On this day, in 1910, Mother Teresa was born. She would have been 105 today. Although she is no longer with us, she has left us a legacy that will inspire generations to come.
Her accomplishments include winning to Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, but far more important is the legacy she has left of countless people still working to alleviate poverty and suffering. Closer to home, we find in Mother Teresa the inspiration that each of us can show love and compassion in our daily lives, even – and especially – when it is difficult.
Here are 15 of Mother Teresa’s quotes to inspire us to transform ourselves into more compassionate, loving beings and to truly “be the change we want to see in the world.”
“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” ― Mother Teresa
“A life not lived for others is not a life.” ― Mother Teresa
“These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one’s self.
To mind one’s own business.
Not to want to manage other people’s affairs
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one’s dignity.
To choose always the hardest.” ― Mother Teresa
“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality.” – Mother Teresa
“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” ― Mother Teresa
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ― Mother Teresa
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” ― Mother Teresa
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” ― Mother Teresa
“Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.” ― Mother Teresa
“Intense love does not measure it just gives. ” ― Mother Teresa
“The greatest science in the world; in heaven and on earth; is love.” ― Mother Teresa
“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.” ― Mother Teresa
“Never be so busy as not to think of others.” ― Mother Teresa
When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Prize, she was asked, “What can we do to promote world peace?” She answered “Go home and love your family.”
“In the West we have a tendency to be profit-oriented, where everything is measured according to the results and we get caught up in being more and more active to generate results. In the East – especially in India – I find that people are more content to just be, to just sit around under a banyan tree for half a day chatting to each other. We Westerners would probably call that wasting time. But there is value to it. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving – it is not in the result of loving. ” – Mother Teresa
What quotes have inspired you to be more loving? Share one in the comments that inspires me and I’ll send you a gift!
