jean vanier

“ As long as we remain at the level of 'doing' things for people, we tend to stay behind our barriers of superiority. ”

“ Each human being, however small or weak, has something to bring to humanity. ”

“ To be lonely is to feel unwanted and unloved, and therefore, unloveable. ”

“ I discovered something which I had never confronted before, that there were immense forces of darkness and hatred within my own heart. ”

“ All of us have a secret desire to be seen as saints, heroes, martyrs. We are afraid to be children, to be ourselves. ”

“ Love doesn't mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness. ”

“ We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. ”

“ If our own life is luxurious and wasteful, we can't approach poor people. If we love people, we want to identify with them and share with them. ”

“ A Christian community should do as Jesus did: propose and not impose. Its attraction must lie in the radiance cast by the love of brothers. ”

“ I do not believe we can truly enter into our own inner pain and wounds and open our hearts to others unless we have had an experience of God unless we have been touched by God. ”