Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

Mother Teresa (1910–1997), founder of the Missionaries of Charity, frequently used simple, concrete images to express her conviction that charity is always possible, even amid poverty and suffering. This line circulates widely in collections of her sayings and in devotional literature associated with her public talks and spiritual counsel from the late 20th century. The metaphor of “fruit in season” reflects her emphasis on love as a practical act—available in ordinary moments and accessible to anyone, not reserved for the powerful or the spiritually elite. However, the precise occasion and first publication of this exact wording are difficult to pin down from commonly cited references.

The metaphor presents love as something natural, nourishing, and perpetually “in season,” countering the idea that compassion depends on special circumstances or emotional readiness. By adding “within reach of every hand,” the quote democratizes moral action: love is not the privilege of saints or the affluent but an ever-available choice expressed through small deeds—attention, patience, service, forgiveness. The line also implies urgency and responsibility: if love is always accessible, then withholding it is less excusable. In Mother Teresa’s moral vision, the simplest acts of care become a universal vocation and a practical remedy for loneliness and neglect.