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God could have created us to be automatons who were always choosing the right side, making the right decision. It is an incredible thing, God said I want persons who therefore have freedom.

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
Thing
Therefore
Always
Side
Sides
Decision
Freedom
Automatons
Making
Choosing
Persons
Incredible
Right
Created

More quotes by Desmond Tutu

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As a Christian, I believe in the sanctity of life and that death is a part of life.
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Human beings are fundamentally good.
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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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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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My flock is black, my flock is white. One has got to say to our people, I love you. I care for you, enormously. And when I care about black liberation, it is because I care about white liberation.
Desmond Tutu
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I wish that we did have a magic wand which we could wave and hey presto! Magic! Unfortunately life is not like that.
Desmond Tutu
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People are able to justify immense cruelty and say that it is something that is sanctioned by their faith.
Desmond Tutu
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The final and full revelation of God is not a book, it is a person. Jesus Christ.
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It's a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela.
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For both the offender and the victim, the pain is there, often unacknowledged and that is when it can cause harm through festering. When I ignore a physical wound, it does not go away. No, it festers and goes bad.
Desmond Tutu
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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
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There are two forms of justice. There is what is called retributive justice and there is restorative justice.
Desmond Tutu
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We have an extraordinary God. God is a mighty God, but this God needs you. When someone is hungry, bread doesn't come down from heaven. When God wants to feed the hungry, you and I must feed the hungry. And now God wants peace in the world.
Desmond Tutu
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We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.
Desmond Tutu
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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.
Desmond Tutu
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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.
Desmond Tutu
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Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity. They think, I am a human being and I may not be able to defeat these people or destroy them, but I will hit out at them, because I am not a thing, I am human.
Desmond Tutu
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Jesus could weep. Sometimes when you look at the ugliness that makes you weep, you know that the heart of God is also weeping. Jesus is for real. He does not give up on anyone, least of all on me.
Desmond Tutu
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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
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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!
Desmond Tutu