Peace Begins With A Smile

This brief statement is attributed to Teresa in her book In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories & Prayers (New World Library), which contains a fuller version: "Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you really don't want to smile at; do it for peace." The condensed form "Peace begins with a smile" appears on page 13 of that collection and is one of the better-sourced short quotes attributed to her. It reflects her practical, small-act philosophy: that peace is built through individual acts of kindness rather than through political structures.