Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Speech ·63 of 348
"Do small things with great love. — Mother Teresa"
They never said that.
What people say
"Do small things with great love. — Mother Teresa"
What was actually said
"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Mother Teresa — Address at Harvard, 9 June 1982
Why it stuck
The modern quote flattens a two-sentence conditional into a standalone imperative. The "not all of us can do great things" is what makes the second sentence land.
She repeated the two-sentence form many times in letters. The one-sentence version is the Instagram form.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.