Top quotes by Desmond Tutu

Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value. Votes: 35

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. Votes: 32

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. Votes: 28

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. Votes: 28

Before Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962, he was an angry, relatively young man. He founded the ANC's military wing. When he was released, he surprised everyone because he was talking about reconciliation and forgiveness and not about revenge. Votes: 22

God is not upset that Gandhi was not a Christian, because God is not a Christian! All of God's children and their different faiths help us to realize the immensity of God. Votes: 21

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. Votes: 21

People often speak of God being even-handed. God is not even-handed. God is biased, in favor of the weak, of the despised. Votes: 18

In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. Votes: 17

God's love is too great to be confined to any one side of a conflict or to any one religion. Votes: 15

Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies. Votes: 15

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Votes: 14

When we see the face of a child, we think of the future. We think of their dreams about what they might become, and what they might accomplish. Votes: 14

Hate has no place in the house of God. Votes: 14

Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate. And that's where the courage of a leader comes, because when you sit down with your enemy, you as a leader must already have very considerable confidence from your own constituency. Votes: 13

How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns? Votes: 13

It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible. Votes: 13

Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you've closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart. Votes: 11

God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion. Votes: 9

Without forgiveness, there's no future. Votes: 9

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. Votes: 7

Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice. Votes: 7

In God's family, there are no outsiders, no enemies. Votes: 6

In the Bible, we first encounter God when he sides with a bunch of slaves against a powerful Pharaoh, an act of grace freely given. Votes: 6

What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled? Votes: 6

God is patient with us to become the God's children he wants us to be but you really can see him weeping. Votes: 6

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. Votes: 6

Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Votes: 5

In its history, Europe has committed so many massacres and horrors that it should bow its own head in shame. Votes: 5

The God who existed before any religion counts on you to make the oneness of the human family known and celebrated. Votes: 4

We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low. Votes: 0

I mean in the South African case, many of those who were part of death squads would have been respectable members of their white community, people who went to church on Sunday, every Sunday. Votes: 0

If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. Votes: 0

As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities. Votes: 0

Oh, 1994, April 27. There won't be a day like that ever again. I mean, the sky was blue, with a blueness that had never been there before. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order. A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives. Votes: 0

God is not a Christian. Votes: 0

An abusive relationship should be easy to identify though often one of the most difficult to end. Votes: 0

Poverty - the greatest cause of human suffering on the planet - is itself exacerbated by conflict, competition for resources, injustice, even the global downturn and climate change. Diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria cannot be tackled without adequate resources. So you see everything is connected. In order to address any major cause of human suffering, we have to work together across many fronts. Votes: 0

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. Votes: 0

Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another, and cherish one another and seek the greater good of the other. Votes: 0

A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly. Votes: 0

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. Votes: 0

My father always used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right. Votes: 0

I believe in MasterPeace. World leaders cannot push back armed conflict alone. We need the whole world to make this happen. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew... Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

When I care about black liberation, it is because I care about white liberation. Votes: 0

If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is WOMEN! Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. Votes: 0

I've often been a little concerned by people who say they are color-blind, people who claim, in some ways, not to be aware of race, and I hope that those who will be looking for a vision of the future will be a little more honest, and say race actually does matter. Votes: 0

Resentment and anger are bad for your blood pressure and your digestion. Votes: 0

Catharsis is about cleansing and healing at one and the same time - healing memories and attitudes, healing the spirit and the heart. Votes: 0

Nuclear abolition is the democratic wish of the world's people, and has been our goal almost since the dawn of the atomic age. Together, we have the power to decide whether the nuclear era ends in a bang or worldwide celebration. Votes: 0

Without forgiveness, there is no future. Votes: 0

When you go to the Holy Land and see what's being done to the Palestinians at checkpoints, for us, it's the kind of thing we experienced in South Africa. 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." Votes: 0

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Votes: 0

Our Lord wanted us to be Christ-like. Christ-like doesn't mean not having faults. It means that you do actually have a capacity to draw out the good that is in others. Votes: 0

The fundamental law of human beings is interdependence. A person is a person through other persons. Votes: 0

It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul. Votes: 0

Frequently people think compassion and love are merely sentimental. No! They are very demanding. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the ground, in South Africa you are blamed when that happens. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

One of the things that people sense is that you are not doing this for self-glorification, you are doing it for the sake of others. The Dalai Lama has been in exile for so many years, yet the Chinese are running scared of him. Votes: 0

To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice. Votes: 0

I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

The only separation the Bible knows is between believers on the one hand and unbelievers on the other. Any other kind of separation, division, disunity is of the devil. It is evil and from sin. Votes: 0

I've never doubted that apartheid - because it was of itself fundamentally, intrinsically evil - was going to bite the dust eventually. Votes: 0

We can enjoy a self-assurance that doesn't depend on the state of things outside ourselves, be it downturns or booms or whatever. Votes: 0

It is quite exhilarating to speak about a God who has an incredible bias, a notorious bias in favor of the downtrodden. You look at Exodus and the Israelites' escape from a bottomless pit. God is not evenhanded. God is biased up to his eyebrows. Votes: 0

People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change. Votes: 0

Fundamental rights belong to the human being just because you are a human being. Votes: 0

Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings. Votes: 0

No one is self-sufficient. And it's not a one-way thing- -the generosity of spirit from one side provokes a response in kind from the other side. Votes: 0

I think it is a good exercise to ask oneself, "How would I have wanted to be treated?" Votes: 0

Dream of a world where poverty is history, dream of a world where we don't spend those obscene billions on arms, knowing full well that a tiny fraction of those budgets of death would ensure that children everywhere had clean water to drink, could afford the cheap inoculations against preventable diseases, would have good schools, adequate healthcare and decent homes. Votes: 0

Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Votes: 0

Serve others. The failing recipe for happiness and success is to want the good of others." "happiness is when I see others happy. Happiness is a shared thing. I feel very diminished happiness if it is something I enjoy myself. Votes: 0

Serve others. The failing recipe for happiness and success is to want the good of others. Votes: 0

I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. Votes: 0

I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There's nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible. Votes: 0

It is for real that injustice and oppression will not have the last word. There was a time when Hitler looked like he was going to vanquish all of Europe, and where is he now? Votes: 0

This is a moral universe, which means that despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word. . . that is what has upheld the morale of our people, to know that in the end good will prevail. Votes: 0

Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary, his will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate, justice over injustice and oppression, peace over exploitation and bitterness. Votes: 0

We who advocate peace are becoming an irrelevance when we speak peace. The government speaks rubber bullets, live bullets, tear gas, police dogs, detention, and death. Votes: 0

A person is a person through other persons; you can't be human in isolation; you are human only in relationships. Votes: 0

Don't raise your voice, improve your argument." [Address at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 November 2004] Votes: 0

The devastation wreaked by landmines is not only horrendous but immoral Votes: 0

God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be more togetherness in God's world. Votes: 0

Reconciliation is a long process. We don't have the kind of race clashes that we thought would happen. What we have is xenophobia, and it's very distressing. But maybe you ought to be lenient with us. We've been free for just 12 years. Votes: 0

