Quotessence
Home / Authors / Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day Quotes

Journalist

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleMenIfsPoorWorldBelieveWayChristCommunityThinking

Famous Dorothy Day Quotes

“When we have spiritual reading at meals, when we have the rosary at night, when we have study groups, forums, when we go out to distribute literature at meetings, or sell it on the street corners, Christ is there with us.”

SpiritualNightReadingLiteratureChristStudyGroupsStreetsSellsMeetingsCornersMealsForumsRosaryStreet CornersSpiritual ReadingStudy Group
Book:Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with Dorothy Day
Create image

“Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other's faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much.”

PeopleIfsWantLoveGivingHeartEnoughProblemLightSeemsSufferingWishMy OwnSinLove IsFireToo MuchSacrificeBearsSolutionsHatredGive MeFaultsCome UpBurdenGreat ThingsClarityBad PeopleLove Each OtherBurn Out
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“What we would like to do is change the world - make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do....We can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing that we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend.”

PeopleWorldWellsHeartLittlesJoyCertainCan DoEnemyPleaseDearNeighborCirclesAround The WorldCellsRepeatsChanging The WorldShelterLove Each OtherPondsBe ConfidentPebblesDear GodOasis
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“We want no revolution; we want the brotherhood of men. We want men to love one another. We want all men to have what is sufficient for their needs. And now - strange thought - the devil has so maneuvered that the people turn from Him because those who profess Him are clothed in soft raiment and sit at well-spread tables and deny the poor.”

PeopleMenWantNeedsWellsTurnsPoorStrangeRevolutionDevilTablesDenySpreadSufficientBrotherhoodWant MeLove One AnotherBrotherhood Of Man
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“I do not know how to love God except by loving the poor. I do not know how to serve God except by serving the poor.... Here, within this great city of nine million people, we must, in this neighborhood, on this street, in this parish, regain a sense of community which is the basis for peace in the world.”

PeopleKnowsWorldCommunityPoorCitiesMillionsKnow HowStreetsBasesNineGod LoveNeighborhoodServingServing GodGreat CitiesHow To LoveParish
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“Advent is a time of waiting, of expectation, of silence. Waiting for our Lord to be born. A pregnant woman is so happy, so content. She lives in such a garment of silence, and it is as though she were listening to hear the stir of life within her. One always hears that stirring compared to the rustling of a bird in the hand. But the intentness which which one awaits such stirring is like nothing so much as a blanket of silence.”

HandsWaitingBornSilenceLordListeningBirdExpectationsPregnantOur LordBlanketGarmentsStirringAdventPregnant Women
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“How necessary it is to cultivate a spirit of joy. It is a psychological truth that the physical acts of reverence and devotion make one feel devout. The courteous gesture increases one's respect for others. To act lovingly is to begin to feel loving, and certainly to act joyfully brings joy to others which in turn makes one feel joyful. I believe we are called to the duty of delight.”

FeelsBelieveJoySpiritTurnsI BelieveKindnessDutyIncreaseDelightDevotionPsychologicalReverenceGesturesJoyfulRespecting OthersCourteous
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image

“If I did not believe, if I did not make what is called an act of faith (and each act of faith increases our faith, and our capacity for faith), if I did not have faith that the works of mercy do lighten the sum total of suffering in the world, so that those who are suffering on both sides of this ghastly struggle somehow mysteriously find their pain lifted and some balm of consolation poured on their wounds, if I did not believe these things, the problem of evil would indeed be overwhelming.”

IfsWorldBelieveProblemPainSufferingEvilSidesStruggleCapacityMercyIncreaseWoundsOverwhelmingHave FaithBoth SidesConsolationGhastlyProblem Of Evil
Author:Dorothy Day
Create image