Skip to Content

130 Greatest Mother Teresa Quotes For A Better World

130 Greatest Mother Teresa Quotes For A Better World

Get ready to be touched by the warmth of her words and the power of a life devoted to uplifting others with the most inspirational Mother Teresa quotes!

Top 10 Mother Teresa Quotes

1. “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” — Mother Teresa

A black and white image of smiling Mother Teresa representing the greatest Mother Teresa quote

2. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” — Mother Teresa

3. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” — Mother Teresa

4. “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” ― Mother Teresa

5. “Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” — Mother Teresa

6. “Good works are links that form a chain of love.” — Mother Teresa

7. “And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love…” ― Mother Teresa

8. “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.” ― Mother Teresa

9. “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” — Mother Teresa

10. “How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.” — Mother Teresa

Inspiring Quotes About Life By Mother Teresa

1. “Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it.” — Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa sitting outdoors and smiling representing an inspiring Mother Teresa quote

2. “A life not lived for others is not a life.” — Mother Teresa

3. “Yes, you must live life beautifully and not allow the spirit of the world that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure make you to forget that you have been created for greater things.” — Mother Teresa

4. “Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is Life, fight for it!.” ― Mother Teresa

5. “Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” ― Mother Teresa

6. “Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best.” — Mother Teresa

7. “Live simply so others may simply live.” — Mother Teresa

8. “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature — trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls. ” ― Mother Teresa

9. “Let 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 Teresa

10. “When you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love.” ― Mother Teresa

11. “God doesn’t require us to succeed, he only requires that you try.” — Mother Teresa

12. “The simple path — silence is prayer, prayer is faith, faith is love, love is service, the fruit of service is peace.” ― Mother Teresa

13. “The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family.” — Mother Teresa

14. “The best way to succeed in life is to act on the advice we give to others.” ― Mother Teresa

15. “Keep the corners of your mouth turned up. Speak in a low, persuasive tone. Listen; be teachable. Laugh at good stories and learn to tell them…For as long as you are green, you can grow.” ― Mother Teresa

16. “Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life.” ― Mother Teresa

17. “If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.” ― Mother Teresa

18. “Keep the joy of loving God in your heart today and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family.” ― Mother Teresa

19. “The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. But we are perfectly happy.” ― Mother Teresa

20. “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” — Mother Teresa

See also: 100 Tomorrow Is Not Promised Quotes To Seize The Day

Mother Teresa Quotes About Love

1. “Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.” — Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa standing in a prayer

2. “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” — Mother Teresa

3. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” — Mother Teresa

4. “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

5. “People are unrealistic, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.” — Mother Teresa

6. “Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.” ― Mother Teresa

7. “Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.” — Mother Teresa

8. “Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.” — Mother Teresa

9. “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” — Mother Teresa

10. “Joy is a net of love in which you can catch souls.” — Mother Teresa

11. “I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather He will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did?” ― Mother Teresa

12. “I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” — Mother Teresa

13. “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.” — Mother Teresa

14. “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” — Mother Teresa

15. “The greatest science in the world; in heaven and on earth; is love.” ― Mother Teresa 

16. “We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.” — Mother Teresa

17. “Intense love does not measure it just gives. ” ― Mother Teresa

18. “Work without love is slavery.” — Mother Teresa

19. “Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.” ― Mother Teresa

20. “True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray to God and ask Him to give us the courage to love.” — Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa Charity Quotes 

1. “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” — Mother Teresa

2. “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” — Mother Teresa

3. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.” — Mother Teresa

4. “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.” — Mother Teresa

5. “The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.” — Mother Teresa

6. “I know I am touching the living body of Christ in the broken bodies of the hungry and the suffering.” — Mother Teresa

7. “Love is not patronizing and charity isn’t about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same — with charity you give love, so don’t just give money but reach out your hand instead.” ― Mother Teresa

8. “Give, but give until it hurts.” ― Mother Teresa

9. “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.” — Mother Teresa

We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” ― Mother Teresa

10. “Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.” ― Mother Teresa

11. “Hungry for love, He looks at you. Thirsty for kindness, He begs of you. Naked for loyalty, He hopes in you. Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks of you. Will you be that one to Him?” ― Mother Teresa

12. “Everything that is not given is lost.” ― Mother Teresa

13. “I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me, and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.” ― Mother Teresa

14. “Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely, and the unwanted according to the graces we have received, and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” ― Mother Teresa

15. “God gives us things to share, God doesn’t give us things to hold…” ― Mother Teresa

16. “A way of satisfying our brethrens’ hunger is to share with them whatever we have – to share with them until we ourselves feel what they feel.” ― Mother Teresa

17. “Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” — Mother Teresa

18. “Today somebody is suffering, today somebody is in the street, today somebody is hungry… We have only today to make Jesus known, loved, served, fed, clothed, sheltered. Do not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will not have them if we do not feed them today.” ― Mother Teresa

19. “Helping hands are better than Praying Lips.” — Mother Teresa

20. “The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd, but it’s the logic of love.” ― Mother Teresa

