Jean Vanier Short Quotes

25 Sourced Quotes

View all Jean Vanier Quotes
Every act of violence is also a message that needs to be understood.

Jean Vanier
There is nothing stronger than a heart which loves and is freely given.

Jean Vanier
The strong need the weak in order to become more human, more compassionate.

Jean Vanier
To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.

Jean Vanier
Every human being is a mixture of light and darkness, trust and fear, love and hate.

Jean Vanier
To live with Jesus is to live with the poor. To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.

Jean Vanier
Life is a succession of crises and moments when we have to rediscover who we are and what we really want.

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

Jean Vanier
A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly.

Jean Vanier
To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren't afraid, that we have a treasure of truth and of peace to share.

Jean Vanier
There is that little compass within each one of us where we know what is right, what is just, what is good, what is true.

Jean Vanier
Every human activity can be put at the service of the divine and of love. We should all exercise our gift to build community.

Jean Vanier
I am struck by how sharing our weakness and difficulties is more nourishing to others than sharing our qualities and successes.

Jean Vanier
The friend of time doesn't spend all day saying: 'I haven't got time.' He doesn't fight with time. He accepts it and cherishes it.

Jean Vanier
When we love and respect people, revealing to them their value, they can begin to come out from behind the walls that protect them.

Jean Vanier
Look at your own poverty welcome it cherish it don't be afraid share your death because thus you will share your love and your life

Jean Vanier
If we are to grow in love, the prisons of our egoism must be unlocked. This implies suffering, constant effort and repeated choices.

Jean Vanier
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.

Jean Vanier
When we judge, we are pushing people away; we are creating a wall, a barrier. When we forgive we are destroying barriers, we come closer to others.

Jean Vanier
People may come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that they themselves are poor.

Jean Vanier
True peace can rarely be imposed from the outside; it must be born within and between communities through meetings and dialogue and then carried outward.

Jean Vanier
The cry for love and communion and for recognition that rises from the hearts of people in need reveals the fountain of love in us and our capacity to give life.

Jean Vanier
Prayer is like a secret garden made up of silence and rest and inwardness. But there are a thousand and one doors into this garden and we all have to find our own.

Jean Vanier
Many people are good at talking about what they are doing, but in fact do little. Others do a lot but don't talk about it; they are the ones who make a community live.

Jean Vanier
When we begin to believe that there is greater joy in working with and for others, rather than just for ourselves, then our society will truly become a place of celebration.

Jean Vanier
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.

Jean Vanier
In any case, community is not about perfect people. It is about people who are bonded to each other, each of whom is a mixture of good and bad, darkness and light, love and hate.

Jean Vanier
Our danger is to think that happiness will come from outside of us, from the things we possess or the power of our group, and not from within us, from the inner sanctuary of our being.

Jean Vanier
Put on light-coloured clothes and some perfume, take care of your body and do everything you can to fight against the forces of darkness. It is not an easy struggle, but it is worthwhile.

Jean Vanier
Each person is sacred, no matter what his or her culture, religion, handicap, or fragility. Each person is created in God's image; each one has a heart, a capacity to love and to be loved.

Jean Vanier