If we have loved well while we were alive, there is life after death here-our love will go on for generations. Votes: 0

The abolition of the death penalty is making us a civilized society. It shows we actually do mean business when we say we have reverence for life. Votes: 0

Life is funny and we are really funny, especially when we get to be hoity toity; we can be so ridiculous. Life is fun. Votes: 0

Once lost, trust can only be regained if we are as good as our word. Votes: 0

I have no doubt that in the future, the laws that criminalize human love and commitment will look the way the apartheid laws do to us now, so obviously wrong Votes: 0

As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love. Votes: 0

We are living in an historic moment. We are each called to take part in a great transformation. Our survival as a species is threatened by global warming, economic meltdown, and an ever-increasing gap between rich and poor. Yet these threats offer an opportunity to awaken as an interconnected and beloved community. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity. Votes: 0

Niger is not an isolated island of desperation. It lies within a sea of problems across Africa - particularly the 'forgotten emergencies' in poor countries or regions with little strategic or material appeal. Votes: 0

In terms of the New Testament the Jews must suffer, therefore we will put it into practice if we will in charge and there will be no sympathy for the Jews when the blacks take over. Votes: 0

The minute you got the Nobel Peace Prize, things that I said yesterday, with nobody paying too much attention, I say the same things after I got it - oh! It was quite crucial for people, and it helped our morale because apartheid did look invincible. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of Apartheid. Votes: 0

Ubuntu tells us that we can create a more peaceful world by striving for goodness in each moment, wherever we are. Votes: 0

Too many people think that reconciliation means you soft-pedal differences. Votes: 0

Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. Forgiving means abandoning your right to pay back the perpetrator in his own coin. Votes: 0

Theology reminded me that, however diabolical the act, it did not turn the perpetrator into a demon. We had to distinguish between the deed and the perpetrator, between the sinner and the sin, to hate and condemn the sin while being filled with compassion for the sinner. Votes: 0

In order to turn around and do something better, we must first escape the vicious circle of self-righteousness and denial. And that calls for the humility to say "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Votes: 0

To forgive is to abandon your right to pay back the predator in his own coin, but it is the loss that Liberates. Votes: 0

It isn't that it's questionable when you speak up for the right of people with different sexual orientation. 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. People are killed because they're gay. Votes: 0

No future without forgiveness. Votes: 0

My father always used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." Votes: 0

Instead of growing old gracefully, at home with my family - reading and writing and praying and thinking - too much of my time has been spent at airports and in hotels. Votes: 0

Forgiveness and reconciliation are not just ethereal, spiritual, other-worldly activities. They have to do with the real world. They are realpolitik, because in a very real sense, without forgiveness, there is no future. Votes: 0

It was Christians, you know, not Pagans, who were responsible for the Holocaust. It was Christians, not Pagans, who lynched people here in the South, who burned people at the stake, frequently in the name of this Jesus Christ. Votes: 0

You must show the world that you abhor fighting. Votes: 0

I wonder whether they have rum and Coke in Heaven? Maybe it's too mundane a pleasure, but I hope so -- as a sundowner. Except, of course, the sun never goes down there. Oh, man, this heaven is going to take some getting used to. Votes: 0

Do your little bit of good where you are its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world Votes: 0

I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being upheld by the prayers of so many people. Votes: 0

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. Votes: 0

We learn from history that we don't learn from history! Votes: 0

I wish I could shut up, but I can't, and I won't. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime. Votes: 0

Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Votes: 0

I think we need to grow in our self-assurance that is not scared of being challenged, that the truth we uphold can stand up to the closest possible scrutiny. Votes: 0

When a chap is in love, he will go out in all kinds of weather to keep an appointment with his beloved. Love can be demanding, in fact more demanding than law. It has its own imperatives - think of a mother sitting by the bedside of a sick child through the night, impelled only by love. Nothing is too much trouble for love. Votes: 0

But God can only smile because only God can know what is coming next. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity. Votes: 0

Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you dont want to repeat what happened. Votes: 0

Have you seen a symphony orchestra? There is a person at the back carrying a triangle. Now and again the conductor will point to him or her and that person will play "ting." That might seem so insignificant, but in the conception of the composer something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony if that "ting" did not happen. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is taking seriously the awfulness of what has happened when you are treated unfairly. Forgiveness is not pretending that things are other than the way they are. Votes: 0

Many people ask me what I have learned from all of the experiences in my life, and I say unhesitatingly: People are wonderful. It is true. People really are wonderful. Votes: 0

Making the truth public is a form of justice. This is a moral universe and you've got to take account of the fact that truth and lies and goodness and evil are things that matter. Votes: 0

You know when ubuntu is there, and it is obvious when it is absent. It has to do with what it means to be truly human, to know that you are bound up with others in the bundle of life. Votes: 0

Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes. Votes: 0

I have voted for the ANC, but I would very sadly not be able to vote for them after the way things have gone, Votes: 0

If forgiving depended on the culprit owning up, then the victim would always be at the mercy of the perpetrator. The victim would be bound in the shackles of victimhood. Votes: 0

The world is awful but also the world is beautiful. Human beings are awful, but ultimately human beings are tremendous. Votes: 0

I don't think I've ever felt that same kind of peace, the kind of serenity that I felt after acknowledging that maybe I was going to die of this TB. Votes: 0

Europe became rich because it exploited Africa; and the Africans know that. Votes: 0

We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity. Votes: 0

In many ways, when you're a Nobel peace laureate, you have an obligation to humankind, to society. Votes: 0

It's a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela. Votes: 0

We would like to see you departing peacefully. Votes: 0

For goodness sake, will they hear, will white people hear what we are trying to say? Please, all we are asking you to do is to recognize that we are humans, too. Votes: 0

We can carry the burden of hurt throughout our lives. We can make the hurt that we have experienced the defining aspect of our stories of ourselves. That means that somebody else gets to say who we are, somebody else gets to decide how we feel, and somebody else gets to decide how we see the world. Forgiveness not only frees us from the burden of someone else's opinion of us, but it allows us the opportunity to really write a story of ourselves that we can love, enjoy, relish, and live into. Votes: 0

There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in. Votes: 0

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another. Votes: 0

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! Votes: 0

We are all connected. What unites us is our common humanity. I don't want to oversimplify things - but the suffering of a mother who has lost her child is not dependent on her nationality, ethnicity or religion. White, black, rich, poor, Christian, Muslim or Jew - pain is pain - joy is joy. Votes: 0

You are either on the side of the oppressed or on the side of the oppressor. You can't be neutral. Votes: 0

God is trying to woo us into a love affair with God. Votes: 0

To remain neutral in situations of injustice is to be complicit in that injustice. Votes: 0

The way God operates is on the basis of love. Votes: 0

There are people who go to bed hungry, and that is unconscionable. Votes: 0

We have allowed the interests of capital to outweigh the interests of human beings and our Earth. Votes: 0

Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu, botho. It means the essence of being human. You know when it is there and when it is absent. It speaks about humaneness, gentleness, hospitality, putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable. It embraces compassion and toughness. It recognizes that my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. Votes: 0

We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God's family. Votes: 0

Being formed into a nation takes some doing. Votes: 0

Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human.... you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, 'My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.' We belong in a bundle of life. Votes: 0

My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity especially on the situation in Gaza shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma Votes: 0

There's no way in which you can ever win a war against terror. As long as there are conditions in many parts of the world that make people desperate: poverty, disease, ignorance, etc. I hope that we will discover soon, that we can survive, only together. We can prosper only together. And I think people are beginning to realize this, that you can't have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think you can have a stable, secure world. Votes: 0

Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language... It is to say, 'My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours.' Votes: 0

God hopes that we are going to love God back. Votes: 0

Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is not generally something that you find as a coin to be used by politicians. Votes: 0

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. Votes: 0

We spend billions on banks when we know that a fraction of this money could save all the children in the world. Votes: 0

We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters. Votes: 0

Some of us might look like accidents, but I mean none of us is in fact an accident. Votes: 0

I don't want a moratorium on the death penalty. I want the abolition of it. I can't understand why a country [USA] that's so committed to human rights doesn't find the death penalty an obscenity. Votes: 0

Forgiving is not easy. It is not cheap. Votes: 0

As long as we fail to face up to the past and deal with it accordingly, the future will smack of corruption. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

It may seem daunting, but I am a prisoner of hope. We are more connected than ever before, we have more knowledge, and there are solutions if we work together. Today's technology is a great asset in encouraging global cooperation and understanding. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is something that we are often asked to grant and very few of us ever have the roadmap of how to get from the pain that we have experienced to being able to forgive someone. Votes: 0

Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate. Light is stronger than darkness. Life is stronger than death. Victory is ours through Him who loved us. Votes: 0

When will we learn, when will the people of the world get up and say, enough is enough? God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the human family, existing together because we were made for one another. We are not made for an exclusive self-sufficiency but for interdependence and we break the law of our being at our peril. Votes: 0

There are two forms of justice. There is what is called retributive justice and there is restorative justice. Votes: 0

Is Zionism racism? I would say yes. It's a policy that to me looks like it has very many parallels with racism. The effect is the same. Whether you call it that or not is in a sense irrelevant. Votes: 0

Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. Votes: 0

Retributive justice is one that says clobber him or clobber her because they clobbered me. So it emphasizes punishment. Votes: 0

We must act now and wake up to our moral obligations. The poor and vulnerable are members of God's family and are the most severely affected by droughts, high temperatures, the flooding of coastal cities, and more severe and unpredictable weather events resulting from climate change. We, who should have been responsible stewards preserving our vulnerable, fragile planet home, have been wantonly wasteful through our reckless consumerism, devouring irreplaceable natural resources. Votes: 0

Restorative justice says "No, the offense affected a relationship" and what you are seeking for is to restore the relationship, to heal the relationship. Votes: 0

Who can stop climate change? We can. You and you and you, and me. And it is not just that we can stop it, we have a responsibility to do so that began in the genesis of humanity, when God commanded the earliest human inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, "to till it and keep it". To "keep" it; not to abuse it, not to make as much money as possible from it, not to destroy it Votes: 0

God would come down and lead us out of bondage. And God led us out of bondage. Votes: 0

Love your enemy; it will ruin his reputation. Votes: 0

I think we have got to put fire under the feet of all kinds of people. Votes: 0

We can encourage more of our universities and municipalities, foundations, corporations, individuals and cultural institutions... to move their money out of the problem (fossil fuels) and into the solutions (renewable energy) Votes: 0

I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a higher authority. Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged. Votes: 0

If we could but recognize our common humanity, that we do belong together, that our destinies are bound up in one another's, that we can be free only together, that we can be human only together, then a glorious world would come into being where all of us lived harmoniously together as members of one family, the human family. Votes: 0

Every praying person, every person who has an encounter with God, must have a passionate concern for his or her brother and sister, his or her neighbor. To treat any of these as if he were less than the child of God is to deny the validity of one's spiritual existence. Votes: 0

He's a tremendous breath of fresh air. The things he [Pope Francis] has done in a short period of time: the fact that he does not live in a huge papal mansion and just dropped by in the dining room where ordinary people have meals. You think of his background, where he didn't use limousines in South America, that he used public transport. I'm so, so thrilled that he is there at this crucial moment in the history of our world. Votes: 0

Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing. Votes: 0

Give young people a greater voice. They are the future and they are much wiser than we give them credit for. Votes: 0

Most of us have made the mistake that after they crossed the Red Sea they spent 40 years in the wilderness fighting amongst each other. Votes: 0

Instead of separation and division, all distinctions make for a rich diversity to be celebrated for the sake of the unity that underlies them. We are different so that we can know our need of one another. Votes: 0

I hope that you will be amongst those young people who say we worked to change the world. We worked to make the world a more gentle, a more compassionate, a more caring world. Votes: 0

When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, "Now is that political, or social?" He said, "I feed you." Because the good news to a hungry person is bread. Votes: 0

The heart of the Christian Gospel is precisely that God is the all holy One; the all powerful One is also the One full of mercy and compassion. He is not a neutral God inhabiting some inaccessible Mount Olympus. He is a God who cares about His children and cares enormously for the weak, the poor, the naked, the downtrodden, the despised. He takes their side not because they are good, since many of them are demonstrably not so. He takes their side because He is that kind of God, and they have no one else to champion them. Votes: 0

We need other human beings in order to be human. Votes: 0

Forgiving is good for your health. Votes: 0

When a fire starts in one it just races through. And that is in a way unconscionable. Votes: 0

Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse. No more can it be dismissed as science fiction; we are already feeling the effects. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

It makes no sense to invest in [fossil fuel] companies that undermine our future Votes: 0

Israel will never get true security and safety through oppressing another people. A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice. We condemn the violence of suicide bombers, and we condemn the corruption of young minds taught hatred; but we also condemn the violence of military incursions in the occupied lands, and the inhumanity that won't let ambulances reach the injured. Votes: 0

I am not an afterthought I am not an accident. Votes: 0

You have to understand that the Bible is really a library of books and it has different categories of material. There are certain parts which you have to say no to. The Bible accepted slavery. St Paul said women should not speak in church at all and there are people who have used that to say women should not be ordained. There are many things that you shouldn't accept. Votes: 0

Too frequently we think we have to do spectacular things. Yet if we remember that the sea is actually made up of drops of water and each drop counts, each one of us can do our little bit where we are. Those little bits can come together and almost overwhelm the world. Each one of us can be an oasis of peace. Votes: 0

Most people would say "Ah, Mahatma Gandhi, what a wonderful man, Mother Teresa, maybe Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama." And when you look at those people it's not the macho, aggressive, successful people, we may envy them, their bank balances and kind of thing, yes and for being successful. But we do not revere them. Votes: 0

A person is a person through other persons. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, or walk, or speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are. A person is entitled to a stable community life, and the first of these communities is the family. Votes: 0

