Pope Benedict XVI Quotes

To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!

Suffering! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues.

Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.

God wants you to live for others and to live that presence well.

All of our energy should be in sacrifice and services. Suffering, at least.

Infinitely more important than sharing one's material wealth is sharing the wealth of ourselves - our time and energy, our passion and commitment, and, above all, our love.

I wish for a world where success is measured not by what we take nor by what we get. Just by what we give. And who we become.

All missionaries, younger and older, serve with the sole hope of making life better for other people.

Whatever your cause, whatever your motivation, I hope you'll agree with me that volunteer service is an extraordinary gift.

When we stop thinking about ourselves, when we stop being so devoted to 'me,' we can start behaving in a way that actually benefits others!

I want to be that person who could sacrifice everything for others.

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.

The highest of distinctions is service to others.

Mother Teresa was asked what was the meaning of life, and she said to help other people, and I thought, 'What a strange thing to say' - but maybe it's the right thing to say.

It's kind of bittersweet. The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.

True religion... is giving and finding one's happiness by bringing happiness into the lives of others.

I didn't want readers to think I was asking to be praised for taking care of my wife while she was ill. Lots of people are heroic, more heroic than I was, when faced with the suffering of someone they love.

Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, pawned a part of their narcissism.

Helping others isn't a chore; it is one of the greatest gifts there is.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others.

The great majority of people are calm, resourceful, altruistic or even beyond altruistic, as they risk themselves for others. We improvise the conditions of survival beautifully.

I profoundly feel that the art of living is the art of giving. You're fulfilled in the moment of giving, of doing something beyond yourself.

The feeling of being accepted and acknowledgement and recognition and fame - I'm vain like everybody else. The feeling of achievement that I've helped the poor or somebody in need far outweighs the money.

Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity and remorse?