Community begins in mystery and ends in administration. Leaders move away from people and into paper. — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
So many in our world today are suffering from isolation, war and oppression. So much money is spent on the construction of… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
Community means caring: caring for people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: "He who loves community destroys community; he who loves the brethren builds community."… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
Communion is mutual trust, mutual belonging; it is the to-and-fro movement of love between two people where each one gives and each… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
So we need places, laboratories, the creation of places which could be each one of our homes, where we invite people who… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
Every human activity can be put at the service of the divine and of love. We should all exercise our gift to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
In any case, community is not about perfect people. It is about people who are bonded to each other, each of whom… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community as caring . . . So many people enter groups in order to develop a certain form of spirituality or to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community and cooperation . . . Communion is based on some common inner expression of love; it is the recognition of being… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community as forgiveness . . . Too many people come into community to find something, to belong to a dynamic group, to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other.… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A society which discards those who are weak and non-productive risks exaggerating the development of reason, organisation, aggression and the desire to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
When people love each other, they are content with very little. When we have light and joy in our hearts, we don't… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A growing community must integrate three elements: a life of silent prayer, a life of service and above all of listening to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“At the same time, however, the necessity for economic change in our countries has led us to conceive laws and accept traditions… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
It is my belief that in our mad world where there is so much pain, rivalry, hatred, violence, inequality, and oppression, it… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Maybe today some people see opposition between, on the one hand, a seemingly barren, old, institutional church, cut off from the world,… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“In community, people let down barriers; appearances and masks disappear. But this is not easy. Many people have built up their personalities… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
The response to war is to live like brothers and sisters. The response to injustice is to share. The response to despair… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“A community is only being created when its members accept that they are not going to achieve great things, that they are… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
The people with the best sense of what is essential to a community, of what gives and maintains its spirit, are often… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Belonging is for becoming . . . if for some reason it becomes stifling, then the person may have to take the… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community, a place of healing and growth . . . There are more and more groups today oriented towards issues and causes… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community as openness . . . Communities are truly communities when they open to others, when they remain vulnerable and humble; when… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community as belonging . . . Each person with his or her history of being accepted or rejected, with his or her… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Sympathies and antipathies . . . Human friendships can very quickly become a club of mediocrities, enclosed in mutual flattery and approval,… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community, a place of healing and growth . . . When people enter community, especially from a place of loneliness in a… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community as belonging . . . In many groups of people and clubs of all sorts (political, sports, leisure, liberal professions, etc.)… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“If community is for growth of the personal consciousness and freedom, and not just for the collective consciousness, with the security it… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
People are longing to rediscover true community. We have had enough of loneliness, independence and competition. — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Community is not an ideal; it is people. It is you and I. In community we are called to love people just… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
True peace can rarely be imposed from the outside; it must be born within and between communities through meetings and dialogue and… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A Christian community should do as Jesus did: propose and not impose. Its attraction must lie in the radiance cast by the… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A community which refuses to welcome - whether through fear, weariness, insecurity, a desire to cling to comfort, or just because it… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
When people love each other, they are content with very little. When we have light and joy in our hearts, we don't… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
People may come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A community is only a community when the majority of its members are making the transition from 'the community for myself' to… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
When we start helping the weak and the poor to rise everyone will begin to change. Those who have power and riches will start… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
...Individualistic material progress and the desire to gain prestige by coming out on top have taken over from the sense of fellowship, compassion and… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
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… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
People are longing to rediscover true community. We have had enough of loneliness, independence and competition. — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
The person in misery does not need a look that judges and criticizes but a comforting presence that brings peace and hope and life… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
All of us have a secret desire to be seen as saints, heroes, martyrs. We are afraid to be children, to be ourselves. — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
To be free is to put justice, truth and service to others over and above our personal gain or our need for recognition, power,… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
If we love (the poor) people, we want to identify with them and share with them. — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
“Sympathies and antipathies . . . Human friendships can very quickly become a club of mediocrities, enclosed in mutual flattery and approval, preventing people… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
A community is only a community when the majority of its members are making the transition from 'the community for myself' to 'myself for… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
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… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image
But let us not put our sights too high. We do not have to be saviours of the world! We are simply human beings,… — Jean Vanier Copy Share Image