“When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why people are hungry, they call me a Communist.”

— Dorothy Day

Dom Helder Camara, Brazilian archbishop, as quoted in Peace Behind Bars : A Peacemaking Priest's Journal from Jail (1995) by John Dear, p. 65; this is a translation of "Quando dou comida aos pobres chamam-me de santo. Quando pergunto por que eles são pobres chamam-me de comunista."
Variant translations:
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why are they poor, they call me a Communist.
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.
Misattributed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Dorothy Day55

Social activist 1897–1980

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