Ubuntu Quotes

Nelson Mandela inaugural speech
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.

There are so many philosophies that we grow into. Few are as great as Ubuntu – an ancient African philosophy that says “I am because we are”. It is a philosophy that we live by, and we hope to pass to our children. I, therefore, see it as a community service to offer you these Ubuntu quotes.

Nelson Mandela Ubuntu Quotes

In Africa, we have a concept known as ubuntu – the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others.

In Africa, we have a concept known as ubuntu, based upon the recognition that we are only people because of other people.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.

Desmond Tutu Ubuntu Quotes

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, or treated as if they were less than who they are.

If I diminish you, I diminish myself.

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

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

My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.

We belong in a bundle of life.

A person is a person through other persons.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

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.

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.

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.

If we have loved well while we were alive, our love will go on for generations.

Barack Obama ubuntu quotes

Pres Barack Obama Ubuntu Quote

There is a word in South Africa – Ubuntu – that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

LOVE THIS POST? SHARE IT...
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
RELATED POSTS

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About The Author

Hi! We’re the Cheltens’. We visit South Africa 1-2 times per year. We want to share our experiences with you so that you may make educated decisions when you plan your next trip to the rainbow nation.

Recommended Reads
Want to have your business or product featured?

We’re always looking for awesome places, products, travel accessories, or anything else that promotes the rich and colorful culture of South Africa.
Contact Us

Culture Categories
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @YEBOSOUTHAFRICA