--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the Catholic Worker we must try to…" description: "\"In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the intellectual approach of St. D..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg" --- # In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary… ![“In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the intellectual approach of St. Dominic, the easy conversations about things that matter of St. Philip Neri, the manual labor of St. Benedict.” quote by Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg) > “In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the intellectual approach of St. Dominic, the easy conversations about things that matter of St. Philip Neri, the manual labor of St. Benedict.” [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates combining spiritual virtues of various saints into a holistic social ethic. **In simple terms:** Blend saintly virtues for a complete life. Key Takeaway Integrate compassion, intellect, and labor. Themes charity voluntary poverty intellectualism community work Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - activism - community building - personal spiritual practice - education - social work Key Concepts Christian ethics social activism holistic living Questions to Reflect On - How can you embody each virtue without burnout? - Which virtue resonates most with you now? A Different Perspective Balancing all aspects can be overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Charity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charity/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Manual labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manual-labor/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [St benedict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/st-benedict/) [Things that matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-that-matter/) [Workers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workers/) ## Related quotes > [I think of the Catholic worker movement and Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin and others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-claiborne/i-think-of-the-catholic-worker-movement-and-dorothy-day-and-peter/) [Shane Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-claiborne/) > [Coming from a working-class background, where my father did manual labor, was a good grounding; I was obsessed with getting a job or getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-marr/coming-from-a-working-class-background-where-my-father-did-manual/) [Johnny Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-marr/) > [There are moments when art attains almost to the dignity of manual labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-moments-when-art-attains-almost-to-the-dignity-of-manual/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I thought Manual Labor was a Mexican golf pro.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-trevino/i-thought-manual-labor-was-a-mexican-golf-pro/) [Lee Trevino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-trevino/) > [When we of the so-called better classes are scared as men were never scared in history at material ugliness and hardship; when we put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/when-we-of-the-so-called-better-classes-are-scared-as-men-were-never/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There wasn't much white people would allow us to do in those days. You could be a schoolteacher or an athlete to get away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-aaron/there-wasn-t-much-white-people-would-allow-us-to-do-in-those-days-you/) [Hank Aaron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-aaron/) > [Any manual labor I've done was purely by mistake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-manual-labor-i-ve-done-was-purely-by-mistake/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Painting is manual labor, no different from any other; it can be done well or poorly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/painting-is-manual-labor-no-different-from-any-other-it-can-be-done/) [George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/) > [Whenever you see some business person quoted complaining about how he or she can't find workers with the necessary skills, ask what wage they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/whenever-you-see-some-business-person-quoted-complaining-about-how-he/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [Balance Sheets are meaningless. Our accounting systems are still based on the assumption that 80% of costs are manual labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/balance-sheets-are-meaningless-our-accounting-systems-are-still-based/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [At the classical origins of philosophic thought, the transcending concepts remained committed to the prevailing separation between intellectual and manual labor to the established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/at-the-classical-origins-of-philosophic-thought-the-transcending/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [As the only class distinction available in a democracy, the college degree has created a caste society as rigid as ancient India's. Condemning elitism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/as-the-only-class-distinction-available-in-a-democracy-the-college/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [I like manual labor. Whenever I've got waterlogged with study, I've taken a spell of it and found it spiritually invigorating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-like-manual-labor-whenever-i-ve-got-waterlogged-with-study-i-ve/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [We can't hire out our own inner work, but we can do the manual labor with delight and decency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/we-can-t-hire-out-our-own-inner-work-but-we-can-do-the-manual-labor/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [Syzygy, inexorable, pancreatic, phantasmagoria - anyone who can use those four words in one sentence will never have to do manual labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-p-kinsella/syzygy-inexorable-pancreatic-phantasmagoria-anyone-who-can-use-those/) [W. P. Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-p-kinsella/) ## More by Peter Maurin > [In the first centuries of Christianity the hungry were fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a personal sacrifice, the homeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/in-the-first-centuries-of-christianity-the-hungry-were-fed-at-a/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The world would be better off if people tried to become better. And people would become better if they stopped trying to become better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-world-would-be-better-off-if-people-tried-to-become-better-and/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The world would become better off If people tried to become better. And people would become better If they stopped trying to become better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-world-would-become-better-off-if-people-tried-to-become-better/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [If we are crazy, then it is because we refuse to be crazy in the same way that the world has gone crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/if-we-are-crazy-then-it-is-because-we-refuse-to-be-crazy-in-the-same/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The future will be different if we make the present different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-future-will-be-different-if-we-make-the-present-different/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [I want a change, and a radical change. I want a change from an acquisitive society to a functional society, from a society of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/i-want-a-change-and-a-radical-change-i-want-a-change-from-an/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [“Modern society calls the beggar bum and panhandler and gives him the bum's rush. But the Greeks used to say that people in need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/modern-society-calls-the-beggar-bum-and-panhandler-and-gives-him-the/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The scholars must become workers so the workers may be scholars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-scholars-must-become-workers-so-the-workers-may-be-scholars/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The world would be better off if people tried to become better, And people would become better if they stopped trying to be better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-world-would-be-better-off-if-people-tried-to-become-better-and-2/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [The coat that hangs in your closet belongs to the poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/the-coat-that-hangs-in-your-closet-belongs-to-the-poor/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) > [What we give to the poor for Christ's sake, is what we carry with us when we die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/what-we-give-to-the-poor-for-christ-s-sake-is-what-we-carry-with-us/) [Peter Maurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) [Explore all 12 Peter Maurin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/) ## More Approach quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [I don't have any particular method, my approach is very simple. I try to understand the emotional graph of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-don-t-have-any-particular-method-my-approach-is-very-simple-i-try/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything, every part that you approach has to be somehow rooted in yourself. You have to somehow root everything so that it's not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/everything-every-part-that-you-approach-has-to-be-somehow-rooted-in/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The whole secret to mastering the game of golf - and this applies to the beginner as well as the pro - is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/the-whole-secret-to-mastering-the-game-of-golf-and-this-applies-to/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with... the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-essence-of-christianity-is-an-ever-new-encounter-with-the-god-who/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [What begins as a Utopian vision, always - always - ends in bloodshed. Because you have to force a utopia on a free people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/what-begins-as-a-utopian-vision-always-always-ends-in-bloodshed/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) [Browse all 3,949 Approach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the intellectual approach of St. Dominic, the easy conversations about things that matter of St. Philip Neri, the manual labor of St. Benedict.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Maurin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-have-the-voluntary-poverty-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Approach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-have-the-voluntary-poverty-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/462/peter-maurin-37750_approach_in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-ha_2420486.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent…” — Peter Maurin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Peter Maurin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the Catholic Worker we must...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-have-the-voluntary-poverty-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurin/in-the-catholic-worker-we-must-try-to-have-the-voluntary-poverty-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```