Quote

In the land of my birth I cannot vote, whereas a young person of eighteen can vote. And why? Because he or she possesses that wonderful biological attribute - a white skin.

Desmond Tutu

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Desmond Tutu
Age: 93
Born: 1931
Born: October 7
Activist
Anglican Priest
Non-Fiction Writer
Archbisphop Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Birth
Eighteen
Land
Biological
Wonderful
Attributes
White
Whereas
Cannot
Racism
Young
Skin
Umpires
Persons
Skins
Attribute
Person
Vote
Possesses

More quotes by Desmond Tutu

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No peace is impossible when people are determined to achieve it
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There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative - not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew.
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If you recall the happiest moments in your life, they are all from when you were doing something for somebody else.
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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.
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True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.
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Dream of a world where children can laugh and play and not be blown up by a mine they thought was a toy.
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I think that because this is a moral universe, then right will prevail, goodness will prevail, compassion will prevail, laughter will prevail, love, caring, sharing will prevail. Because we are made for goodness. We are made for love.
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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.
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Those of us who came to be Christians get to remember that forgiveness cost God the death of God's son. It's an expensive thing in many ways.
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Men and boys, we show our manhood through the way we treat our women. Our wives, our sisters, our mothers.
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People took some part of us and used it to discriminate against us. In our case, it was our ethnicity it's precisely the same thing for sexual orientation.
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When people decide they want to be free, there is nothing that can stop them.
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As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities.
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Of course, you've got to reckon with the burden of the past. You can't just easily dismiss it. It is a legacy and often you have to carry an albatross. And it won't happen until people are able to have a certain level of trust and try to speak to each other, not as caricatures but as people.
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Whether you want to say Israel practices apartheid is immaterial. They are doing things, given their history, you think, Do you remember what happened to you? Then they clobber you and say, You are anti-Semitic.
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Forgiveness is abandoning your right to revenge.
Desmond Tutu
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The sad problem is that we see ourselves as being quite terribly small. Instead of spending my time being envious, I need to celebrate your and my different gifts, even if mine are perhaps less spectacular than yours.
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You ask when is it that you can say yes we have had enough. It is enough revenge and I think now we have restored the equilibrium. It never happens!
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When you are in love you strive to do the things that will please your lover.
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Even the worst dictator, there is not a single one of them who would say Oh yes, I violate human rights. They all claim oh no, we respect human rights even when they are doing the most egregious things.
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