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.

Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work -- hard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss -- loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us.

Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other. It is a sign that we dont need a lot of money to be happy in fact the opposite.

We work for peace every time we exercise authority with wisdom and authentic love.

He who is or has been deeply hurt has a RIGHT to be sure he is LOVED.

Envy comes from people's ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.

To be lonely is to feel unwanted and unloved, and therefor unloveable. Loneliness is a taste of death. No wonder some people who are desperately lonely lose themselves in mental illness or violence to forget the inner pain.

Envy comes from people’s ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.

The belly laugh is the best way to evacuate anguish.

Envy comes from peoples ignorance of or lack of belief in their own gifts.

Community is not an ideal it is people. It is you and I. In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds and their gifts not as we want them to be.

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

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

Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness.

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

Community begins in mystery and ends in administration. Leaders move away from people and into paper.

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.