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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.

Tutu Desmond

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

Deep Family God Yourself
Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.
TUTU DESMOND

Language Philosophy Power Reality
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 are fragile creatures, and it is from this weakness, not despite it, that we discover the possibility of true joy.
TUTU DESMOND

Discover Joy Philosophy Possible True Weakness
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
We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.
TUTU DESMOND

Love Philosophy Plant
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 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.
TUTU DESMOND

Beautiful Friendship Good Love Togetherness World
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
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
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 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
Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.
TUTU DESMOND

Children God Sorry Suffer
Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Discover Humanity Nice Race
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
Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring.
TUTU DESMOND

Day Feed Fish Life Man Philosophy Realize Stupidity Teaching
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
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
A person is a person through other persons.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep One Liner Person Philosophy
We learn from history that we don’t learn from history.
TUTU DESMOND

History Learning Sarcastic
Life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Experience Human Life Live Philosophy Whole
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
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

Fire Smart Warm Winter Yourself
There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep.
TUTU DESMOND

Deep Difficult Wake Up
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

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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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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