Some Grateful Desmond Tutu Quotes With Life Lessons

Desmond Tutu’s quotes remind the world of some of the virtues every God-fearing person must practice. Here are some of his greatest quotes.

Who Is Desmond Tutu?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a South African-born Anglican Bishop and theologian. He was born on October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and died on December 26, 2021, at Oasis Care Centre, Cape Town, South Africa. His burial took place on January 1, 2022.

Quotes From Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu’s legacies are still cherished today. The world got to know him for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. There are several grateful Desmond Tutu quotes that inspire, educate and teach our modern generation how to live in peace, with love and kindness.

Here are some of the life teaching quotes from Desmond Tutu before he died.

“It may be a procession of faithful failures that enriches the soil of godly success. Faithful actions are not religious acts. They are not even necessary actions undertaken by people of faith. Faithful actions, whether they are marked by success or they end in failure, are actions that are compelled by goodness.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Without forgiveness, there’s no future.”
— Desmond Tutu

“The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.”
— Desmond Tutu

“I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.”
— Desmond Tutu

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
— Desmond Tutu

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Isn’t it amazing that we are all made in God’s image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people?”
— Desmond Tutu

“We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.”
— Desmond Tutu

“If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Hate has no place in the house of God.”
— Desmond Tutu

“A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.”
— Desmond Tutu

“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”
— Desmond Tutu

“God’s love is too great to be confined to any one side of a conflict or to any one religion.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life.”
— Desmond Tutu

“True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin or any other identity attribute.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
— Desmond Tutu

“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.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.”
— Desmond Tutu

“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”
— Desmond Tutu

“Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone’s back.”
— Desmond Tutu

“We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.”
— Desmond Tutu

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