Quotes from Desmond Tutu

I want my commitment to ending girl marriage to be equal to my commitment to ending apartheid.

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.

Racism, xenophobia and unfair discrimination have spawned slavery, when human beings have bought and sold and owned and branded fellow human beings as if they were so many beasts of burden.

If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is WOMEN!

It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men.

You stand out in the crowd only because you have these many, many carrying you on their shoulders.

All the United States, it is a society that is split like to the bottom, that had very poor people in the country that is one of the wealthiest countries.

For Christians, who believe they are created in the image of God, it is the Godhead, diversity in unity and the three-in-oneness of God, which we and all creation reflect.

Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining.

We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity.

Men and boys, we show our manhood through the way we treat our women. Our wives, our sisters, our mothers.

If we are going to bring about change, then men, for goodness sake, stand up and stand for the right. And I say, 'power to the women.

Once you have women liberated, it's amazing how many other problems get resolved--pover ty, education, health. Women are the key in any community.

The world needs a revolution led by women.

When we hear a story of the abuse of a child or the abuse of women almost all people are appalled by instances of that kind.

I think that most of us would prefer to be popular than unpopular.

I am fifty-two years of age. I am a bishop in the Anglican Church, and a few people might be constrained to say that I was reasonably responsible. In the land of my birth I cannot vote...

It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. And never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant.

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

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.

In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime.

I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.

There are things that must evoke our anger to show we care. It is what we do with that anger. If we direct that energy we can use it positively or destructively.

To forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summum bonum, the greatest good.