Inspiring Quotes by Mother Teresa

Live simply so others may simply live.

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones ? the ones at home.

The right to life does not depend, and must not be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign.

I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in that action.

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.

Sometimes people can hunger for more than bread. It is possible that our children, our husband, our wife, do not hunger for bread, do not need clothes, do not lack a house. But are we equally sure that none of them feels alone, abandoned, neglected, needi.

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.

Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.

We are not here to be successful, we are here to be faithful.

If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.

I fear just one thing: Money! Greed was what motivated Judas to sell Jesus.

Love cannot remain by itself it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.

If you give what you do not need, it is not giving.

Life is a challenge, we must take it.

God gives us things to share, God doesn't give us things to hold.

Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.

Jesus gives me the opportunity to feed Him by feeding those who are hungry, to clothe Him by clothing those who are naked, to heal Him by caring for those who are sick, and to offer Him shelter by housing those who are homeless and unwanted.

Do you want to do something beautiful for God? There is a person who needs you. This is your chance.

I think it is very good when people suffer. To me that is like the kiss of Jesus.

Abortion is profoundly anti-women.

Purity is the fruit of prayer.

People crave attention and appreciation more than they do bread.

If I ever become a Saint -- I will surely be one of darkness. I will continually be absent from heaven -- to light the light of those in darkness on earth.

The simplest way of becoming his light is by being kind and loving, thoughtful, and sincere with others: 'By this they will know that you are his disciples.'

The very fact that God has placed a certain soul in our way is a sign that God wants us to do something for him or her. It is not chance; it has been planned by God. We are bound by conscience to help him or her.

God didn't call me to be successful, He called me to be faithful.

When I was crossing into Gaza, I was asked at the checkpost whether I was carrying any weapons. I replied: Oh yes, my prayer books.

We have not come into the world to be numbered; we have been created for a purpose; for great things: to love and be loved.

No matter how tired you are, no matter how physically exhausting this work may be, it's beautiful to bring a smile into someone's life, to care for someone in need. What greater joy can there be?

I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people.

Holiness is not a privilege of a few but a need for all.

Holiness is not the luxury of a few people, but a simple duty for you and me.

In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.

Brothers, Fathers and Sisters -- all of us in the Missionaries of Charity are doing the same. All of us have been created by God to love and to be loved. We are involved in this work. When you do that, there is joy, unity and love.

At the moment of death we will not be judged according to the number of good deeds we have done or by the diplomas we have received in our lifetime. We will be judged according to the love we have put into our work.

Gandhi felt fascinated at knowing Christ. He met Christians, and felt let down.

Each of us is merely a small instrument; all of us, after accomplishing our mission, will disappear.

Everybody has something good inside them. Some hide it, some neglect it, but it is there.

Give love to your children, to a wife or husband, to a next-door neighbour.

People are hungry for God. What a terrible meeting it would be with our neighbour if we give them only ourselves.

The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action...If we pray the work...if we do it to Jesus, if we do it for Jesus, if we do it with Jesus...that's what makes us content.

I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor. It was an order.

One filled with joy preaches without preaching.

In reality, there is only one true prayer, only one substantial prayer: Christ himself. There is only one voice which rises above the face of the earth, the voice of Christ. Prayer is oneness with Christ.

Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness.

We have a vow to give wholeheartedly everything to the poor.

Do not worry about your career. Concern yourself with your vocation, and that is to be lovers of Jesus.

If you are looking for vocations, as a community have adoration every day. Once the Missionaries of Charity started daily adoration, their vocations doubled.

In the end, dear friend, it is always between us and God, not between us and them.

I have never found a problem with people from different religions praying together. What I have found is that people are just hungry for God, and be they Christian or Muslim we invite them to pray with us.

Therefore, even if you write a letter for a blind man or you must go and sit and listen, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody... it is never too small, for this is our love of Christ in action.

If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we are converting. We become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are. ... What God is in your mind you must accept.

I belong to Jesus. He must have the right to use me without consulting me.

Life isn't about the cherished moments it is also about the hard ones. Just knowing each day that you will arise with the bright shining sun in your eyes. And end with the cool breeze upon your face as you slowly reflect the day that passed by.

Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.

Perfect prayer does not consist in many words, but in the fervor of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus.

Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.

The Lord likes small things best, especially those done with love.

When you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love.

Every act of love is a work of peace no matter how small.

A beautiful death is for people who have lived like animals to die like angels.

I know i am touching the living body of Christ in the broken bodies of the hungry and the suffering.

He has told us that He is the hungry one. He is the naked one. He is the thirsty one. He is the one without a home. He is the one who is suffering. These are our treasures, she said, looking at the rows of pallets in the caravanserai. They are Jesus.

Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me.

If I'd never have picked up the first person, I'd never have picked up the 42,000 in Calcutta.

Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world.

When you don't have anything, then you have everything.

Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.

Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.

It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.

We have no salaries. When one says he is from a good Catholic family and says he wants to help us, why should we refuse his offer?

Every country I love and I am a child of God to love the humans.

We are now in 126 countries. We have 561 houses -- tabernacles we call them -- and over 4600 nuns. It's simply to serve the poorest of the poor. We are wanted and we have championed those who have nothing, the deprived children of God.

Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous and mortified person who forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please her God in all she does for souls. Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice and a continual union with God.

Let us be very sincere in our dealings with each other and have the courage to accept each other as we are.

We realize that what we are accomplishing is a drop in the ocean. But if this drop were not in the ocean, it would be missed.

It's only a drop in the ocean -- but the ocean wouldn't be the same without that drop.

I held the Host with two fingers and thought: How small Jesus made Himself, in order to show us that He doesn't expect great things of us, but rather little things with great love.

If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist and to Jesus... We must pray to Jesus to give us that tenderness of the Eucharist.

I 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.

The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace. And peace begins with a smile.

Faith in action is love, and love in action is service. By transforming that faith into living acts of love, we put ourselves in contact with God Himself, with Jesus our Lord.

Success will win you false friends and true enemies -- succeed anyway.

Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you.