In a world filled with challenges and uncertainties, we often turn to the words of wise individuals for guidance and inspiration. Mother Teresa, a beacon of hope and compassion, has left a legacy of profound sayings that continue to touch hearts and ignite the spirit of kindness. Her inspirational quotes encompass themes of love, courage, and the beauty of life. Join us on a journey through her timeless wisdom as we explore some of her most cherished quotes that will change your life.
Who Was Mother Teresa?
Mother Teresa, known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was a renowned humanitarian and Roman Catholic nun who dedicated her life to serving the poor and destitute. Born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, now the capital of North Macedonia, she was originally named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. After joining the Sisters of Loreto at the age of 18, she took the name Sister Mary Teresa.
Mother Teresa’s Purpose of Life
In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation that focused on providing care and assistance to the sick, homeless, and marginalized in society. Her work included establishing hospices, orphanages, and centers for those suffering from leprosy and HIV/AIDS. Over the years, Mother Teresa’s compassionate efforts earned her international recognition, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Reading a daily quote from Mother Teresa is sure to lift your spirits. The following is a list of her most inspiring quotes.
Mother Teresa Quotes
- “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
- “I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?”
- “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”
- “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
- “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”
- “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
- “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.”
- “Peace begins with a smile.”
- “Prayer changes us, and we change things.”
- “The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.”
- “Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.”
- “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
- “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.”
- “If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”
- “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”
- “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”
- “In this life, we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
- “A life not lived for others is not a life.”
- “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
- “Loneliness and the feeling of being unloved is the most terrible poverty.”
- “The success of love is in the loving; it is not in the result of loving.”
- “If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.”
- “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”
- “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.”
- “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”
- “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
- “It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.”
- “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”
- “I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
- “Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.”
- “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for.”
- “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
- “God doesn’t require us to succeed; He only requires that you try.”
- “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”
- “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
- “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in that action.”
- “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”
- “It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.”
- “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
- “Work without love is slavery.”
- “Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world.”
- “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace.”
- “We are all pencils in the hand of God writing love letters to the world.”
- “To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”
- “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
- “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
- “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
- “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
- “I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather He will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did?'”
- “Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”
- “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.”
- “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we will serve.”
- “Joy is strength.”
- “There is no key to happiness; the door is always open.”
- “Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely, and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.”
- “We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love.”
- “Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
- “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”
- “We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace; we need love and compassion.”
- “We must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others. This requires that we be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in us, and our compassion is only a sham.”