The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda. It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked. Votes: 0

We are made by God, we are made like God, we are made for God. Votes: 0

There would be no call for ecological campaigning had nature not been exploited and abused. We experience the ground now bringing forth thistles as soil erosion devastates formerly arable land and deserts overtake fertile farms. Rivers and the atmosphere are polluted thoughtlessly and we are fearful of the consequences of a depleted ozone layer and the devastation of the greenhouse effect. We are not quite at home in our world, and somewhere in each of us there is a nostalgia for a paradise that has been lost. Votes: 0

People almost always imagine that life is going to be better in town and that the streets of the town are paved with gold. Votes: 0

If we are to say that religion cannot be concerned with politics then we are really saying that there is a substantial part of human life in which God's writ does not run. If it is not God's, then whose is it? Who is in charge if not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Votes: 0

When we look squarely at injustice and get involved, we actually feel less pain, not more, because we overcome the gnawing guilt and despair that festers under our numbness. We clean the wound - our own and others' - and it can finally heal. Votes: 0

The pressure to succeed has a lot to do with why people overstep the line. It is a peculiar weakness of western culture where we have made a fetish of success. Votes: 0

God is forever using especially young people, not oldies like us, God likes using young people. Votes: 0

We have a planet that is at risk, where resources don't have a permanent life. We are going to have to make the decision: are we going to survive or are we waiting for our extinction? One day we will wake up and find people are fighting not for oil but water. Votes: 0

We struggled against apartheid because we were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about. It is the same with homosexuality. The orientation is a given, not a matter of choice. It would be crazy for someone to choose to be gay, given the homophobia that is present. Votes: 0

Children learn about the nature of the world from their family. They learn about power and about justice, about peace and about compassion within the family. Whether we oppress or liberate our children in our relationships with them will determine whether they grow up to oppress and be oppressed or to liberate and be liberated. Votes: 0

In most, when you go to church, most churches when they have images of the good shepherd, they show Jesus carrying a nice fluffy lamb. Now fluffy little lambs don't stray from their mommy's. The sheep that will stray is the most obstreperous, troublesome one. Votes: 0

Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future. Votes: 0

I'm so thankful a significant majority of Americans are saying no to military intervention. We've got to find a solution that will in the end be one that makes Syria a better country, a better people. We can be human only together. Votes: 0

I don't often want to speak. I try to be a reasonable person and to be diplomatic, but you go to that place and you see the settlements, you see what has happened to the land that was owned by the Palestinians. I have often said to my Jewish friends: "Please just remember where you come from. Remember Yahweh, who said to the Israelites, 'Treat the alien well with justice.'" Votes: 0

God has been incredible in creating us to be persons. Votes: 0

Climate change: Never before in history have human beings been called on to act collectively in defence of the Earth Votes: 0

I can't control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond to it. Votes: 0

You are not an afterthought, you are not an accident. Votes: 0

If we succeed in empowering girls, we'll succeed in everything else. Votes: 0

The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions Votes: 0

We are fundamentally good, and evil is an aberration. Votes: 0

When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

We can no longer continue feeding our addiction to fossil fuels as if there is no tomorrow. For there will be no tomorrow. Votes: 0

Love is universal. You don't have to tell somebody that loving is better than hating. You don't have to believe in God to know that stealing is bad. All of God's children and their different faiths help to realize the immensity of God. No faith contains the whole truth about God. And certainly Christians don't have a corner on God. All of us belong to God. Votes: 0

To treat anyone as if they were less than human, less than a brother or a sister, no matter what they have done, is to contravene the very laws of our humanity. Votes: 0

Human beings are fundamentally good. Votes: 0

I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much rather go to hell - than go to a homophobic heaven. Votes: 0

People are scared in this country [the US], to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful - very powerful. Votes: 0

Without forgiveness there can be no future for a relationship between individuals or within and between nations. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is abandoning your right to revenge. Votes: 0

Just as I need other human beings in order to learn from them, so I also need their trust. If we aren't aware of that, if we fail to take it to heart and instead betray other people's trust, things will go badly with us. Votes: 0

What we try to do as Elders is help those who are trying to change their own societies and communities for the better. We hope that by supporting the good work that is being done, especially at the grass roots, we can help to alleviate the suffering of human beings. That is our core mission - to draw attention to the impact that conflict, injustice and poverty have on ordinary people. Votes: 0

We were an extraordinary paradox. We are finite creatures made for the infinite. Votes: 0

I don't struggle to forgive people. I find it quite easy to forgive people for the harms that they have inflicted on me. What I do find challenging is to forgive people for the harms they inflict on my daughters and family. So, I find it challenging when I see somebody else experience hurt. I also look at my children and family and then I realize, I don't stand inside their skin and that is for me a forgiveness practice I still need to engage in. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

There is no peace in South Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there is first justice enjoyed by all inhabitants of this beautiful land. The Bible knows nothing about peace without justice, for that would be crying 'peace, peace,' where there is no peace. God's Shalom, peace, involves inevitable righteousness, justice, wholesomeness, fullness of life, participation in decision making, goodness, laughter, joy, compassion, sharing, and reconciliation. Votes: 0

If you do not for give you actually are tying yourself to the perpetrator, that you are going to live your life as a victim. And you won't experience a liberation that comes from forgiving. Votes: 0

To travel only blocks in his own homeland, a grandfather waits on the whim of a teenage soldier. More than an emergency is needed to get to a hospital; less than a crime earns a trip to jail. The lucky ones have a permit to leave their squalor to work in Israel's cities, but their luck runs out when security closes all checkpoints, paralysing an entire people. The indignities, dependence and anger are all too familiar. Votes: 0

We shall be free only together, black and white. We shall survive only together, black and white. We can be human only together, black and white. Votes: 0

Our parents will maybe sometimes when they are upset with us and we have been troublesome say something like "Mommy really doesn't like a naughty child." And we think that we have to earn the approval, earn the love of our parents. And then we transfer it to God and think we have to earn... We don't have to earn it! God loves us. Votes: 0

You stand out in the crowd only because you have these many, many carrying you on their shoulders. Votes: 0

Nothing is too much trouble for Love. Votes: 0

Each one of us is not a divine afterthought. Votes: 0

We have an incredible capacity for the worst possible evil, all of us, it was that we also have this incredible capacity for good. And that is why we are all of us appalled when something bad happens. Because if the bad was the norm, we would just shrug our shoulders and say "well tough luck, this is how the cookie crumbles" kind of thing but none of us does that. Votes: 0

Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity - or because of their sexual orientation. Votes: 0

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. We cannot afford to use methods of which we will be ashamed when we look back, when we say, '...we shouldn't have done that.' We must remember, my friends, that we have been given a wonderful cause. The cause of freedom! And you and I must be those who will walk with heads held high. We will say, 'We used methods that can stand the harsh scrutiny of history.' Votes: 0

When you are in love you strive to do the things that will please your lover. Votes: 0

