Mother Teresa on Doing Small Things with Great Love

This is a transcript from episode #48 of the Let the Verse Flow Podcast.

Mother Teresa on Doing Small Things with Great Love

My best friend ends her emails with this wonderful quote by Mother Teresa:

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

I think the first part of this quote, “We can do no great things” is best understood in the context of Mother Teresa’s faith. It’s a nuanced thought that doesn’t suggest that she was downplaying the things that we could achieve, but perhaps the size of our achievements in the context of her great faith in God and the powers of a being greater than ourselves. 

In that context, our achievements would seem less great than a higher power’s, but then she moves on to the meat of the quote. That we do “small things with great love.” We share the love in our hearts and move about the world connecting to others, and while our acts of kindness may seem small, they grow to be great through the intention of love.

In a world where I would argue we are at risk of losing our acceptance of nuanced ideas, where many things are reduced to small snippets, sound bytes, absolutes, and even out-of-context quotes from famous people, let’s stop for a moment to explore these ideas in more depth because I think these “small things with great love” are a way forward in 2025. A way toward coming together. I’ll explain.

There are several reasons why “the small things with great love” rings true, why the small gesture trumps the big one, and it has to do with sustainability. It’s easier to sustain small gestures of kindness or love to others than to think up and implement grander ones. You can also spread them around more readily and to more people because they are small. You can give a smile to 20 passersby to brighten up their day; while it may be harder to have a bigger impact on one deserving stranger. You can mail out a thank you or “just because” card to two friends in much less time than it would take to throw them an elaborate party. There are two parts to sustaining this “doing small things with great love.” One is recognizing and stoking the flame of our heart’s capacity to love. I think we do that by staying true to ourselves, pursuing our purpose, and engaging in our passions.

When I’m writing poetry, getting daily exercise, meditating, and eating well, it takes much less energy and fewer internal resources to feel charity in my heart and give to others. I’m happy in those moments and by extension, it’s easier to share that happiness with others. With each purposeful endeavor I undertake, I build my heart’s capacity to give to others. Mother Teresa devoted her life to giving, selfless acts, and charity. 

Called Saint Teresa of Calcutta, she was known worldwide for her acts of kindness to the poor, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and focused her efforts on caring for the sick and dying, the homeless. She established schools to educate impoverished children and set up shelters to help abandoned or orphaned children. Calling from her faith, she believed that these acts of kindness were her way of living out her faith. She believed in faith in action. 

People of my generation used to talk about her a lot. During her life, she was a visible, tangible symbol of charity and love. That was her journey; I often ask myself about my journey:

“What will my kindness journey be like?

How will I make my small but mighty mark on the world through love and kindness?”

These are questions worth asking because if you can believe that your actions have meaning and that they impact the world (even in a small way), you empower yourself to accomplish new goals, make new connections and be more present in the moment. 

When I smile at a passerby on the streets of NY, more times than not I get a smile back. A warm smile – oh yes, we New Yorkers know how to smile. Try it for yourself and see the power of your smile. See its effect on someone else. Observe for yourself what the effect is of letting people know you see them. That they matter enough to warrant your smile. Their smile back will warm you and that small connection can make the day a better one.

So, whether it’s through art-making, exercise, meditation, connecting with nature, journaling, or any of the other creative self-care activities that I talk about on this podcast, the time and attention to fulfilling our purpose pays off big dividends in sustaining our heart’s capacity to keep doing small things with great love. Sustaining that is easier when we are drinking from the nourishing well of fulfillment.

Because I love water so much, I often picture this heart-filled capacity to give as a well or ocean but use any metaphor that resonates with you as long as you recognize that doing what lights you up makes spreading that light easier and more sustainable.

The other faucet to sustaining this giving and doing with great love is the way it makes us feel. When we do things for others or give meaningfully to them, we enrich our inner selves and often feel a sense of gratitude wash over us. Someone’s reaction to our giving is its own reward, and it helps nurture and sustain our giving because we know we will feel better for having done it. 

Beyond sustainability, these small acts have the potential to bring change in the world, in small steps for sure, but nonetheless, to help us impact the world right around our boundaries. The people we pass on the street, those we sit next to on the bus or ride the elevator with. The people we work with, our friends and family, and strangers who may be supported by charitable organizations we give to.

Every year I give to the Bowery Mission. It’s a nonprofit here in the city that provides meals for homeless or hungry people. Homelessness and hunger are two of the scariest notions to me, and seeing people without shelter or food as I have for much of my life, has had a lasting impact on my charity. While I can’t afford to give millions of dollars, you can’t tell me that the thousands that I’ve given over the years don’t have an impact.

Those small gifts of say $100 or $200 once or twice a year have fed many people. Those people know that others have given to them because of what a good job the Bowery Mission does to build a bridge and connect homeless and hungry people with other people living in NYC who want to help. The people served know that donations from others provide the meals they are eating and the people giving, like myself, know something about the people they are helping to feed through the organization’s newsletter and communications. We are strangers, but yet we aren’t. We are connected, and my small giving comes from great love, a capacity I have in common with those who receive meals at the Bowery Mission. This great love is an equalizer, and very necessary in this world.

