120 Mother Teresa Quotes On Compassion
Mother Teresa is renowned globally for her undying compassion and service towards humanity. Her words have inspired millions to lead a life dedicated to others. This article features 120 of her most thought-provoking and meaningful quotes on the universal theme of compassion. Through her quotes, Mother Teresa gave a beautiful expression to the intrinsic human virtues of love, kindness and selflessness.
The quotes have been grouped under different sub-headings to help the reader navigate specific aspects of compassion. Some of the sections explore compassion in everyday actions, the impact of small kindnesses, serving joyfully and finding Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor and suffering. The extensive selection of quotes from Mother Teresa’s vast teachings is comprehensive enough to hold relevance for people from all walks of life.
Through her inspiring life and profound messages, Mother Teresa showed us that compassion is above all religions,nationalities and social statuses.It is the common language that unites humankind. These impactful quotes remind us that spreading love, however silently, is the best way to change the world. The article is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to strengthen their own spirit of compassion through the lens of this great humanitarian’s uplifting words.
1. Her Words on Loving the Poor
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“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
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“Love to be loved is human, but to love is divine.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.” – Mother Teresa
“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
“Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” – Mother Teresa
“I was once asked why I didn’t participate in the anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s. I said that I would never demonstrate against war by killing innocent people.” – Mother Teresa
“I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nourishing the blood of Christ.” – Mother Teresa
“Lonely people cannot be kind, only the unselfish ones are.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” – Mother Teresa
“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
2. Spreading Kindness Through Service
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” – Mother Teresa
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa
“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa
“God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful.” – Mother Teresa
“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
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa
“Go home and love your family.” – Mother Teresa
“I am just a little pencil in God’s hands.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste 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 a struggle, accept it. Life is a 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.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace.” – Mother Teresa
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
“Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” – Mother Teresa
“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa
“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa
“If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” – Mother Teresa
3. Inspiring Others With Compassion
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa
“I see God in every human being. When I wash the lepers, I feel I am nursing the baby Jesus, lepers of today.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” – Mother Teresa
“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.” – Mother Teresa
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” – Mother Teresa
“I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.” – Mother Teresa
“God doesn’t require us to succeed, He only requires that you try.” – Mother Teresa
“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.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa
“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste 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.” – Mother Teresa
“If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” – Mother Teresa
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa
“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace.” – Mother Teresa
4. Finding Purpose in Helping Others
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa
“Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.” – Mother Teresa
“We shall find no joy in material success nor in personal achievement if we have no purpose to help others.” – Mother Teresa
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa
“If you ever feel down and think that you have nothing to give, reach out and help someone else. It is in giving that we receive.” – Mother Teresa
“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.” – Mother Teresa
“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.” – Mother Teresa
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa
“Do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.” – Mother Teresa
5. Mother Teresa’s Philosophy of Love
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“True greatness, true leadership, is found in giving yourself in service to others.” – Mother Teresa
“Have courage and hope. The poor for whom we work are not numbers, but people; not problems, but sisters and brothers.” – Mother Teresa
“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.” – Mother Teresa
“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.” – Mother Teresa
“Do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house… let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.” – Mother Teresa
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love. That’s the true nature of the heart.” – Mother Teresa
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace.” – Mother Teresa
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” – Mother Teresa
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me.'” – Mother Teresa
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa
“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste 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 a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it.” – Mother Teresa
“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.” – Mother Teresa
“Charity is the medicine of the soul.” – Mother Teresa
6. Wisdom From a Life of Sacrifice
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa
“Little things with great love make beautiful things of God.” – Mother Teresa
“Remember that each smile, each kindness, each help given to another is helping to make peace.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.” – Mother Teresa
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa
“It is a beautiful thing when you can give comfort and calm when they need it most.” – Mother Teresa
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa
“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.” – Mother Teresa
“Peace begins with a smile.” – Mother Teresa
“If you ever feel distressed during your day, call upon your angels, for their work is to help you!” – Mother Teresa
“Peace starts from within and spreads outward.” – Mother Teresa
“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.” – Mother Teresa
“I was once asked why I didn’t participate in antiwar demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a peaceful demonstration, I’ll be there.” – Mother Teresa
“I was once asked why I didn’t participate in antiwar demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a peaceful demonstration, I’ll be there.” – Mother Teresa
“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want.” – Mother Teresa
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
Conclusion
Mother Teresa left behind a legacy of compassion and service through her inspiring quotes which promote kindness, humility and sacrifice. The quotes reflect her total dedication to helping the poorest of the poor with love and respect. By reflecting on these seminal thoughts, readers gain insight into how small acts of compassion can profoundly impact individuals and society. We would do well to internalize Mother Teresa’s emphasis on seeing Christ in everyone by being generous with our time, care and resources for people in need. Her message of giving unconditionally to others regardless of cost resonates strongly even today and merits regular contemplation.