It always comes back to our insecurities, as we say, "Oh, I'm not as good as you." So instead of accepting that perhaps I am not as good as someone else in some ways and being comfortable with who I am as I am, I spend all my time denigrating you, trying to cut you down to my self-perceived size. 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. Votes: 0

God wants to set the oppressed free from being oppressed and the oppressors free from oppressing. Votes: 0

We pray that Aung San Suu Kyi and her country are now on a path to freedom Votes: 0

As a Christian, I believe in the sanctity of life and that death is a part of life. Votes: 0

All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous does not mean never being scared; it means acting as you know you must even though you are undeniably afraid. Votes: 0

One of the things that has always surprised me is why Americans are so patient. Because they have seen not just that freedom has come, what they have seen is that there are some who used to be poor who are very rich, stinking rich some of them. Votes: 0

I will never tell anyone to pick up a gun. But I will pray for the man who picks up a gun, pray that he will be less cruel than he might otherwise have been. Votes: 0

It's a fantastic thing that from moment to the next moment if God were to have stopped for a split second we would disintegrate into nothingness. And the incredible thing is that God breaths this breath and keeps each of us in existence, in being, even when we chose to reject God. Now if I had that kind of power I would snuff you out! But God doesn't. Votes: 0

God is on the side of the oppressed. Votes: 0

We can be human only together. A person is a person to other persons. We so desperately long for all of us to learn that we are meant for one another. We are meant for complementarity. Votes: 0

As a teacher in order not to have to answer too many questions, you stretch your answers. Votes: 0

A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons. Votes: 0

A jealous person is doubly unhappy-over what he has, which is judged inferior, and over which he has not, which is judged superior. Such a person is doubly removed from knowing the true blessing of creation. Votes: 0

The world's forests are a shared stolen treasure that we must put back for our children's future Votes: 0

I wish that we did have a magic wand which we could wave and hey presto! Magic! Unfortunately life is not like that. Votes: 0

There will be no future without forgiveness. Any process of peace is bound to collapse if this is missing. There is no way peace and stability can come through the gun of vengeance. Votes: 0

Stability and peace in our land will not come from the barrel of a gun, because peace without justice is an impossibility. Votes: 0

All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others Votes: 0

And every human being is precious. Votes: 0

Many people would be surprised that, in fact, I'm quite shy. Votes: 0

There are very few institutions that give prizes to people who may not have got to be number one, but are possibly better at coaxing the best out of others. Votes: 0

We will only truly be free when those in bondage are finally free Votes: 0

Our lives are a response to a love that we already have received. Votes: 0

It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men. Votes: 0

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. Votes: 0

If I diminish you, I diminish myself Votes: 0

That so called "original sin" does not know any racial discrimination. Votes: 0

Love is much more demanding than law. Votes: 0

You don't think we have a copyright to forgiveness, it is done by people everywhere. Votes: 0

To be neutral in a situation of injustice is to have chosen sides already. It is to support the status quo. Votes: 0

We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water. Votes: 0

We are going to have to be very careful that we give people the hope that freedom is actually better than unfreedom. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is an absolute necessity for continued human existence. Votes: 0

We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew… Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful... and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things. Votes: 0

We can only be human together. Votes: 0

There are levels of poverty in South Africa that are totally unacceptable. Votes: 0

The truth of who we are is that we are because we belong. Votes: 0

I want my commitment to ending girl marriage to be equal to my commitment to ending apartheid. Votes: 0

Men and boys, we show our manhood through the way we treat our women. Our wives, our sisters, our mothers. Votes: 0

We are interconnected. Votes: 0

I'm coming to believe more and more in the truth that everything we do has consequences. A good deed doesn't just evaporate and disappear. Votes: 0

Peace without justice is an impossibility. Votes: 0

You have seen after Katrina just what failures there are in American Society. Votes: 0

There is no justice in killing in the name of justice. Votes: 0

God loved me before I actually was. Votes: 0

If you recall the happiest moments in your life, they are all from when you were doing something for somebody else. Votes: 0

I have a lot of time for young people. Votes: 0

When people decide they want to be free, there is nothing that can stop them. Votes: 0

Brothers and sisters of Egypt, you have given the world the most precious gift: the belief that ultimately right will prevail. Votes: 0

Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness. The ones that are held in high regard are not militarily powerful, nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try and make the world a better place. Votes: 0

If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn’t worship that God. Votes: 0

We are all afflicted by original sin; people succumbing to temptations to do and to be. Votes: 0

Sometimes you want to whisper in God's ear, 'God, we know you are in charge, but why don't you make it slightly more obvious?' Votes: 0

I can't for the life of me imagine that God would say, 'I will punish you because you are black; you should have been white. I will punish you because you are a woman; you should have been a man. I punish you because you are homosexual; you ought to have been heterosexual. I can't, I can't for the life of me believe that that is how God sees things. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

When the humility of someone is undermined, whether I like it or not mine is undermined as well. Votes: 0

You have to say, whatever it is that I say or do or think or teach must be something that will be consistent with who Jesus Christ was. So that is your ultimate litmus test, not that you've got specific words to say, whatever they may be saying. It is what is being said. They're consistent with the revelation of God that we encounter in Jesus. Votes: 0

Most of the leading figures of the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham had several wives and concubines. If they wanted, they could say this was approved in the Bible. Votes: 0

Ubuntu really says if you want to be nice to yourself, start in a way by being nice to the other. Votes: 0

When you nurse a grudge it is not good for your health. Votes: 0

Sadly, the things that we have set out as being worth striving for are not ultimately the things that satisfy human longings. And why not? Because we are practically the ultimate paradox: the finite made for the infinite. Votes: 0

When God grabs you by the scruff of the neck then although theoretically you have a freedom to say 'no', in another sense, actually, you can't say no because it's like Jeremiah. 'God, you have cheated me. You called me to be a prophet against the people that I love, and all that I proclaim is words of doom and judgement.' And yet if I say "I will shut up", I can't. Votes: 0

Revenge has a way of corroding you, the revenger. You know it doesn't heal you. Votes: 0

I think that most of us would say that ubuntu basically speaks about what it means to be human. Votes: 0

Consider what we sometimes do with our children: We imbue them with this sense, very early on, that they have got to succeed. We are not content that they just do well, they have got to wipe the floor with the opposition. Votes: 0

The way sometimes we preach we make out that God is waiting eagerly to catch us out. It's not that way at all. I mean, it is extraordinary because it almost is as if God in fact wills us also to sin, but that is not true. Votes: 0

As human beings, even if we were to have tried to forget the past, if you dealt with it in a cavalier fashion, it would return to haunt you. Votes: 0

Does taking the life of the perpetrator return your mom? No. Votes: 0

The final and full revelation of God is not a book, it is a person. Jesus Christ. Votes: 0

God says "I have given you this gift, and it is a real gift. I want you to love me freely, and I will do anything, anything up to giving up the most precious thing I could say I have, my son, to prove I love you. Please come back." Votes: 0

There is no religion in fact that I know that encourages or propagates violence in that its adherents should carry out. Votes: 0

