Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only improvish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward.
Dorothy DayCommon sense in religion is rare, and we are too often trying to be heroic instead of just ordinarily good and kind.
Dorothy DayMost of our life is unimportant, filled with trivial things from morning till night. But when it is transformed by love it is of interest even to the angels.
Dorothy DayLove and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other's faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much.
Dorothy DayThere's enough hate in the world. I command you to love. And you have to make an effort.
Dorothy DayThe whole point of view of the anarchist is that everything must start from the bottom up, from man. It seems to me so human a philosophy.
Dorothy DayWhatever I had read as a child about the saints had thrilled me. I could see the nobility of giving one's life for the sick, the maimed, the leper. But there was another question in my mind. Why was so much done in remedying the evil instead of avoiding it in the first place? Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to the slaves, but to do away with slavery?
Dorothy Day