21 Famous & Inspirational Quotes By "Mother Teresa" That Will Make Your Day & Achieve Big in Life

Mother Teresa was born in the Republic of Macedonia's capital, Skopje, in 1910. She felt compelled to become a nun and serve the impoverished from a young age. She was given permission to join a congregation of nuns in Ireland when she was 18 years old. With the Sisters of Loreto, She was given permission to travel to India after a few months of training. In 1931, she professed her monastic vows and adopted the name St. Therese of Lisieux, the patron saint of missions.

When she first arrived in India, she worked as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of Calcutta left an indelible impression on her, prompting her to found a new order known as "The Missionaries of Charity." The main goal of this mission was to look after people who no one else was willing to look after.

In Calcutta, she went through two extremely painful periods. The first was the Bengal famine in 1943, and the second was the Hindu-Muslim riots in 1946, both of which occurred prior to India's split. She left the convent in 1948 to live full-time among Calcutta's poorest. She wore a white Indian sari with a blue border as a nod to the country's traditional attire.

She founded her first home for the dying in 1952. Her work became famous all over the world. In 2013, 700 missions were active in over 130 countries. Orphanages and hospices for persons with terminal illnesses were added to their list of projects.

Mother Teresa struggled with health issues for the last two decades of her life, yet nothing could stop her from carrying out her purpose of assisting the poor and needy. She was involved in traveling around the world to different chapters of The Missionaries of Charity until her terminal illness. She met Princess Diana in the Bronx, New York, during her later years. They both died within a week.

Awards:

·    In 1971, The Kennedy Prize and the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize.

·    In 1972, The Nehru Prize – “for the promotion of understanding and international peace”

·    In 1975, Albert Schweitzer International Prize

·    In 1975, The Nobel Peace Prize

·    In 1985, The States Presidential Medal of Freedom

·    In 1994, Congressional Gold Medal and U Thant Peace Award

·   On November 16, 1996, Honorary citizenship of the United States

 1. “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”

2. “Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service .”

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

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

5. “I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”

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

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

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

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

10. “I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.”

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

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

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

14. “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.”

15. “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

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

17. “‎Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

18. “Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it.”

19. “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.”

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

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