October is right around the corner and you've got a few great Desmond Tutu quotes coming your way. Why now, you ask? Because on October 7th marks Desmond Tutu's 77th birthday. Let's celebrate this human rights leader by reflecting on his kindness, compassion and wisdom.

1. "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."

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

3. "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."

4. "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."

5. "People who call pacifists weak, that's not the case. Actually you go into confrontation. You confront violent people without weapons and your confrontation draws out their violence."

6. "I wanted to become a doctor, a physician, and I was admitted to medical school, but my family did not have the money for fees. So I ended up becoming a teacher. I stopped being a teacher when the South African Government introduced a deliberately inferior education for blacks called Bantu education, and I felt I wasn't ready to collaborate with this apology for an educational system."

7. "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."

8. "Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant."

9. "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."

10. "Without forgiveness, there's no future."

Once in a while, the world witnesses the rise of a person who isn't afraid to stand up for what's right. A person who, against all odds, rises up against the oppression and makes a change for the better. Desmond Tutu is one such person. Let us remember that with these ten Desmond Tutu quotes to celebrate his October 7th birthday.

For more leadership quotes, check out the popular leadership quotes section at www.Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories.