiritual Standard Surprise
We are not responsible for what breaks us, but we can be responsible for what puts us back together again. Naming the hurt is how we begin to repair our broken parts.
TUTU DESMOND

Break Healing Hurt Repair Responsibility Togetherness
We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.
TUTU DESMOND

Alone God Learning Philosophy Spiritual Truth
We learn from history that we don’t learn from history.
TUTU DESMOND

History Learning Sarcastic
If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There’s nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible.
TUTU DESMOND

Justice Oppression People Philosophy Religious Revolution Spiritual
We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are. A person is entitled to a stable community life, and the first of these communities is the family.
TUTU DESMOND

Community Human Life Myself Person Philosophy
Discovering more joy does not, save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak.
TUTU DESMOND

Discover Hard Heart Broken Joy Philosophy Save
Forgiveness is simply about understanding that every one of us is both inherently good and inherently flawed.
TUTU DESMOND

Forgiveness Good Philosophy Understand
Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.
TUTU DESMOND

Argument Improvement One Liner Raise Voice Yourself

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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