Celebrate Mother Teresa’s 115th Birth Anniversary With 25 Inspiring Quotes On Love, Service, And Compassion

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On August 26, the world remembers Mother Teresa, born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 whose legacy of compassion continues to touch millions. Her life was defined not by grand gestures but by quiet, persistent acts of love through the Missionaries of Charity.

Her words, often simple but profoundly moving, continue to guide generations. On her 115th birth anniversary, here are 25 quotes from Mother Teresa, paired with reflections that show why they remain so relevant today.

Mother Teresa Quotes On The Power of Small Things

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

A reminder that consistency, not scale, shapes character and love.

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

Her philosophy distilled: it is love, not size, that defines impact.

"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love."

Even the everyday can carry profound meaning when infused with kindness.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Love Without Boundaries

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

Love is not a destination but a habit to carry everywhere.

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

Help does not require abundance, just willingness.

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."

Change begins when individuals take responsibility.

"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."

Her deep conviction that every person deserves dignity.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Smiles, Kindness, and Connection

"Peace begins with a smile."

The simplest gesture of unity and comfort.

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

A smile, to her, was both prayer and service.

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

The smallest words of care may carry the greatest weight.

"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."

Relationships are built not on power but on warmth.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Faith And Perseverance

"I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness."

For her, faith was about resilience, not recognition.

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

Love deepens in sacrifice.

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

An intimate reflection of struggle with faith and duty.

"Good works are links that form a chain of love."

She viewed service as part of a greater collective effort.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Poverty Beyond Material Need

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger... than the person who has nothing to eat."

Highlighting emotional deprivation as the deepest poverty.

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."

Love and belonging are as essential as food and shelter.

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."

She believed that healing hearts was as vital as feeding bodies.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Belonging and Humanity

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

A call for unity across differences.

"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."

Every effort matters, no matter how small.

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

She saw herself as a vessel of something greater.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Living in the Present

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

An urging to live and act in the present.

"We fear the future because we are wasting today."

A powerful nudge toward mindfulness and purpose.

Mother Teresa Quotes On The Foundation of Love

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

Charity and kindness begin closest to us.

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives."

The truest love knows no calculation.

Mother Teresa Quotes On Why These Words Still Resonate

Mother Teresa's quotes remind us that compassion need not be complex. Whether through a smile, a kind word, or caring for just one person, her legacy is proof that love has the power to ripple outward, shaping communities and lives. On her birth anniversary, revisiting her words is an invitation to act.