August 26th 2010 marked the birthday of Mother Teresa. She would have been 100 on this day. This article is to pay tribute to such an eminent personality, who taught us not only compassion but also humility, love and service to others. She was truly an epitome of service to the world. One of the personalities in modern day who I look up to and have learned so much from.

Two learning incidents:

1. Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sirkar met the Mother Teresa several times in the 15 years he had been the Bishop of Krishnanagar. One incident is clearly etched in his mind. “We had gone to a church in Behrampore, where a young mediaperson was trying to capture a video footage of Mother. He was walking backwards holding the camera, when suddenly, his slippers came off. We had not noticed anything amiss, but Mother knelt down, picked up his slippers and told him to wear them,” recalled the Archbishop. “The youth was so embarrassed about Mother touching his footwear, he ran off. But the incident opened my eyes about the Mother’s alertness to serve everybody, at any given point of time,” he added.

2. Sister Mechtilte, the 59th to join the order of Mother Teresa, still remembers the struggle of the initial days. “There were days when we had nothing to eat except rice and salt. Mother, smiling as usual, used to tell us that we will eat whatever we have. After all, that’s all many poor people get to eat for days.”

Below are a few Quotes on different Life topics by Mother Teresa:

Abortion
The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.

Actions
-It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.
-Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.

Difficult
I think I’m more difficult than critical.

Drop
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.

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

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

Forgotten
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.

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

Hunger
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

Joy
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

Judging
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Just One
If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

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

Kingly Act
It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.

Love
-Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
-Good works are links that form a chain of love.
-I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don’t 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?
-I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.
-If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
-Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
-Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.
-Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.
-Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… 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, kindness in your warm greeting.(this one is my personal favorite)
-The success of love is in the loving – it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.

Miracle
The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.

Money
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.

Moving
It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy.

Neighbor
I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?

Nobody
One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.

Paradox
I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. (another favorite)

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

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

Poverty
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.

Prayer
You say a prayer in your religion, and I will say a prayer as I know it. Together we will say this prayer, and it will be something beautiful to God.

Rushing
Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.

Silence
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. (oh another favorite)

Smile
-Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
-Smiling is our first act of love.
-Peace begins with a smile.
-Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.
-We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. (another all time favorite)

Things
There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.

Touch
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.

Unloved
It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start. (so perfectly said…)

Unwanted
The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.

Waste
There must be a reason why some people can afford to live well. They must have worked for it. I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things that we could use.

It is my humble request to all who land on this page, to spread the word of love, compassion and service to others by sharing this page and all the works you find about Mother Teresa. So much to learn for this magnanimous personality, so much to gain, so much that just keeps you thinking and so much that makes you want to get up and truly make a difference.

For more details on the life history of Mother Teresa visit the wiki page.

Please share this article by using the tweet/facebook/stumble buttons below and share your thoughts in the comments below too. How much do you know about Mother Teresa? Have you learned from her work, from her life?

With Immense Love and Gratitude,
~Zeenat~