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Desmond Tutu Quotes
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Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African anti-apartheid and social rights activist, as well as an Anglican clergyman and theologian. He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and bishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa . Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.

Born to a poor family in Klerksdorp, Tutu is of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage. Moving around South Africa as a child, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as a priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London. After this education he returned to southern Africa, working as a lecturer at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he returned to London as the Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, necessitating regular tours of the continent. Back in South Africa, he took an active role in opposition to the apartheid system of racial segregation and white-minority rule. During the 1980s, he emerged as one of the most prominent anti-apartheid activists within South Africa. Unlike other sectors of the anti-apartheid movement, he stressed non-violent protest.

After Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in 1990 and negotiated the dissolution of apartheid with President F. W. de Klerk, Tutu became a supporter of the new government. Mandela selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. Since apartheid's fall, Tutu has campaigned on other social justice issues; combating poverty, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, as well as opposition to forms of prejudice like racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia.

Tutu has been widely praised for his anti-apartheid activism. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He had attracted some criticism for his views on Zionism and the Israel-Palestine conflict. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.

✵ 7. October 1931   •   Other names Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Desmond Tutu photo
Desmond Tutu: 85   quotes 33   likes

Desmond Tutu Quotes

“Without forgiveness there can be no future for a relationship between individuals or within and between nations.”

Desmond Tutu

As quoted in "Truth and reconciliation" at BBC Focus on Africa (January-March 2000)

Forgiveness , Future

“Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion.”

Desmond Tutu

As quoted in "Truth and reconciliation" at BBC Focus on Africa (January-March 2000)

Anger

“Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.”

Desmond Tutu

Quoted by L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley in letter to the editor Los Angeles Times (13 May 1985)

Thinking

“Isn’t it desperately sad that, at a time when we face formidable problems – poverty, HIV/AIDS, conflict – that the Anglican Communion can invest so much energy on disagreements about human sexuality? A communion that used to boast that one of its distinctive characteristics was something called comprehensiveness, that our communion, the Anglican Church, included just about everybody. Even if you had the most weird theology you could come in, you were allowed. And now we, who used to be held up in admiration by many because of this inclusiveness, are now spending time working out how we can excommunicate one another. God looks on and God weeps. God weeps.”

Desmond Tutu

"And God Smiles," sermon preached at All Saints Church, Pasadena, California (6 November 2005)

God , Sadness , Problem , Time

“South Africa, so utterly improbably, is a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world.”

Desmond Tutu

As quoted in "Truth and reconciliation" at BBC Focus on Africa (January-March 2000)

World , Hope

“We used to say to the apartheid government: you may have the guns, you may have all this power, but you have already lost. Come: join the winning side. His Holiness and the Tibetan people are on the winning side.”

Desmond Tutu

Source: As quoted in "Dalai Lama honours Tintin and Tutu" at BBC News (2 June 2006)

People

“God has such a deep reverence for our freedom that he'd rather let us freely go to Hell than be compelled to go to Heaven.”

Desmond Tutu

Beyers Naudé memorial lecture (15 August 2003)

God , Hell , Freedom

“"Isn't it sad, that in a time when we face so many devastating problems – poverty, HIV/AIDS, war and conflict – that in our Communion we should be investing so much time and energy on disagreement about sexual orientation?" [The Communion, which] "used to be known for embodying the attribute of comprehensiveness, of inclusiveness, where we were meant to accommodate all and diverse views, saying we may differ in our theology but we belong together as sisters and brothers" now seems "hell-bent on excommunicating one another. God must look on and God must weep."”

Desmond Tutu

"Tutu calls on Anglicans to accept gay bishop" http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=128&id=2141 in Spero News (14 November 2005)

God , War , Sadness , Hell

“At home in South Africa I have sometimes said in big meetings where you have black and white together: 'Raise your hands!' Then I have said: 'Move your hands,' and I've said 'Look at your hands - different colors representing different people. You are the Rainbow People of God.”

Desmond Tutu

Sermon in Tromsö, Norway (5 December 1991)

God , People , Color , Home

“[T]here is always the possibility of change. If it happened in South Africa, why can't it happen anywhere?”

Desmond Tutu

As quoted in "Archbishop urges battle with racism" http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-02-18/news/0202180155_1_racism-archbishop-desmond-tutu-st-sabina (18 February 2002), by Sabrina L. Miller, Chicago Tribune, Illinois

Change

“Forgiveness is one of the key ideas in this world. Forgiveness is not just some nebulous, vague idea that one can easily dismiss. It has to do with uniting people through practical politics. Without forgiveness there is no future.”

Desmond Tutu

Without Forgiveness There Is No Future (1998)

Forgiveness , Future , People , World

“We said no to communism. We said no to apartheid. We said no to injustice. We said no to oppression. And we said yes to freedom, yes to democracy. Now I ask you: What do we say to war? CROWD: No!”

Desmond Tutu

February 15, 2003 speaking before a massive rally in New York to oppose the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq
Source: As quoted in Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) on Apartheid, War, Palestine, Guantánamo, Climate Crisis & More https://www.democracynow.org/2021/12/27/life_and_legacy_archbishop_desmond_tutu, Democracy Now!, December 27, 2021

Democracy , Freedom , War , Communication

“People marched and demonstrated, and the Berlin Wall fell, and communism was ended. People marched and demonstrated, and apartheid ended. And democracy and freedom were born. And now people are marching, and people are demonstrating, because people are saying no to war!”

Desmond Tutu
Democracy , Freedom , War , People

“Forgiveness is taking seriously the awfulness of what has happened when you are treated unfairly. It is opening the door for the other person to have a chance to begin again. Without forgiveness, resentment builds in us, a resentment which turns into hostility and anger. Hatred eats away at our well-being.”

Desmond Tutu

Without Forgiveness There Is No Future (1998)

Hostility , Personality , Forgiveness , Chance