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Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter – you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

Tutu Desmond

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
Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life.
TUTU DESMOND

Heart Life Philosophy Purpose
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.
TUTU DESMOND

Challenge Connection Philosophy Separate Togetherness Unity
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
Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.
TUTU DESMOND

Language Philosophy Power Reality
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
Transformation begins in you, wherever you are, whatever has happened, however you are suffering. Transformation is always possible.
TUTU DESMOND

Beginning Possible Suffer Transformation
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
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
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
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
The path of joy was connection and the path of sorrow was separation.
TUTU DESMOND

Break Up Connection Joy Path Relationship Separate
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
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
Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.
TUTU DESMOND

Different Philosophy Togetherness
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
We have hardship without becoming hard. We have heartbreaks without being broken.
TUTU DESMOND

Break Hard Heart Broken Philosophy
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.
TUTU DESMOND

Animal Appreciation Justice Oppression Philosophy Situation Yourself
We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.
TUTU DESMOND

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

God Philosophy Religious Transform World
We learn from history that we don’t learn from history.
TUTU DESMOND

History Learning Sarcastic
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
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
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
Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.
TUTU DESMOND

Children God Sorry Suffer
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
There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Difficult Wake Up

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter – you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

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Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter – you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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