God says "This is what I would love you to be, but I am not going to constrain you. I want it to be your choice." And it is a fantastic thing because even at the moment when I am making the choice to reject God, I would depend from moment to moment, you know that beautiful image of God creating by breathing God's breath into this lump of clay, making it a human being. Votes: 0

You think sometimes that maybe if the person who hurt you is clobbered you will feel a little better. But it actually doesn't. Votes: 0

If you are going to be a leader, you must have a record where people saw you are standing up against injustice at a risk. Then that builds up your stock of credibility so that, when you speak on another occasion about a different thing, people will pay attention. Votes: 0

We mustn't romanticize suffering. It can turn people bitter and hard, although it does seem to have been almost indispensable in making people into the kind of leaders that we admire. Votes: 0

You might have thought that a world such as ours, so hard-nosed and cynical and brash, would have very little time for transcendence, spiritual values of goodness and compassion, gentleness, and caring, but we actually do experience them. Votes: 0

I regard Abraham as my ancestor. Some of the greatest inspiration I have got has come from what we call the Old Testament prophets and what Jews would say "our prophets." Votes: 0

We are given an autonomy and the real autonomy... and God would much rather we went freely to hell than compel us to go to heaven. Votes: 0

There is only one way to eat an elephant, a bite at a time. Votes: 0

There are very good Christians who are compassionate and caring. And there are very bad Christians. You can say that about Islam, about Hinduism, about any faith. That is why I was saying that it was not the faith per se but the adherent. People will use their religion to justify virtually anything. Votes: 0

I don't preach a social gospel; I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. Votes: 0

I pray that politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders have the courage to support the choices terminally ill citizens make in departing Mother Earth with dignity and love. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

I hope that when the time comes, I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life's journey in the manner of my choice. Votes: 0

There is no peace precisely because there has been no justice. As painful and inconvenient as justice may be, we have seen that the alternative allowing accountability to fall by the wayside is worse. Votes: 0

Arrogance really comes from insecurity, and in the end our feeling that we are bigger than others is really the flip side of our feeling that we are smaller than others. Votes: 0

Every single one of us can do something, however small, to make a difference. Votes: 0

Each person is a V.S.P. (a Very Special Person) because we are each created in the image of God. Votes: 0

The worst thing that can happen to anybody in this cultural environment is to fail. Votes: 0

Beware when you take on the Church of God. Others have tried and have bitten the dust. Votes: 0

It may be a procession of faithful failures that enriches the soil of godly success. Votes: 0

We don't want apartheid liberalized. We want it dismantled. You can't improve something that is intrinsically evil. Votes: 0

Each of us is precious to God because each of us has their name written on the palms of God's hands. And God says there are no outsiders - black, white, yellow, short, tall, young, old, rich, poor, gay, lesbian, straight - everyone. All belong. And God says, I have only you to help me realize my dream. Help me. Votes: 0

Mother Teresa, you could say many things about her, but certainly you would not say she was macho. Anything but. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

I am because other people are. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional. Votes: 0

The future of our fragile, beautiful planet home is in our hands. As God's family, we are stewards of God's creation. We can be wantonly irresponsible, or we can be caring and compassionate. God says, "I have set before you life and death... Choose life." Votes: 0

When you think of the sort of things that happen when a genocide happens, it's again not people who are intrinsically evil. Votes: 0

The world needs a revolution led by women Votes: 0

Never let anyone make you feel inferior for being who you are. When you live the life you were meant to live, in freedom and dignity Votes: 0

I am 52 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. Votes: 0

... freedom translates into having a supply of clean water, having electricity on tap; being able to live in a decent home and have a good job; to be able to send your children to school and to have accessible healthcare. I mean what's the point of having made this transition if the quality of life ... is not enhanced and improved? If not, the vote is useless. Votes: 0

That's the chief lesson I have learned: the texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but that good and laughter and justice will prevail. Votes: 0

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you. Votes: 0

I believe history teaches us a categorical lesson: that once a people are determined to become free, then nothing in the world can stop them reaching their goal. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what happened seriously...drawing out the sting in the memory that threatens our entire existence. Votes: 0

I have struggled against tyranny. I didn't do that in order to substitute another. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

God says, 'You know what? I don't have anybody else... except you.' Votes: 0

And you remember the rainbow in the Bible is the sign of peace. The rainbow is the sign of prosperity. We want peace, prosperity and justice and we can have it when all the people of God, the rainbow people of God, work together. Votes: 0

Like humility, generosity comes from seeing that everything we have and everything we accomplish comes from God's grace and God's love for us . . . Certainly it is from experiencing this generosity of God and the generosity of those in our life that we learn gratitude and to be generous to others. Votes: 0

We must not only speak about forgiveness and reconciliation, we must act on these principles. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

We must embrace our differences, even celebrate our diversity. We must glory in the fact that God created each of us as unique human beings. God created us different, but God did not create us for separation. God created us different that we might recognize our need for one another. We must reverence our uniqueness, reverence everything that makes us what we are: our language, our culture, our religious tradition. Votes: 0

There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African underTutustanding is far more restorative - not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew. Votes: 0

South Africa, so utterly improbably, is a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world. Votes: 0

I'd rather go to hell than worship a homophobic God. Votes: 0

It is very difficult now in South Africa to find anyone who ever supported apartheid. Votes: 0

I'm not an optimist; I'm a prisoner of hope. Votes: 0

My vote is my secret. Votes: 0

History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder, so when you read that, for example, David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls, you might be forgiven for thinking that there was nobody around the Falls until Livingstone arrived on the scene. Votes: 0

Forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up and get up with dignity, to begin anew. Votes: 0

It's a fantastic thing, a very simple idea. Irrespective of your politics, of your culture, of your race, of your whatever, hierdie ding doen ons saam...Here is one thing that can unite us irrespective of all of the things that are trying to tear us apart. Votes: 0

If you are invisible, you are vulnerable. Birth Registration must be everyone's priority. Let's make all children visible and let's give every child a birthday! Votes: 0

We are made for loving. Votes: 0

Let girls be girls and not brides Votes: 0

People united in pursuit of a righteous cause are unstoppable Votes: 0

No peace is impossible when people are determined to achieve it Votes: 0

Nursing a grudge is bad for your heath. Votes: 0

A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Each one of us can be an oasis of peace. Votes: 0

We worshipped in the temple of cutthroat competition, and so some cooked the books, because the treasure is so great. Votes: 0

The time has now come to slow down, to sip Rooibos tea with my beloved wife in the afternoons, to watch cricket, to travel to visit my children and grandchildren, rather than to conferences and conventions and university campuses. Votes: 0

The reprisal against the suicide bomber does not bring peace. There is a suicide bomber, a reprisal and then a counter-reprisal. And it just goes on and on. Votes: 0

You and I are created for transcendence, laughter, caring. God deliberately did not make the world perfect, for God is looking for you and me to be fellow workers with God. Votes: 0

