Empowered by Love: The Top 20 Inspiring Quotes of Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa, also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was a Catholic nun who dedicated her life to serving the poor and sick. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation dedicated to helping the poorest of the poor, and her selfless and compassionate work earned her numerous accolades, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

In addition to her humanitarian work, Mother Teresa was also known for her wisdom and inspiring words. 

Search for your favorite quote by mother Teresa in English from our list below.

A collection of Mother Teresa quotes that have been carefully handpicked from all aspects of her life to provide you with daily motivation and to help build your spiritual thoughts.

In today’s world, happiness is the highest “virtue.” Regrettably, the world teaches us that happiness can be bought, sold, and even exploited.

We find it easier to love those who are unfamiliar with us and vice versa, but Mother Teresa believes that love isn’t truly fulfilled until we accept the imperfections and failures of those closest to us. Love must require sacrifice and selflessness in order to be truly loved. We must give our family the best of ourselves.

Mother Teresa’s Life Story

Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa, was an Albanian Roman Catholic missionary and nun who spent the majority of her life in Kolkata, India.

Mother Teresa’s father died unexpectadily when she was eight years old. Teresa grew up quite close to her mother. As a devout Catholic who taught her the value of charity. Teresa had decided to devote her life to religion when she was 12 years old. She became a member of a religious order dedicated to education and taught for 20 years.

She arrived in India as a teacher and began working as a missionary in 1948. But her life was drastically changed after witnessing the poverty and suffering of the people in Kolkata and she decided to leave the convent and live among the poorest of the poor.

She had to beg for food alongside others she was attempting to assist because she had no income or plan, and at times she was attacked with rocks for her religious views. She never give up and continue her work.

As she opened hospices for orphans and the dying, her reputation grew. She became known for her bravery, persistence, and sacrifice. Mother Teresa worked diligently throughout her life in Kolkata, providing medical help to the poorest of the poor as donations flowed in from all over the world.

Until her death in 1997, she worked and advocated for the world’s poorest people. Her charitable missionaries have expanded from 13 to over 5000 serving in over 130 countries. Mother Teresa is still remembered as a symbol of compassion and humanity. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Let these quotes from Mother Teresa guide your everyday decisions and show you the way to lead with gentleness and love.

More Quotes from Mother Teresa

Here are 20 of her most empowering quotes to help you find strength and inspiration in your own life:

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

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier..kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile”
― Mother Teresa

“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

“The best way to show love is to give it away.”
― Mother Teresa

“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
― Mother Teresa

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

“I am a little flower trying to spread fragrance around me wherever I am.” 
― Mother Teresa

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
― Mother Teresa

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
― Mother Teresa

“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

“I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody.”
― Mother Teresa

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.”
― Mother Teresa

“ Helping hand is better than praying lips.”
― Mother Teresa

“ If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.”
― Mother Teresa

“ It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. Bring love into your home, for this is where our love for each other must begin.”
― Mother Teresa

“The child is the beauty of God present in the world, that greatest gift to a family. ”
― Mother Teresa

“ Love cannot remain by itself… it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
― Mother Teresa

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

“I am a little nobody, but God can do great things with me if I let Him.”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

“ Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love..”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

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

“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

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

“I want you to be concerned about your next-door neighbor. Do you know your next-door neighbor?”
― Mother Teresa

“What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight; build it anyway”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

“Don’t treat people as bad as they are, treat them as good as you are.”
― Mother Teresa

“It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.”
― Mother Teresa

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mother Teresa’s words are a testament to the power of compassion and selflessness, and her life and work continue to inspire and empower people all over the world. Whether you’re facing a challenge or simply looking for inspiration, these quotes can help you find the strength and courage to make a positive difference in the world.