Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, who became known the world over by the name Mother Teresa, was a missionary and nun of the Roman Catholic Church from Albania but worked in Kolkata, India for the major part of her life. She was known all over the world for having founded the Missionaries of Charity and the organisation eventually went on to have active branches in more than 100 countries. She was born in 1910 and by the time she was 18 years old, she went to Ireland in order to learn English so that she could become a teacher. She arrived in India as a teacher and after witnessing the poverty and suffering of the people in Kolkata, she started working as a missionary in 1948. Throughout her life, Mother Teresa worked tirelessly to work with the poorest of the poor and provided them with medical assistance in Kolkata as donations poured in from all across the world. She became a symbol of compassion and self-sacrifice all across the world, while at the same time some of her religious beliefs attracted criticism from certain quarters. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Here are some famous quotes by her.
Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
Mother Teresa
Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
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.
We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.
Mother Teresa
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Smile at each other. Smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other- it doesn't matter who it is- and that will help to grow up in greater love for each other.
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.
