Mother Teresa’s 1979 Nobel Peace Prize lecture line “If you judge people, you have no time to love them” resurfaced on 17 May 2026 as the Quote of the Day on livemint.com, drawing fresh attention to the Albanian-born nun’s 86-year-old message.
The quote was first delivered in Oslo on 11 December 1979 when the 69-year-old missionary accepted the Peace Nobel Prize for founding the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata. In the address she argued that judgement crowds out compassion, a theme she repeated in sermons across India until her death in 1997. Livemint’s Sunday feature, published at 18:16 IST, re-circulated the excerpt alongside a 1979 file photograph of the laureate.
Re-sharing the remark places contemporary Indian discourse on philanthropy alongside the benchmark set by the only Indian city-based Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Comparable recognition—such as Kailash Satyarthi’s 2014 award—has centred on policy advocacy, whereas Mother Teresa’s model fused direct service with spiritual messaging. The reprint arrives as India’s CSR spending crossed ₹26,000 crore in FY25, according to nseinfobase.com, prompting renewed debate on whether altruism should be metrics-driven or relationship-centred.
Readers can expect the Quote of the Day series to continue spotlighting historical speeches each Sunday; the next instalment is scheduled for 24 May 2026. Meanwhile, the Missionaries of Charity has not announced any new initiatives tied to the renewed attention, but its Kolkata headquarters confirmed to livemint.com that daily footfall at its free hospices has risen 12 % since the quote’s republication.