Anything war can do, peace can do better. Votes: 0

I often accompanied my father. I really liked riding with him on his bicycle on Saturdays. He was very fond of fishing. I don't think I liked fishing. I mean, you had to sit quietly and still, but I enjoyed the ride. And it was fun, it was fun. I mean, as I say, you didn't go around lugging a deep sense of resentment. We knew, yes, we were deprived. It wasn't the same thing for white kids, but it was as full a life as you could make it. I mean, we made toys for ourselves with wires, making cars, and you really were exploding with joy! Votes: 0

The universe can take quite a while to deliver. Votes: 0

There can be no healing without truth. Votes: 0

I think that most of us would prefer to be popular than unpopular. Votes: 0

When I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on, and you can even help the perpetrator to become a better person too Votes: 0

There is room for everyone; there is room for every culture, race, language and point of view. Votes: 0

God says, "Please, please help me realize this dream." And some of God's best collaborators are the young, because you dream. You dream God's dream. Votes: 0

Are you able to restore to those people the time when their freedom was denied them? If you have evidence for goodness sake produce it in a court of law. People with power have an incredible capacity for wanting to be able to retain that power and don't like scrutiny. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. We cannot afford to use methods of which we will be ashamed when we look back, when we say, '...we shouldn't have done that.' Votes: 0

There is no situation that is not transformable. There is no person who is hopeless. There is no set of circumstances that cannot be turned about by ordinary human beings and their natural capacity for love of the deepest sort. Votes: 0

I am passionately opposed to the death penalty for anyone . . . I think, myself, that it is an obscenity . . . Votes: 0

What has happened to us? It seems as if we have perverted our freedom, our rights into license, into being irresponsible. Perhaps we did not realise just how apartheid has damaged us so that we seem to have lost our sense of right and wrong. Votes: 0

It was relatively easy, we now realize, to categorize countries and nations. You knew who your enemies were and whom you could count on as collaborators and friends. And even more importantly, you had ready-made scapegoats to take the blame when things were going wrong. Votes: 0

Do your little bit of good where you are. Votes: 0

Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant. Votes: 0

Dream! Dream! And then go for it! Votes: 0

To forgive is not just to be altruistic. Votes: 0

We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God. Votes: 0

Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life. Votes: 0

I am deeply moved by the warmth and courage of the Canadian people which I felt so strongly during my recent visit to your country. Your support of the struggle against apartheid restored me in my journey home and reassured me that many just people around the world are with us. Votes: 0

Freedom is indivisible. Whites can't enjoy their separate freedoms. They spend too much time and resources defending those freedoms instead of enjoying them. Votes: 0

Because there is global insecurity, nations are engaged in a mad arms race, spending billions of dollars wastefully on instruments of destruction, when millions are starving. And yet, just a fraction of what is extended so obscenely on defense budgets would make a real difference in enabling God's children to fill their stomachs, be educated, and be given the chance to lead fulfilled and happy lives. Votes: 0

If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out, then the noise will be deafening. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

I give great thanks to God that he has created a Dalai Lama. Do you really think, as some have argued, that God will be saying: 'You know, that guy, the Dalai Lama, is not bad. What a pity he's not a Christian'? I don't think that is the case - because, you see, God is not a Christian. Votes: 0

To forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summum bonum, the greatest good. Votes: 0

Having looked the past in the eye, having asked for forgiveness and having made amends, let us shut the door on the past—not in order to forget it but in order not to allow it to imprison us. Votes: 0

True forgiveness deals with the past, all of the past, to make the future possible. We cannot go on nursing grudges even vicariously for those who cannot speak for themselves any longer. We have to accept that we do what we do for generations past, present and yet to come. That is what makes a community a community or a people a people-for better or for worse. Votes: 0

And God says to all of us, you are no chicken; you are an eagle. Fly, eagle, fly. And God wants us to shake ourselves, spread our pinions, and then lift off and soar and rise, and rise toward the confident and the good and the beautiful. Rise towards the compassionate and the gentle and the caring. Rise to become what God intends us to be-eagles, not chickens. Votes: 0

Where we come from does not determine who we can become. What we look like places no limits on what we can achieve. We should all have the right to express ourselves, all have the right to be heard, all have the right to be what we can be: To reach for the sky and touch the stars. No matter who we are, no matter whether we are man or woman, or rich or poor: My voice, my right. My voice counts. Votes: 0

One day we'll wake up and discover we are family. Votes: 0

I have heard and seen many examples of the cruelty that we are able to visit on one another during my time. . . I have also seen incredible forgiveness and compassion. Yes, each of us has the capacity for great evil. But for every act of evil there are a dozen acts of goodness in our world that go unnoticed. It is only because we believe that people should be good that we despair when they are not. Indeed, if people condoned the evil, we would be justified in losing hope. But most of the world does not. We know that we are meant for better. Votes: 0

I am human because I belong, I participate, I share. Votes: 0

And one day, this thing happened to me: I coughed, and the blood just came gushing out of my mouth. ... I still can't believe that that happened to me, but I sat there, and I said to God, 'Well, if it means I'm going to die, that's OK.' I don't think I've ever felt that same kind of peace, the kind of serenity that I felt after acknowledging that maybe I was going to die of this TB. Votes: 0

You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

We get most upset with those we love because they are close to us and we know that they are aware of our weaknesses. . . If only we could learn to live with our inadequacies, our frailties, our vulnerabilities, we would not need to try so hard to push away those who really know us. Votes: 0

To be impartial... is indeed to have taken sides already... with the status quo. Votes: 0

One of the ways of helping to destroy a people is to tell them they don't have a history that they have no roots. Votes: 0

The destruction of the earth’s environment is the human rights challenge of our time. Votes: 0

There’s no question about the reality of evil, of injustice, of suffering, but at the center of this existence is a heart beating with love. That you and I and all of us are incredible. I mean, we really are remarkable things. That we are, as a matter of fact, made for goodness. Votes: 0

There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep. Votes: 0

In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t. Votes: 0

One of the greatest gifts we can give to another generation is our experience, our wisdom. Votes: 0

God is not a diversion. Votes: 0

We need to be accountable to God's family. Once we start living in a way that is people-friendly to all of God's family, we will also be environment-friendly. Votes: 0

People want much the same things, but they have been formed by history to have a particular perception of the other. Votes: 0

People in apartheid South Africa can tell you that God cursed black people when they cursed Him. And so the hermetic people were condemned to be drawers of water and of wood. Votes: 0

Religious people should be very active if they believe that the world belongs to God, and politics is a very important part of the world, then they must participate in political affairs because they are alive. And if they don't act neither as the leaven or the salt or the light, then things can go horribly badly wrong. Votes: 0

All people would really want peace and all would want to be sure that they would not be taken advantage of. Votes: 0

When people see what is happening in Gaza, that can't make you too fond of the perpetrators - the Israelis. If you are a Muslim and you look at what is happening there, it fills you with a lot of resentment. Especially if you are weak, then you are nursing these grudges and you are increasing in bitterness and look for a chance to get your own back. Votes: 0

Every situation of justice is an occasion where someone is being humiliated and they want to restore their dignity. Votes: 0

We give kudos to people who have succeeded. We don't care in what they succeeded as long as they succeeded. The worst thing that can happen to anybody in this cultural environment is to fail. Votes: 0

