“Our community life is beautiful and intense, a source of life for everyone. People with a handicap experience a real transformation and discover confidence in themselves; they discover their capacity to make choices, and also find a certain liberty and above all their dignity as human beings. The young and those less young, single and married, those with and without formal education, who commit on their part for a year or longer, they too experience a real transformation; they discover a place that gives meaning to their lives and their capacity to love and live out compassion and give life to others. The essence of our communities is this "living with". We are called, certainly, to serve with all our ability and to help those who are weaker to develop, but the foundation of this helping is found in friendship and the communion of hearts, which allows us all to grow.”

Jean VANIER, Il y a 40 ans, La Vie, 2005 [Translation]