Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
Mother TeresaYou may be exhausted with work, you may even kill yourself, but unless your work is interwoven with love, it is useless. To work without love is slavery.
Mother TeresaGod has identified himself with the hungry, the sick, the naked, the homeless; hunger not only for bread, but for love, for care, to be somebody to someone; nakedness, not for clothing only, but nakedness of that compassion that very few people give to the unknown; homelessness, not only just for a shelter made from stone but for that homelessness that comes from having no one to call your own.
Mother TeresaI feel called to help individuals, to love each human being. I never think in terms of crowds in general but in terms of persons. Were I to think about crowds, I would never begin anything.
Mother TeresaPeople are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.... Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.... What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. .. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway.
Mother TeresaIf you are discouraged it is a sign of pride, because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about other people's opinions. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. Remember St. Aloysius, who said he would continue to play billiards even if he knew he was going to die. Do you play well? Sleep well? Eat well? These are duties. Nothing is small for God.
Mother TeresaI know I would not be able to work one week if it were not for that continual force coming from Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Mother TeresaLet us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace.
Mother TeresaThere is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.
Mother TeresaOne day I met a lady who was dying of cancer in a most terrible condition. And I told her, I say, "You know, this terrible pain is only the kiss of Jesus - a sign that you have come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss you."
Mother TeresaI once picked up a woman from a garbage dump and she was burning with fever; she was in her last days and her only lament was: My son did this to me. I begged her: You must forgive your son. In a moment of madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets. Be a mother to him, forgive him. It took me a long time to make her say: I forgive my son. Just before she died in my arms, she was able to say that with a real forgiveness. She was not concerned that she was dying. The breaking of the heart was that her son did not want her. This is something you and I can understand.
Mother TeresaOur hours of adoration will be special hours of reparation for sins, and intercession for the needs of the whole world, exposing the sin-sick and suffering humanity to the healing, sustaining and transforming rays of Jesus, radiating from the Eucharist.
Mother TeresaIt is not possible to speak of the right to choose when a clear moral evil is involved, when what is at stake is the commandment, Do not kill!
Mother TeresaWe may not be able to give much but we can always give the joy that springs in a heart that is in LOVE WITH GOD.
Mother TeresaWhen you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love.
Mother TeresaI don't claim anything of the work. It is his work. I am like a little pencil in his hand. That is all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it.
Mother TeresaI am Albanian by birth. Now I am a citizen of India. I am also a Catholic nun. In my work, I belong to the whole world. But in my heart, I belong to Christ.
Mother Teresa"In each of our lives Jesus comes as the Bread of Life - to be eaten, to be consumed by us. This is how He loves us. Then Jesus comes in our human life as the hungry one, the other, hoping to be fed with the Bread of our life, our hearts by loving, and our hands by serving. In loving and serving, we prove that we have been created in the likeness of God, for God is Love and when we love we are like God. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Mother TeresaWe pick up people dying full of worms from the street. We have picked up more than 40,000 of them. If I lift up such a person, clean him, love him and serve him, is it conversion? He has been there like an animal in the street but I am giving him love and he dies peacefully. That peace comes from his heart. That's between him and God.
Mother TeresaThe joy of Jesus will be my strength - it will be in my heart. Every person I meet will see it in my work; my walk, my prayer - in everything.
Mother TeresaThere is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter.
Mother TeresaThe Simple Path Silence is Prayer Prayer is Faith Faith is Love Love is Service The Fruit of Service is Peace
Mother TeresaMary, my dearest Mother, give me your heart so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, your heart so full of love and humility, that I may be able to receive Jesus in the Bread of Life, love Him as you loved Hitn and serve Him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.
Mother TeresaThe joy of the presence of Jesus, you must be able to give wherever you go. But you cannot give what you don't have. That's why you need a pure heart, a pure heart that you will receive as a fruit of your prayer, as a fruit of your oneness with Christ.
Mother TeresaThe point is to do something, however small, and show you care through your actions by giving your time.
Mother TeresaPrayer is as necessary as the air, as the blood in our bodies, as anything to keep us alive-to keep us alive to the grace of God.
Mother TeresaThe poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. And they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.
Mother TeresaLet 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 TeresaI can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.
Mother TeresaI love all religions. ... If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there." She upheld that there are many ways to God': "All is God - Buddists, Hindus, Christians, etc., all have access to the same God."
Mother TeresaThou shall love the Lord with thy whole heart, soul, and mind. This is the commandment of the Great God, and he cannot command the impossible. Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, spirit of prayer, and sacrifice by an intense inner life. There is no limit because God is love, love is God, God's love is infinite. But part is to love and to give until it hurts. That's why it is not how much you do, but how much love you put into the action.
Mother Teresa