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
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: _x000D_ My voice, my right. My voice counts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our backgrounds do not define our potential, and everyone has the right to express themselves and strive for greatness.
Desmond Tutu's quote emphasizes the importance of individual potential beyond societal constraints such as race, gender, or economic status. He advocates for the inherent right of every person to express themselves and achieve their dreams, asserting that who we are does not limit what we can accomplish. Tutu encourages a belief in equality and the power of one's voice in creating change and pursuing aspirations, challenging the societal norms that may discourage people from reaching their full potential.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
More from Desmond Tutu
All quotes →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.
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.
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.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.
Similar quotes
Slaves do not always welcome their deliverers. They become accustomed to being slaves. They would rather gear those ills they have
You got to fight them, Celie, she say. I can't do it for you. You got to fight them for yourself. I don't say nothing. I think bout Nettie, dead. She fight, she run away. What good it do? I don't fight, I stay where I'm told. But I'm alive.
Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away.
If somebody's trying to shut you up, sing louder, and if possible, better.
Brave doesn't spread hate or bully the vulnerable. Brave doesn't put greed and self-interest over millions of lives. Brave doesn't cower behind lies and walls. Brave doesn't pit people against one another. That's what fear does.
Nobody . . . took me seriously. They wondered why in the world I wanted to be a chemist when no women were doing that. The world was not waiting for me.