Who really said it

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway

Q: Did Mother Teresa say "People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway"?

No. The line is the opening of Kent M. Keith's "The Paradoxical Commandments," written in 1968 for a student-leadership booklet at Harvard. Keith's original reads "People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway" — the popular "forgive them anyway" form is a later paraphrase. It reached Mother Teresa's name because a version hung on a wall at her Calcutta children's home and was reprinted in a 1995 book about her; she did not write it.

Not Mother Teresa — actually Kent M. Keith Kent M. Keith b. 1949 · American writer & former student leader

Disputed In copyright

The line is the opening of Kent M. Keith’s “The Paradoxical Commandments,” written in 1968 for a student-leadership booklet at Harvard. Keith’s original reads “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway” — the popular “forgive them anyway” form is a later paraphrase. It reached Mother Teresa’s name because a version hung on a wall at her Calcutta children’s home and was reprinted in a 1995 book about her; she did not write it.

Last verified 14 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway” Kent M. Keith, "The Paradoxical Commandments" (1968) — often misattributed to Mother Teresa

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Mother Teresa. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Kent M. Keith (© 1968, renewed 2001)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Kent M. Keith — American author, lawyer & former student leader. Theme: "People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Work: The Paradoxical Commandments
Author: Kent M. Keith
First written: 1968 (© 1968, renewed 2001)
Popular form: “Anyway” paraphrase, circulated 1990s

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

Keith’s original 1968 first commandment. The widely shared “People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway” is a reworded later variant of this line.

Quote Investigator: “Do Good Anyway” — the Paradoxical Commandments

How we verified this

Kent M. Keith wrote the ten “Paradoxical Commandments” in 1968 for a student-leadership booklet; his original opening line is “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway” (paradoxicalcommandments.com).
Quote Investigator traces the Mother Teresa misattribution to a 1995 book, A Simple Path (compiled by Lucinda Vardey), which printed the lines under “Anyway” with a note that they came “from a sign on the wall of Shishu Bhavan, the children’s home in Calcutta.”
Wikiquote files the “Anyway” poem under Misattributed, calling it “a variant or paraphrase of The Paradoxical Commandments, by Kent M. Keith.”

In copyright

“The Paradoxical Commandments” was written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 and carries his copyright (renewed 2001), so it is in copyright in the United States. The anonymous “forgive them anyway” rewording is a derivative variant of that copyrighted work, not a separately sourced older text.

Fact-check

How Mother Teresa got the credit

This is one of the most durable inspirational misattributions online. The words are Kent M. Keith’s, and even the familiar “forgive them anyway” wording is a paraphrase of what he actually wrote.

Mother Teresa Misattributed

A version of Keith’s commandments hung on a wall at Shishu Bhavan, her Calcutta children’s home, and was reprinted in the 1995 book A Simple Path with only a “sign on the wall” note — so readers assumed she authored it (Quote Investigator).

The exact wording Paraphrase

Keith’s original 1968 line is “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.” The “often… forgive them anyway” form is a later, altered variant (paradoxicalcommandments.com).

Dempsey Byrd, Howard Ferguson & E. T. Gurney Also misattributed

Before Mother Teresa, Quote Investigator documents the lines being credited to a school administrator (1972), a wrestling coach (1981), and a name in an Ann Landers column (1983) — a pattern of anonymous reprinting (QI).

The author is Kent M. Keith, who wrote “The Paradoxical Commandments” in 1968 — confirmed by Quote Investigator and Wikiquote.

Context

Why the mix-up stuck

Mother Teresa was a natural magnet for the poem: it preaches selfless perseverance, and it literally hung on a wall in one of her homes. Once a compiler printed it in a book about her with nothing but a “sign on the wall” note, the leap from “displayed by Mother Teresa” to “written by Mother Teresa” happened fast and never reversed.

Keith, meanwhile, had written the lines as a 19-year-old and largely lost track of them. He only learned they had become world-famous — under other people’s names — decades later, and reclaimed them in his 2001 book Anyway.

She hung it on a wall; the internet decided she wrote it.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Kindness Wisdom

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Origin: Do Good Anyway — The Paradoxical Commandmentsquoteinvestigator.com

Definitive origin trace: Keith 1968, and the chain of misattributions including Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa — Misattributeden.wikiquote.org

Files the “Anyway” poem as misattributed and identifies Kent M. Keith as author.

The Paradoxical Commandments (official)paradoxicalcommandments.com

Keith’s own site with the authoritative ten-commandment text and 1968 copyright.

Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments (book)amazon.com

Keith’s 2001 book reclaiming and expanding the commandments under the title “Anyway.”

Kent M. Keith quotesgoodreads.com

Collected form of the commandments credited to their actual author.

The real author

Kent M. Keith

b. 1949 · American author, lawyer & former student leader

Kent M. Keith wrote “The Paradoxical Commandments” in 1968 as a Harvard sophomore, for a booklet aimed at student-council leaders. The list circulated for decades — often anonymously or misattributed — before Keith rediscovered its fame and reclaimed authorship in his 2001 book Anyway. He has since written and spoken widely on ethical leadership and finding personal meaning.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Kent M. Keith, “The Paradoxical Commandments,” in The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Student Agencies, 1968); © Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway’?” Last verified 14 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/people-are-often-unreasonable-illogical-and-self-centered