100+ Insightful Dorothy Day Quotes to Inspire Change
Dorothy Day was a prominent American social activist known for her passionate advocacy for the poor and her deep spiritual convictions. Her words continue to resonate with many, capturing the essence of her life's work, her commitment to social justice, and her unwavering faith. This article delves into some of the most inspiring quotes from Dorothy Day, dividing them into thematic sections that reflect her multifaceted perspectives on life, work, faith, love, community, and activism. From humility and compassion to perseverance and radical change, Dorothy Day's quotes provide timeless wisdom and motivation, offering insight into the inner workings of a woman who dedicated her life to serving others and making the world a better place.
"The greatest challenge of the day is how to bring about a revolution of the heart."
"Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up."
"We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other."
"Where there is no love, put love, and you will find love."
"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least."
"Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up."
"True love is delicate and kind, full of gentle perception and understanding. It is beautiful and without violence."
"Love casts out fear, but we have to get over the fear in order to get close enough to love them."
"I have found the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
"Love is a mystery that should be unraveled gently."
"To love with passion is to elevate love to the highest degree."
"Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service."
"Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system."
"If we were to say that we want a peaceful country, we would have to do away with poverty."
"The world will be saved by beauty."
"People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time."
"No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There's too much work to do."
"We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community."
"To change the world we must be good to those who cannot repay us."
"We must practice the presence of God every moment of our lives in order to learn to see his face and halo in every man and woman."
"We must talk about poverty because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it."
"Our lives are made up of a series of moments that become our memories."
"All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, ‘I am the way.’"
"We cannot build up the idea of the apostolate of the laity without the foundation of the liturgy."
"Compassion is a verb."
"There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life."
"The final word is love."
"The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must be kind and gentle."
"Our faith is stronger than death, our philosophy is firmer than flesh, and the spread of the Kingdom of God upon Earth is more sublime and more compelling."
"We must always serve the truth, and the truth of the matter is we were saving souls."
"As we come to know Jesus more and more intimately, we will see his face in every human being."
"Just as music has the power to move hearts, so does a humble heart move the heavens."
"The only force sufficient to conquer evil is love."
"Only truth enlightens the soul, granting wisdom and compassion."
"Love accepts, it universalizes. It believes and walks gently with another."
"Faith is the door through which salvation comes into our lives."
"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community."
"We cannot build up the idea of the apostolate of the laity without the foundation of the liturgy."
"Our rule is the works of mercy, it is the way of sacrifice, worship, a sense of reverence."
"To build community requires vigilant love and constant sacrifice."
"You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you."
"We are all members, one of another, and are inevitably connected."
"The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away."
"A good community is one in which the people don't want to leave."
"Community is founded on the ability to forgive; that is the heart of love."
"Christians have never lacked for models of faith and of community partnership."
"Faith and community are intertwined – one grows in the grace of the other."
"Society is in eclipse and transformation is needed; the first light is in community."
"The best things to do with the best things in life is to give them away."
"We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs."
"If your brother is hungry, you feed him. You don’t meet him at the door and say, ‘Go be thou filled’."
"True service is a willing surrender to comfort others even at cost to yourself."
"Feet must move continually nearer to those needing love."
"Who else but me, right now?"
"To serve the poor is to love the poor."
"One must serve and give without counting the cost."
"The gospel takes away our right forever to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor."
"Service requires humility and persistence, these are its silent allies."
"Help us to see ourselves as builders, sowing in hope, plowing in expectation of continued growth."
"To serve others is to fulfill our greatest responsibility."
"Poverty is not the lack of something, but the want of something more."
"Helping the poor is a way of helping God."
"If each of us would own only what we need, then the world would be a place of peace and abundance."
"The more often we allow ourselves to lose with the poor and rid ourselves of worldly comfort, the more we begin to gain spiritual wealth."
"Poverty calls us to depend on God, to trust Him more than we trust our own strength."
"Too long have we been waiting for justice to be done. We need to make it happen ourselves."
"The more we own, the more we have to lose."
"Being poor is a daily fight, a struggle that unites us across boundaries."
"Through poverty, we see the world with eyes renewed by gratitude and trust."
"In the aching midst of hunger and need, we find our deepest strength."
"Poverty is the human struggle, an essential part of human dignity."
"It is a rare heart that can bear the vastness of poverty, and a rarer soul that chooses its company willingly."
"Peace begins with a smile."
"Let us then, seek peace through nonviolence to end war."
"We plant the seeds of peace now, for the blossoms of light tomorrow."
"Our path is peace; even as small streams meet to make great rivers."
"By bringing joy to others, we take the first step towards peace."
"The beacon of peace is always on; it's only waiting for us to approach."
"Peace is not something you wish for; it is something you make."
"In the tender quiet of peace, one finds the stirrings of God's own voice."
"True peace is born amidst adversity, shaped by understanding"
"To make peace, one must have the vision to look beyond personal interest."
"Peace is a continuous journey, not a destination."
"One must enter into God's peace to make peace with the world."
"Whatever kind of power is given to us we must learn to use it with humility."
"The humble have an easier life, the world beats them gently."
"We choose humbleness when we honestly attribute all our achievements to God's grace."
"Humility is the solid foundation to all virtues."
"Into the economy of going without, we carve an artful existence of humility."
"There's no guarantee of reward, and that's what makes the humble heart grow."
"In every humble moment, there lies a special grace available only to those willing to receive it."
"Let others praise you, and smile heartfully."
"Humility stands not in thinking less of yourself, but in thinking of yourself less."
"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength towards others with dignity."
"When we recognize our own smallness on a cosmic level, humility enters like a calming wave."
"The humbling act of bending the knee is both a spiritual act and an art form for growth."
"Work is love made visible."
"We are workers, but not master builders, ministers, not messiahs."
"The work that one wants can often transform into work that others need."
"Work done with love and care is a form of prayer."
"Let your work be a reflection of your love, and it will resonate deeply."
"Find the gift that is you through the expression of your work."
"Loving work becomes the greatest form of art one can truly achieve."
"Whatever you do, let it become your calling, let it become larger than yourself."
"Every day is a new canvas, and our work is the brush marked by passion and purpose."
"The way to find your vocation is to discover where your deep gladness intersects with the needs of the world."
"What you do will be a testament of service and touch many lives."
"There's no higher form of work than the work done in the love and joy of community service."
"We live in a world that is constantly changing, but change from within is the most radical."
"The only way to create change is through constant transformation of thought into action."
"Speak to the soul and inspire the mind; only then will you see the clause of transformative change."
"Courage is to take that step into the unknown, for all radical change must start from within."
"To endure and not struggle against change is to rob the very fabric of life its destiny."
"True radicalism means walking hand in hand with uncertainty while igniting the sparks of possibility."
"Radical change often requires a willingness to disrupt, to be inconvenienced, to challenge the norm."
"The seeds of change grow in the soil of disruption and fertile imaginations."
"In radical change, we find our beliefs challenged and our hearts broken open to newer truths."
"Anticipating not just the need for change, but initiating and cooperating with inevitability to transform."
"Only those willing to take the hard road of radical change achieve the highest peaks of progress."
"Revolution stems from the deepest corners of our own willingness to change continually."
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