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 DESMONDYou show your humanity by how you see yourself not as apart from others but from your connection to others.
More Tutu Desmond Quotes
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I wish I could shut up, but I can’t, and I won’t.
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When we see others as separate, they become a threat. When we see others as part of us, as connected, as interdependent, then there is no challenge we cannot face—together.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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To protect our children, we must talk to them about rape.
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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.
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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.
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Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone’s back.
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We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.
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Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.
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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.
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Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.
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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.
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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