"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."
"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."
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Source: Truth and reconciliation. BBC Focus on Africa magazine, January-March 2000.
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More quotes by Desmond Tutu
"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."
"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."
"Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another."
"Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
"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."