Desmond Tutu Quotes

Human lives are human lives.

Man is more interesting than men. God made him and not them in his image. Each one is more precious than all.

Even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of common human dignity.

As to what we call the masses and the common men—there are no common men. All men are at last of a size.

The human being is to be respected and defended, not protected like a bird or a river.

All people have dignity. There's nobody who was born without a soul and a spirit.

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man's self-respect is a sin.

Even the most despicable person is still a human being.

A human being is so irreplaceable. So valuable and so unique.

Each individual is unique. We all have equal worth. Young and old, those who can cope and those who need help.

Some values must be universal, like human rights and the equal worth of every human being.

Every human being, including those who belong to the enemy, have rights.

Just being alive, staying human, I think that's infinitely precious.

If man is not made in the image of God, nothing then stands in the way of inhumanity. There is no good reason why mankind should be perceived as special. Human life is cheapened. We can see this in many of the major issues being debated in our society today.

I think a lot of the source of how people are treated depends on the fact if someone recognizes them as a human being or not, you know what I mean?

What constitutes a real, live human being is more of a mystery than ever these days, and men each one of whom is a valuable, unique experiment on the part of nature are shot down wholesale.

I'm not a minority: I'm a majority of one. We all are. To call someone a minority, you give them baggage, of not being full, or not being seen as full. All of us need to be seen as full human beings.

But, you know, the issues of humanity and what is fair treatment and good treatment of a fellow human being should not really be based on a personal sense of right and wrong or judgment.

I'm a human being I'm not a piece of property. I am not a consignment of goods.

I'm a human being before anything else.

Our moral, religious, and political traditions are united in their respect for the dignity of human life.

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

I dream a world in no one feels the need for or fear of predatory behavior, in which each of us walks with the knowledge of how beautiful - and valuable - is each human life.

Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.

One must love humanity in order to reach out into the unique essence of each individual: no one can be too low or too ugly.