Mother Theresa quotes

Mother Teresa Quotes on Abortion


“If a mother can kill her own child – what is left for me to kill you and you to kiss me – there is nothing between.”

"I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is "Abortion", because it is a war against the child... A direct killing of the innocent child, "Murder" by the mother herself... And if we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”

“How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love... And we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts..."

"The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society.”

“It (the right to abortion)has portrayed the greatest of gifts--a child--as a competitor, an intrusion and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the dependent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners."


Mother Teresa Quotes on Action


“God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.”

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you."

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create man ripples.”

“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”

"It is a kingly act to assist the fallen."

"There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."

"There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things."



Mother Teresa Quotes on Children


"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers."


Mother Teresa Quotes on Family


“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

"Smile at each other. Smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other- it doesn't matter who it is- and that will help to grow up in greater love for each other."

“In the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.”

“There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives – the pain and loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.”

“Love begins at home and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into that action.”

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”



Mother Teresa Quotes on Faith


“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

“God hasn't called me to be successful. He's called me to be faithful.”

"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Humbleness


“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Hope


“We want to create hope for the person ... we must give hope, always hope.”
Mother Teresa Quotes on Joy


“One filled with joy preaches without preaching.”

"Joy is a net of love in which you can catch souls."

"Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life."

"A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. She gives most who gives with joy."

“Joy must be one of the pivots of our life. It is the token of a generous personality. Sometimes it is also a mantle that clothes a life of sacrifice and self-giving. A person who has this gift often reaches high summits. He or she is like Sun in a community.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Judgment


"Christ came to be Father’s compassion to the world. Be kind in your actions. Do not think that you are the only one who can do efficient work, work worth showing. This makes you harsh in your judgment of others who may not have the same talents. Do your best and trust that others do their best.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Kindness


"I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness."

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness, kindness in your face, eyes and in your smile.”

“The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.”
Mother Teresa Quotes on Life


“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

“Live simple so others may simply live.”

“A life not lived for others is not a life.”

“When you don’t have anything, then you have everything.”

“Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.”

“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”

“Each of us is merely a small instrument; all of us, after accomplishing our mission, will disappear.”

"Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus - a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you."

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is struggle, accept it.
Life is tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
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“We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Life Characteristic


“Our life of contemplation shall retain the following characteristics:
-Missionary: By going out physically or in spirit in search of souls all over the universe.
-Contemplative: By gathering the whole universe at the very center of our hearts where the Lord of the universe abides, and allowing the pure water of divine grace to flow plentifully and unceasingly from the source itself, on the whole of his creation.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Loneliness


“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. “

“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Love

"The Simple Path,
Silence is Prayer,
Prayer is Faith,
Faith is Love,
Love is Service,
The Fruit of Service is Peace."

"May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in."

"Work without love is slavery."

"Intense love does not measure it just gives."

"The greatest science in the world; in heaven and on earth; is love."

"Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home."

“Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”

“Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.”

“Good works are links that form a chain of love.”

“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

“I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.”

“I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?”

“If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

“We can do no great things-only small things with great love.”

“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 live did you out into what you did?’”

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

“We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love.”

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love.”

“The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty—it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

"Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand."

"Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same -- with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead."

"Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people."

"We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and to be loved."

“I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me, and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.”

“The success of live is in the loving- it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the rest of the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.”

“In loving one another through our works we bring an increase of grace and a growth in divine love.”

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."

Mother Teresa Quotes on Patience


“Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.”

“Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Peace

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Prayers

“Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself.”

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of god, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”

“If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If we love, we will serve.”

“Prayer is the mortar that holds our house together.”

“Prayer makes your heart bigger, until it is capable of containing the gift of God himself. Prayer begets faith, faith begets love, and love begets service on behalf of poor.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Silence


"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls. "

“The silence and emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see – listen and do not hear – tongue moves but does not speak…”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Smile

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

“Peace begins with a smile.”

"Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Suffering


“Suffering is nothing by itself. But suffering shared with the passion of Christ is a wonderful gift, the most beautiful gift, a token of love.”


Mother Teresa Quotes on Words

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

“Violence of the tongue is very real- sharper than any knife.”

“Spread the love of God through you life but only use words when necessary.”


Other Mother Teresa Quotes

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered,
forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives,
be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies,
succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you,
be honest and frank anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous,
be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow,
do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough,
give you best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God,
It was never between you and them anyway.”

“May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”

"In the West we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where everything is measured according to the results and we get caught up in being more and more active to generate results. In the East-especially in India-I find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call that wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving-it is not in the result of loving. "

"We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."

“We have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and to be loved.”