50 Mother Teresa Quotes on Love, Compassion, and Kindness

I have always found great meaning in the words of Mother Teresa. The example of the great love and unselfishness of her life is manifest in every quote she left behind, each one a reflection of her extraordinary compassion or imagine.

I feel whenever I read her quotes, as if she is whispering in my ear to be a little bit more nicer, a little more forgiving and that everyone you meet has some valid point. She had a special gift for summarising deep, soul-stirring truths and inspiring us to be kinder and more intentional in our living.

Here are some of my favorite quotes as it relate to Mother Teresa. I hope it can serve either as an inspiration, guidance or just a few seconds of silence for you as its serving me.

Mother Teresa Quotes on Love

1. “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
2. “Love begins by taking care of the closest ones—the ones at home.”
3. “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”
4. “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”
5. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
6. “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
7. “The way you help heal the world is that you start with your own family.”
8. “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
9. “We must not only give what we have; we must also give what we are.”
10. “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Kindness

11. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
12. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
13. “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.”
14. “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.”
15. “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
16. “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”
17. “The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are.”
18. “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”
19. “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
20. “I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Compassion

21. “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.”
22. “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.”
23. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
24. “Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.”
25. “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.”
26. “Do small things with great love.”
27. “Peace begins with a smile.”
28. “Love until it hurts. Real love is always painful and hurts: then it is real and pure.”
29. “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
30. “There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation than for bread.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Service

31. “The greatest good is what we do for one another.”
32. “I want you to be concerned about your next-door neighbor. Do you know your next-door neighbor?”
33. “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
34. “A life not lived for others is not a life.”
35. “It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.”
36. “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
37. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
38. “Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely, and the unwanted according to the graces we have received.”
39. “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
40. “Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile when it is difficult to smile.”

Mother Teresa Quotes on Selflessness and Humility

41. “We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world.”
42. “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.”
43. “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us.”
44. “Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
45. “There are no great things, only small things with great love.”
46. “God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.”
47. “I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself.”
48. “True holiness consists in doing God’s will with a smile.”
49. “Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.”
50. “Holiness is not something extraordinary; it is not for a few people. It is for everyone, for you and for me, and for those around us.”

Let me know in the comments which one resonates with you more. And if you think someone you know needs a little encouragement, send this post their way.

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