It was spine tingling, actually, when you saw how people kept saying, "Release Nelson Mandela," and meaning really, "Release all of our political prisoners." Votes: 0

Dream of a world where children can laugh and play and not be blown up by a mine they thought was a toy. Votes: 0

A person who is assured of the love of God will see his fellow men in a different light and treat them and himself differently, and of course this also applies to business leaders. Votes: 0

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. Votes: 0

Race should not be used to claim privileges and rights for one group, exclusively, which are denied other different groups. Then that is an illegitimate use of race. Votes: 0

The acknowledgement that this person is English, white, or French, or German, this is Portuguese, this is Rwandan, this is Senegalese, this is a black South Africans is a glorious thing. To speak of those positively, to say that they have characteristics, each one of them, that the others almost always do not have, and that there is a complementarily about it. Votes: 0

Our Christian faith is actually very subversive of the conventional notion of success - the notion that what invests a person with worth is something extrinsic. Votes: 0

People will use their religion to justify virtually anything. Votes: 0

You will find that the Bible, if you want it to, will justify many things. St. Paul had a very male chauvinistic view of women. He would say things like women must not talk in church, must cover their heads, they mustn't talk and must remember that it was a woman who first tempted and this whole mess started because women messed us up. So you can read it in such a way that it justifies polygamy. Votes: 0

We can arrive at better solutions to any problem or pain together, than we can by ourselves. The beauty of the modern age is that you are able to source answers, and sometimes the genius is in the combination of ideas and energy that does not reside in only one person. Votes: 0

You tend to think that your time is either the best or the worst, and then when you have a sense of history, you'll realize actually, no, there were times things were quite gusty in the world. I mean, just think, nowadays most people will say they support the advancement of women, woman has been equal, the fact that we're so aware of the gustiness, in a sense, also speaks about the heightening of our own sensitivity. Votes: 0

Ultimately, suffering is always political with all kinds of justifications - there are those who justify Israel's occupation of land as being a fulfillment of what God had promised. Votes: 0

Now that they talk about Islam as being a violent faith, when you look at the history of Christendom, the Crusades and the many wars of religion that were fought, the cruelty of Christians in burning what they believed to be witches and burning heretics, and then very recently they were responsible for the Holocaust... it was Christians. Votes: 0

Without forgiveness, there is no future. Forgiveness is not nebulous, impractical and idealistic. It's thoroughly realistic. It's real political in the long run. Votes: 0

I am a Nobel Peace laureate and my business should be to try to bring stability, not to be a red rag to bulls. Votes: 0

Suffering is part and parcel of the human condition, but suffering can either embitter or ennoble us. It can ennoble us and become a spirituality of transformation when we find meaning in it. Votes: 0

The moment our dignity is undermined, we get up in arms and want to see our dignity restored - especially if we are humiliated. Votes: 0

Some people are able to use Bible as a means of opposing injustice, whereas others are able to find justification. Votes: 0

People are able to justify immense cruelty and say that it is something that is sanctioned by their faith. Votes: 0

We must return to the fundamentals; the fundamentals being that you count. That is where you start from. That you count; you matter for God. That is a fantastic realization, and one that very few of us actually get to accept. Votes: 0

I don't know any religion that promotes violence. It is the adherents of whatever religion. Votes: 0

Laugh more. Don't forget to enjoy the blessings that God bestows on this beautiful planet. Votes: 0

Forgiving is a gift to the forgiver as well as to the perpetrator. Votes: 0

There would be those of us who say that in many ways, you worry about what the Jews in Israel are doing to themselves. Yes, they may at the moment have incredible power and are supported almost unconditionally by especially America, but most of the West as well. Yet what they are doing is contrary to the best teaching and highest teachings of their faith. Votes: 0

As the victim, you offer the gift of your forgiving to the perpetrator who may or may not appropriate the gift but it has been offered and thereby it liberates the victim. Votes: 0

A leader is someone you are not disappointed in placing trust in. When that person makes suggestions, you are inclined to trust [them]. Often it is people who have been there [in a similar situation to the people he or she is leading]. They would generally be people who are ready to take the risks themselves. Most leaders would be people who don't ever give commands and remain at home and let the foot soldiers be the ones who bear the brunt. Votes: 0

Look at Nelson Mandela. Why did people want to follow him? He's a lousy speaker. If he hadn't got all the other things, you wouldn't spend time listening to him. But people actually don't listen to what he's saying, in a way. They are listening to him because he has communicated that he is ready to put his life on the line. Votes: 0

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." Votes: 0

When you think of the KKK, they actually have as their emblem a fiery cross. And they don't see any contradiction between the cross, an instrument of suffering that procured our reconciliation with God, and its use as a symbol for nefarious attacks on black people. But they believe that they are being obedient to God because they can read things that they see. Votes: 0

Trust is one of the fundamentals of human existence. We need to be able to trust one another. A man who can no longer trust anyone will become sick. Votes: 0

You can find justification for slavery in the Bible. Some say this is what the Bible says and that closes the argument. Votes: 0

Each of us has a God-shaped space within us. Only God can fill that space. But we run ourselves ragged trying to find things other than God to fill it with. Votes: 0

The leaders that the world admires seem almost all to be people who haven't had things quite so smooth or easy in their lives. Votes: 0

When we look at a conflict, it is so often rooted in injustice, prejudice, competition for resources, poverty, poor governance and corruption. Votes: 0

Only if we face up to our past can we regain our credibility. If we pretend that our trust is greater than it is, we will be like someone who tries to patch over a crack. Votes: 0

Human beings have a vested interest in being trustworthy. Votes: 0

People sometimes strive after and think they will find deep satisfaction for their psyches in wealth, sex or drugs, but then find that ultimately these things do not satisfy human longings. Votes: 0

I certainly don't think we [The Elders organization] are oracles but I would hope that over our lifetimes we have accumulated some useful experience and perhaps even a modicum of wisdom! We don't have all the answers. Votes: 0

One of the things we might want to learn when considering the failings of others is not to gloat because someone else has tripped up. Votes: 0

Human beings can be awful, but they can also be tremendous. Votes: 0

I have absolutely no objection to performance and success as long as they don't become false idols and threaten to rule our lives. Votes: 0

Catharsis returns us to the purpose for which were originally intended - to be called by God to do good - and thus ultimately returns us to ourselves. Votes: 0

I suppose being the kind of creatures we [people] are, we like to censor the past, and are selective, or want to be selective about the things that we remember. If you want to destroy people, destroy their memory, destroy their history. Votes: 0

I would hope that wherever I was I would be me. I have been influenced by some wonderful people who showed me that there is an integral relationship between faith and life at home. Evil is evil, repression is repression anywhere. And if it is not consistent with what one believes is God's will, then I would hope that one would be able to witness it, and there are wonderful people who do so in very great risks to themselves. Votes: 0

Most poor people I know are proud and really want not a handout but a hand up. They do have an inherent pride and dignity, and we should treat them as those who have fallen on bad days. Votes: 0