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The Most Poignant Quotes by Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

The Most Poignant Quotes by Mother Teresa

Someone like Mother Teresa comes along once in a generation. She was born on August 26, 1910, as Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu in Skopje under the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia). She grew up in a devout Catholic family and quickly took to the faith. Early on, she became fascinated with the lives and services of missionaries in the Bengal region of India. By age twelve, however, she decided to dedicate her life to religion. Teresa joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland upon reaching adulthood before moving to India. There, she pursued her life’s work.

She founded the Missionaries of Charity which became dedicated to serving the poorest residents of Calcutta. For decades, she worked tirelessly to help the least fortunate. In the process, the Missionaries of Charity grew into a massive congregation, serving 133 countries by opening soup kitchens, hospitals, schools, and orphanages. For her commitment to the disenfranchised, Teresa received a long list of honors including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, before being canonized by the Catholic Church. Along the way, Mother Teresa became known for her sense of humility, kindness, and grace. Let’s explore some of her most poignant nuggets of wisdom. (For quotes from famous athletes, explore over 50 life-changing quotes from Michael Jordan.)

To compile a list of the most poignant Mother Teresa quotes, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of lifestyle and spirituality publications including Country Living, Parade Magazine, and Our Father’s Soup Kitchen. Next, we picked quotes from throughout Mother Teresa’s life that speak to the power of kindness, joy, and modesty. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like Britannica and Catholic Online.

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.”

Saint Mother Teresa cathedral in Prishtina, Kosovo
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‎”Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

Mother Teresa statue with poor children,  Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

Hands of the Missionaries of Charity nun, Mother house in Kolkata, India
Zvonimir Atletic / Shutterstock.com

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

Mother Teresa Statue - Macedonia
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“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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“True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray to God and ask Him to give us the courage to love.”

Mother Teresa statue in Prem Dan house, Kolkata
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“Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it.”

Statue of mother teresa in Mother house, Kolkata, India
Zvonimir Atletic / Shutterstock.com

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

Church Igreja Santa Ana in the fishing village of Armacao dos Buzios, Rio de Janeiro district, Brazil. The church was built in 1740. In the front statue of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
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“I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”

Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 – 1/20/1989Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/1981 – 1/20/1989, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
2003 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“Humility is truth, therefore in all sincerity, we must be able to look up and say, I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. By yourself you can do nothing, have nothing but sin, weakness and misery. All the gifts of nature and grace you have them from God.”

Mother Teresa
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“One of the realities we’re all called to go through is to move from repulsion to compassion and from compassion to wonderment.”

Mother Teresa
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“Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”

Teresa In Paris
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“Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family.”

Mother Teresa
Mark Edwards / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

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

Teresa Of Calcutta
Joe Bangay / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

(For religion of the American variety, discover the history of the American Megachurch.)

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

Mother Teresa
Mark Edwards / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

“Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best.”

Pope Benedict XVI Visits Bavaria - Day 1
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“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”

Mother Teresa
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“Life is a challenge; we must take it.”

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
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“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.”

Pope John Paul II & Mother Teresa
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“Poverty was not created by God. It is we who have caused it, you and I through our egotism.

Prince Charles And Mother Teresa
2015 Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

“People are unrealistic, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.”

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
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“The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.”

Pope Visits the Sisters of Mother Teresa
2008 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.”

Mother Teresa statue with poor children,  Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
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“I know I am touching the living body of Christ in the broken bodies of the hungry and the suffering.”

closeup of statue of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
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“I do not pray for success; I ask for faithfulness.”

Official Canonization Portrait Of Mother Teresa Revealed In Washington DC
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“One filled with the joy preaches without preaching.”

Prince Philip And Mother Teresa
2015 Getty Images / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

“Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.”

Teresa's Award
Keystone / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

“Work without love is slavery.”

Mother Teresa
John Minihan / Hulton Archive via Getty Images

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

Mother Teresa or Saint Teresa of Calcutta.  Statue. Dong Nai. Vietnam.
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“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

Statue of mother Teresa
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“The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family.”

Mother Teresa Is Canonised By Pope Francis At The Vatican
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“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.”

Street Scene
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“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.”

Official Canonization Portrait Of Mother Teresa Revealed In Washington DC
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“Yes, you must live life beautifully and not allow the spirit of the world that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure make you to forget that you have been created for greater things.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
2003 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.”

Despite Tourism Industry, New Mexico Remains One Of Poorest States In The U.S.
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“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
2003 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“Live simply so others may simply live.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
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“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.”

Neil Fairbrother, Phil DeFreitas and Rob Smith all of England
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“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Appleby Horse Fair 2019
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“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

Pope Benedict XVI Holds Final Mass For World Youth Day 08
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“If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.”

Pope Visits the Sisters of Mother Teresa
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“A life not lived for others is not a life.”

Pope's Audience With Archbishop Of Sydney
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“I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.”

Official Canonization Portrait Of Mother Teresa Revealed In Washington DC
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

Official Canonization Portrait Of Mother Teresa Revealed In Washington DC
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

Official Canonization Portrait Of Mother Teresa Revealed In Washington DC
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

Pope's Audience With Archbishop Of Sydney
2006 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

A Look At Mother Teresa's Humanitarian Legacy In Calcutta
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“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

A Look At Mother Teresa's Humanitarian Legacy In Calcutta
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

Mother teresa statue with a baby in her hands.
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“We fear the future because we are wasting today.”

A Look At Mother Teresa's Humanitarian Legacy In Calcutta
2016 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
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“What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight; build it anyway.”

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
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“If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers.”

Mother Teresa Beatified By Pope John Paul II
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We interfere with God’s plans when we push in someone or something else not suitable for us. Be strict with yourself, and then be very strict with what you are receiving from the outside.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
2003 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

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

Medieval Stone Tower and Saint Teresa Statue, Bishop Brute College
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“If now we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten how to see God in one another.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
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“There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter.”

Pilgrims Flock To Rome For Beatification Of Mother Teresa
2003 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

“Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you’ve got anyway.”

India Conducts World's Largest Democratic Election
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“We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world.”

Former Chicago Sun Times Photographers Hold Exhibit Outside Paper That Ousted Whole Dept.
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“Jesus said love one another. He didn’t say love the whole world.”

Santiago De Cuba Prepares For Visit Of Pope Benedict XVI
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“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”

View of the Church and Convent of Santa Teresa with the sculpture of St. Teresa of Jesus. Avila, Spain
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(For unconventional methods of worship, learn about this Hindu sect that lives in cemeteries and eats out of skulls.)

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