A Simple Path by Mother Teresa (1995)

TL;DR; It is a small part biography of Mother Teresa, and the people at the Missionary of Charity; and part advise and perspective mostly about Prayer, Faith, Love, Service and Peace. The book opens with "The Simple Path":

The fruit of silence is Prayer.
The fruit of prayer is Faith.
The fruit of faith is Love.
The fruit of love is Service.
The fruit of service is Peace.

While it seems simple, life in general is hard. and suffering is real. All the more for people at the lowest circumstance of society. Mother Teresa acknowledged this, put it in perspective an offered a helping hand.
There are five sufferings-physical, mental, emotional, financial, spiritual-and any of all these come into play at some point, where you are the suffering recipient of love or the giver of love to the sufferer. All suffering is perceived as sacrifice.
If you accept suffering and offer it to God, that gives you joy. Suffering is a great gift of God; those who accept it willingly, those who love deeply, those who offer themselves know its value.
Being there for the poor and the sick, she wrote
Doing little things with great love
On Prayer
Prayer feeds the soul-as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul-and it brings you closer to God.
And that we are all equal to God
I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic.
On Faith
Faith ... is ... virtue infused in the soul. [...] Faith is a gift of God and grows through prayer, as do hope and love-and those are the three main virtues of the interior life.
And that we educate ourselves as well.
As saint Augustine said, 'Fill yourselves first and the only will you be able to give to others'
On Love and Charity
As Gandhi said, 'Act, but seek not the fruit of your actions'
Charity and love are the same-with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.
True Love, Without Conditions and Expectations
Love has no meaning if it isn't shared. Love has to be put into action. You have to love without expectation, to do something for love itself, not for what you may receive. If you expect something in return, then it isn't love, because true love is loving without conditions and expectations.
Love is in Being Present 
Love is expressed first in being with, before doing to something. [...] If our actions do not first come from the desire to be with a person, then it really becomes just social work. [...] Service is in a way, a means of expressing you being for that person.
Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving-it is not in the result of loving.
And in Service
Prayer in action is Love, and love in action is service.
[A senator asked 'There are so many problems, Can you ever be successful at what you do-isn't it hopeless to try?] Well, senator, we're not always called to be successful but we're always called to be faithful.
[A volunteer's testimony] you become less vulnerable when you concern yourself with other people's vulnerability rather than your own. We've found that when we're fully involved with others, we haven't really got time to worry about our own fears-and so they fall into perspective.
Remember doing little things with great love:
We're just pebbles being thrown into the sea and causing ripples, and one ripple can be made by one small act of service and that is the start of many, isn't it?
You may just find your purpose and fulfillment, and that 
By forgetting yourself, you find yourself
Finally, a text displayed in one of the houses for the Missionaries of Charity, titled "Anyway"

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered
Love them anyway
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives
Do good anyway
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies
Succeed anyway
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow
Do good anyway
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable
Be honest and frank anyway
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight
Build anyway
People really need help, but may attack you if you help them
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth,
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

A Biography of Pope Francis is also an inspiring read:


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