Quote of the day by Mother Teresa: 'If you want to change the world, go home and love your family' - An important teaching on the power of love and family

Mother Teresa is remembered for dedicating her life to people living in poverty, but one of her quotes points to a much closer place to begin making a difference first and that is, ones own home. The quote of the day, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family,” connects the idea of helping humanity with the everyday relationships people often take for granted.

The quote is often attributed to Mother Teresa, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work among the poor. However, the popular phrasing is a paraphrase of a longer section of her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway on December 11, 1979.

Mother Teresa’s Nobel Peace Prize speech

Mother Teresa said in her address that prayer and faith can inspire people to care for others. She described a progression from developing compassion within the home to extending it to neighbours, one's country and the wider world.


“And so, my prayer for you is that truth will bring prayer in our homes, and from the foot of prayer will be that we believe that in the poor it is Christ. And we will really believe, we will begin to love. And we will love naturally, we will try to do something. First in our own home, next door neighbor in the country we live, in the whole world.”

Her words placed the family at the beginning of a wider responsibility towards society. Rather than treating compassion as something reserved for charitable work or extraordinary acts, this passage connected it with the way people approach their everyday lives.

Meaning behind the quote

The message of the quote is that concern for the world can begin with the people closest to us. Supporting a family member, showing patience during disagreements and making time for loved ones are ordinary actions, but they reflect the same consideration that people may wish to extend to strangers.

The quote also questions the idea that changing the world has to be done from a public platform, with money or a position of influence. Big things can be done to fix social issues, but the feeling with Mother Teresa's words appreciates the smaller decisions that people make in their own little worlds.

From teaching in Calcutta to serving the poorest

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in what is now Skopje, North Macedonia. She joined the Sisters of Loreto at 18 and relocated to India. From 1931 to 1948 she taught at St Mary's High School, Calcutta (now Kolkata).

The poverty and misery she saw outside the school finally made her ask permission to leave teaching, and to work among the poorest people of the city. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order devoted to the care of poor, sick or otherwise needy people.

The organisation’s roots were in India, but soon spread across countries on different continents. Her work earned her worldwide acclaim, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She died in 1997 and was declared as St Teresa of Calcutta by the Catholic Church in 2016.