Wise Quotes By Mother Teresa

1. “Some people come in our life as blessings. Some come in your life as lessons.” ― Mother Teresa

See also: 200 Greatest Life Lessons Quotes To Live Your Best Life

2. “Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.” ― Mother Teresa

3. “We fear the future because we are wasting today.” — Mother Teresa

4. “There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things.” ― Mother Teresa

5. “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” ― Mother Teresa

6. “‎Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” — Mother Teresa

7. “Poverty was not created by God. It is we who have caused it, you and I through our egotism.” — Mother Teresa

8. “One of the realities we’re all called to go through is to move from repulsion to compassion and from compassion to wonderment.” — Mother Teresa

9. “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” — Mother Teresa

10. “When you don’t have anything, then you have everything.” ― Mother Teresa

11. “Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.” ― Mother Teresa

12. “When a poor person dies of hunger it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.” ― Mother Teresa

13. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” ― Mother Teresa

14. “We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world.” ― Mother Teresa

15. “The problem with the world is that we draw the circle of our family too small.” ― Mother Teresa

16. “Loneliness is the leprosy of the modern world.” ― Mother Teresa

17. “Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.” ― Mother Teresa

18. “The greatest mistake is to think you are too strong to fall into temptation. Put your finger in the fire and it will burn. So we have to go through the fire.” ― Mother Teresa

19. “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa

20. “The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence. The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence. Silence gives us a new perspective.” ― Mother Teresa

See also: 80 Move In Silence Quotes To Make You Think Like A Winner

Mother Teresa Quotes About Peace

1. “We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.” — Mother Teresa

2. “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ― Mother Teresa

3. “Peace begins with a smile.” — Mother Teresa

4. “I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is ‘Abortion’ because it is a war against the child… A direct killing of the innocent child, ‘Murder’ by the mother herself… And if we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” — Mother Teresa

5. “In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.” ― Mother Teresa

6. “I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me.” ― Mother Teresa

7. “However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.” ― Mother Teresa

8. “If now we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten how to see God in one another.” ― Mother Teresa

9. “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace.” ― Mother Teresa

10. “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” ― Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa Quotes On Goodness And Kindness

1. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” — Mother Teresa

2. “I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.” — Mother Teresa

3. “The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.” — Mother Teresa

4. “If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.” — Mother Teresa

5. “Sometimes a good feeling from inside is worth much more than a beautician.” ― Mother Teresa

6. “Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness” ― Mother Teresa

7. “I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.” ― Mother Teresa

8. “Be kind and merciful. 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

9. “They may see the good you do as self-serving. Continue to do good. They may see your generosity as grandstanding. Continue to be generous. They may see your warm and caring nature as a weakness. Continue to be warm and caring. For, you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It never was between you and them, anyway.” ― Mother Teresa

10. “Joy is a sign of generosity. When you are full of joy, you move faster and you want to go about doing good to everyone.” ― Mother Teresa

See also: 80 Inspiring Quotes On Joy To Turn Your Frown Upside Down

Mother Teresa Quotes About Prayers 

1. “I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.” — Mother Teresa

2. “If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If we love, we will serve.” ― Mother Teresa

3. “Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.” — Mother Teresa

4. “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” — Mother Teresa

5. “I do not pray for success; I ask for faithfulness.” — Mother Teresa

6. “If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.” ― Mother Teresa

7. “Prayer is the mortar that holds our house together.” ― Mother Teresa

8. “Prayer makes your heart bigger until it is capable of containing the gift of God himself. Prayer begets faith, faith begets love, and love begets service on behalf of the poor.” ― Mother Teresa

9. “If our bones were not sending whispers of doubt to our hearts, there would be no need for prayer at all.” ― Mother Teresa

10. “The first requirement for prayer is silence. People of prayer are people of silence.” ― Mother Teresa

Uplifting Quotes By Mother Teresa

1. “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” — Mother Teresa

2. “When you have nothing left but God, you have more than enough to start over again.” ― Mother Teresa

3. “One filled with the joy preaches without preaching.” — Mother Teresa

4. “But still, everything is for Jesus; so like that everything is beautiful, even though it is difficult.” ― Mother Teresa

5. “If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.” — Mother Teresa

See also: Top 220 Happy Quotes For Instagram To Spread Good Vibes

6. “We must never forget that we are bound toward perfection and should aim ceaselessly at it.” ― Mother Teresa

7. “The Lord likes small things best, especially those done with love.” ― Mother Teresa

8. “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” — Mother Teresa

9. “If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.” — Mother Teresa

10. “Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best.” ― Mother Teresa

See also: 400 Quotes About Failure That Teach Valuable Life Lessons

Final Thoughts

This collection of Mother Teresa quotes is truly a testament to the belief that even the smallest gestures of love, sharing, and kindness can leave such a great mark on the world. 

Hope they inspired you to live a more meaningful and compassionate life!

130 Greatest Mother Teresa Quotes For A Better World