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Jean Vanier Biography

Jean Vanier, CC, GOQ, born September 10, 1928, is a Canadian Catholic philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. In 1964 he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries, for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. Subsequently, in 1971, he co-founded Faith and Light with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, which also works for people with developmental disabilities, their families, and friends in over 80 countries. He continues to live as a member of the original L'Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, France.

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Jean Vanier Quotes

But let us not put our sights too high. We do not have to be saviours of the world! We are simply human beings, enfolded in weakness and in hope, called together to change our world one heart at a time. (163)

Change, Heart, Our World, Sight, Simply, Weakness

Many people are good at talking about what they are doing, but in fact do little. Others do a lot but don't talk about it; they are the ones who make a community live.

Community, Fact, Good, People, Talking

A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly.

Approach, Difficulty, Grace, Humanly, Signals

Love doesn't mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.

Knowing, Love, Mean, Tenderness, Things

A community that is growing rich and seeks only to defend its goods and its reputation is dying. It has ceased to grow in love. A community is alive when it is poor and its members feel they have to work together and remain united, if only to ensure that they can all eat tomorrow!

Ceased, Community, Defend, Dying, Rich, Working Together

One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't as individuals.

Community, People, Things, Way, Welcome

We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things by themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that is shining in them.

Crush, Life, Light, Love, Shining

We don’t know what to do with our own pain, so what to do with the pain of others? We don’t know what to do with our own weakness except hide it or pretend it doesn’t exist. So how can we welcome fully the weakness of another if we haven’t welcomed our own weakness?

Except, Know, Pain, Pretend, Weakness, Welcome

The people with the best sense of what is essential to a community, of what gives and maintains its spirit, are often doing very humble, manual tasks. It is often the poorest person - the one who has a handica[p, is] ill or old - who is the most prophetic. People who carry responsibility must be close to them and know what they think, because it is often they who are free enough to see with the greatest clarity the needs, beauty and pain of the community.

Enough, Humble, Pain, Responsibility, See, Think

We cannot grow spiritually if we ignore our humanness, just as we cannot become fully human if we ignore our spirituality.

Grows, Humans, Ignore, Spirituality, Spiritually

Look at your own poverty welcome it cherish it don't be afraid share your death because thus you will share your love and your life

Cherish, Life, Looks, Poverty, Welcome

To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.

Beauty, Importance, Love, Shows, Worth

When we judge, we are pushing people away; we are creating a wall, a barrier. When we forgive we are destroying barriers, we come closer to others.

Creating, Forgive, Forgiveness, Pushing, Wall

A society which discards those who are weak and non-productive risks exaggerating the development of reason, organisation, aggression and the desire to dominate. It becomes a society without a heart, without kindness - a rational and sad society, lacking celebration, divided within itself and given to competition, rivalry and, finally, violence.

Given, Heart, Kindness, Organisation, Reason, Risk

A community is only a community when the majority of its members are making the transition from 'the community for myself' to 'myself for the community'.

Community, Majority, Making, Members, Transition

Every human activity can be put at the service of the divine and of love. We should all exercise our gift to build community.

Community, Divine, Exercise, Gift, Love

Stop looking for peace. Give yourselves where you are. Stop looking at yourselves, look instead at your brothers and sisters in need. Ask how you can better love your brothers and sisters. Then you will find peace.

Ask, Brother, Giving, Instead, Love, Love You

Love is to recognize that the other person is a person, is precious, is important and has value.

Important, Love, Love Is, Person, Persons, Value

I do not believe we can truly enter into our own inner pain and wounds and open our hearts to others unless we have had an experience of God, unless we have been touched by God. We must be touched by the Father in order to experience, as the prodigal son did, that no matter how wounded we may be, we are loved. And not only are we loved, but we too are called to heal and to liberate. This healing power in us will not come from our capacities and our riches, but in and through our poverty. We are called to discover that God can bring peace, compassion and love through our wounds.

Believe, Come, Father, Order, Pain, Son

'Going home' is a journey to the heart of who we are, a place where we can be ourselves and welcome the reality of our beauty and our pain. From this acceptance of ourselves, we can accept others as they are and we can see our common humanity.

Common, Heart, Home, Pain

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