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I do believe there are monstrous and evil acts, but I do not believe those who commit such acts are monsters or evil.

Tutu Desmond

Forgiveness is truly the grace by which we enable another person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew.
TUTU DESMOND

Beginning Forgiveness Grace Person Philosophy True
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Family God Yourself
The path of joy was connection and the path of sorrow was separation.
TUTU DESMOND

Break Up Connection Joy Path Relationship Separate
A person is a person through other persons; you can’t be human in isolation; you are human only in relationships.
TUTU DESMOND

Alone Human Person Relationship
When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.
TUTU DESMOND

Enemy Hate Humanity Oppression Recognize Risk
In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t.
TUTU DESMOND

Believe End Fail God Good Himself Love Philosophy Spiritual
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

Eyes Land Oppression Religion War
We learn from history that we don’t learn from history.
TUTU DESMOND

History Learning Sarcastic
It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.
TUTU DESMOND

Compassion Deep Discover Empathy God Philosophy Soul Vulnerable Weak
Forgiveness does not relieve someone of responsibility for what they have done. Forgiveness does not erase accountability. It is not about turning a blind eye or even turning the other cheek.
TUTU DESMOND

Accountable Eyes Forgiveness Philosophy Responsibility
Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order.
TUTU DESMOND

Art Human Life Philosophy Suffer
Dear Child of God, I write these words because we all experience sadness, we all come at times to despair, and we all lose hope that the suffering in our lives and in the world will ever end.
TUTU DESMOND

End Experience God Hope Live Lose Sad Suffer Time Word World Writing
Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life.
TUTU DESMOND

Heart Life Philosophy Purpose
Much depends on your attitude. If you are filled with negative judgment and anger, then you will feel separate from other people. You will feel lonely.
TUTU DESMOND

Attitude Judge Lonely Negative People Philosophy Separate Yourself
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
TUTU DESMOND

Good Philosophy Togetherness World Yourself
You show your humanity by how you see yourself not as apart from others but from your connection to others.
TUTU DESMOND

Connection Humanity Philosophy Yourself
There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream to find out why they’re falling in.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Fall People Pull River Stop
A person is a person through other persons.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep One Liner Person Philosophy
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 do not heal in isolation. When we reach out and connect with one another—when we tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, and renew or release the relationship—our suffering begins to transform.
TUTU DESMOND

Alone Connection Deep Forgiveness Healing Hurt Philosophy Relationship Story
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
Transformation begins in you, wherever you are, whatever has happened, however you are suffering. Transformation is always possible.
TUTU DESMOND

Beginning Possible Suffer Transformation
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
Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.
TUTU DESMOND

Language Philosophy Power Reality
In the end generosity is the best way of becoming more, more, and more joyful.
TUTU DESMOND

End Generous Joy
Discovering more joy does not, save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak.
TUTU DESMOND

Discover Hard Heart Broken Joy Philosophy Save
Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually remembering–remembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you dont want to repeat what happened.
TUTU DESMOND

Beginning Forget Forgiveness Philosophy

I do believe there are monstrous and evil acts, but I do not believe those who commit such acts are monsters or evil.

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I do believe there are monstrous and evil acts, but I do not believe those who commit such acts are monsters or evil.

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Popular Authors

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