In a world where we can feel disconnected from, and afraid of each other, it’s that inner voice that says, “share what you have” or “give a little to help someone else get to a better place” that we most need to connect to. I don’t have to impact the world as a whole, or view my giving or doing in that huge context, I can focus on a small, helping path and know that my actions still have meaning. And because they are small and sustainable, they live on for years. I have been giving to the Bowery Mission for at least 20 years. Each small gift has had its own impact.

And it doesn’t have to be money, smiles, hugs, listening to someone else, holding the door. They all have an impact. I have a clear example of this in my life as a caregiver. Years ago, when I was just getting to know my partner, Arthur, I used to push him in his wheelchair at times and wondered why it was so difficult for people to hold the door for us to make it a bit easier for us to get into a building. It wasn’t that they owed us this, but it seemed just as easy sometimes to hold the door open for us as it was to let it shut in our faces.

Invariably that would happen a few times and sour my mood a bit. Almost as soon as my face turned sour, here would come someone who would not only open the door for us but would spread so much sunshine with their gestures and words, that it would positively impact the rest of our day. These people became my focus. I have a joke with Arthur that when someone cuts us off or doesn’t hold the door open for us, it means that we are going to meet a ray of sunshine that day. It doesn’t happen every single time like that, but most times there are warm and caring people who do try to help out. Not because they should or have to, but because they do small things with great love (and it shows all over their faces).

That is our impact, our gift to the current messed-up state of the world. We may need to narrow our scope, hone in on our essential gifts, and de-emphasize the size of our actions, but when they are done with a loving heart, these smaller actions combine and have a greater impact. So sometimes these acts are a form of charity. And charity is a self-affirming act that gives us as much back as we give to others.

In addition to being sustainable, these small actions can help us feel empowered in a world with complex problems – climate change, mental health issues, homelessness, social inequality, and economic struggle. How can we tackle these huge issues? I would argue by trying to chip away at them with small, sustainable actions.

• We can conserve water in our homes and reduce our reliance on plastic.
• We can listen to friends and offer support when they are experiencing emotional turmoil.
• We can temper our prejudice by actively reminding ourselves of the ways we are more alike than different. That might sound small, but it’s better than just complaining. 

Those actions translate into new ways of doing, seeing, and being in the world, and I believe they have the power to contribute to a better world. Particularly when it comes to mental health and social inequity, connection is a key ingredient.

In what small ways can we reconnect with each other around a common cause, idea or interaction?

We can reduce isolation this way too. I recently started taking some classes to learn new vocal skills, and connecting to others with similar interests has opened me up to see my potential in new and exciting ways. Those connections offer some protection for my mental health by lightening my mood and helping me feel like I belong.

25 Small Gestures of Giving That Make a Difference

To give you a place to start, here are 25 small gestures of giving that you can do today. Listen to the music and my words and know that you can take any small action today to make a difference.

1. Send a card or letter to let someone know you care 
2. hug someone, a bear hug makes a big impression
3. add to a tip jar and remember when every penny counted
4. share a smile cause it costs you nothing
5. reuse something and take pride in a smaller footprint
6. donate to Goodwill cause everyone goes there
7. share a sandwich to ease a growling belly
8. Buy someone a morning cup of coffee, 
9. hold the door cause it’s the right thing to do
10. say “yes” to a friend
11. give a compliment and watch the spark fly 
12. give up a seat cause someone needs it more than you
13. listen to someone and try not to fix it
14. send a gift, one curated with love
15. ask someone to share a story
16. read a book to a child, 
17. volunteer to clean up a beach, 
18. say a slow, meaningful “thank you” to someone, 
19. leave a surprise gift on someone’s desk at work, 
20. text a friend to check in, just because
21. make a piece of art, then share it, 
22. run an errand for someone who’s shut-in
23. Drive someone home
24. Carry an elderly person’s groceries
25. Show up to support a friend

Add to this list, perhaps keep a list of your top 5 in your mind so that you can dip into it from time to time and do something nice for someone else. As a caregiver, I often work to remember myself too – what small things can I give to myself that will make a difference? If I don’t fill up my cup from time to time, I will have nothing to give others. 

Journal Prompts to Reflect on Small Kind Actions with Big Impact!

Here are some journal prompts to write or reflect on as you consider the wonderful ways you can take small kind actions – that have a big impact!

I believe that each one of us impacts the world more than we know and when we worry that we aren’t doing too much, or feel too overwhelmed to give, we can dip into our list of small but mighty ways of giving and remind ourselves that we don’t need grand gestures, small ones will do nicely. When you have given small things with great love, reflect on how it makes you feel. I’ll bet that it brings you ever closer to the bright side of the beat.🌞

Podcast Music: My thanks to all the musicians who make incredible music and have the courage to put it out into the world. All music and sound effects for my podcast are sourced and licensed for use via Soundstripe.

Songs in this podcast episode: Penny Slots by GEMM; Slide by GEMM; Ronkonkoma Sisters by Sam Barsh; Pyaar Kee Seemaen by Cast of Characters

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