Words to Live By
Copyright 2001 David Stewart
"The real tragedy of life is not being limited to one talent, but in failing to use that one talent." Edgar Watson Howe
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself." Henry Ward Beecher
"It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable." Moliere
"The Latter-day Saints, I hold, will be held to stricter accountability than any other people on the face of the earth. Men wonder why we have suffered and been persecuted so much in the past. I think it was partly because of our hardness of heart. Not that the men who persecuted us were justified in so doing. They were tested and tried, the Lord left them their agency and they brought themselves under condemnation because of their conduct. But we never had anything descend upon us as a persecution or scourge that has not been intended for our good; and we are held to a stricter accountability than any other people because we have the Gospel taught unto us." George Q. Cannon, JDS 15:110
"The decisions we make, individually and personally, become the fabric of our lives. That fabric will be beautiful or ugly according to the threads of which it is woven. I wish to say particularly to the young men who are here that you cannot indulge in any unbecoming behavior without injury to the beauty of the fabric of your lives. Immoral acts of any kind will introduce an ugly thread. Dishonesty of any kind will create a blemish. Foul and profane language will rob the pattern of its beauty." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1995
"There isn't any way to cheat nature, to bypass law, to run away from life. The commandments haven't been repealed; the laws of morality, the spiritual laws, the laws of life are still in force and effect. " Richard L. Evans, CR, October 1969, p. 67
"Does the law of gravity exist? Does it have effect in your life? If you jump from a high place, will your body not fall? Can you defy gravity? Can you step outside of its control? Does the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ exist? Does it have effect in your life? If you disobey its limits and conditions, will your spirit not fall? Can you defy the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can you step outside its control?" William R. Bradford, Ensign, November 1988
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:15
"The effects of our actions may be postponed, but they are never lost. There is an inevitable reward for good deeds and an inescapable punishment for bad." Fu Wu Ming
"He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determine the end." Harry Emerson Fosdick
"We must always be careful to avoid the two extreme positions in ministry. One extreme is to assume all responsibility for the growth of the church. The other extreme is to abdicate all responsibility for it...The first error [is] 'practical humanism' and the second [is] 'pious irresponsibility.' Both are fatal to a church." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.58-59
"Wisdom is knowing what to do next; skill is knowing how to do it; virtue is doing it." Anonymous
"The path to success is to take massive, determined action." Anthony Robbins
"It is not what you say or hope or wish or intend but only what you do that counts. Your choices tell you unerringly who you really are." Brian Tracy
"One of the marks of superior people is that they are action oriented. One of the marks of average people is that they are talk-oriented." Brian Tracy
"Ideas become powerful only if they appear in the flesh; an idea which does not lead to action by the individual and by groups remains at best a paragraph or a footnote in a book--provided the idea is original and relevant. It is like a seed stored in a dry place. If the idea is to have influence, it must be put into the soil, and the soil is people and groups of people." Erich Fromm
"Peace of mind occurs when our actions match our beliefs." Ian Guwler
"All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action." James Russell Lowell
"Actions are the seed of Fate. Deeds grow into Destiny." A.L. Linall, Jr.
"Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them." Alfred Whitehead North
"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in." Andrew Jackson
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
"It is difficult to steer a parked car, so get moving." Henrietta Mears
"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." Henry Ford
"Concern should drive us into action and not into depression." Karen Horney
"A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do. Nothing else." Mahatma Gandhi
"Many simplistic solution for church growth are couched in such pious terms that it makes it difficult for anyone to challenge them without seeming unspiritual. Somebody needs to boldly state the obvious: Prayer alone will not grow a church. Some of the greatest prayer warriors I know are pastors and members of dying churches. Of course, prayer is absolutely essential...A prayerless ministry is a powerless ministry. But it takes far more than prayer to grow a church. It takes skilled action. One time God told Joshua to stop praying about his failure and get up and correct the cause of it instead (Joshua 7). There is a time to pray, and there is a time to act responsibly." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.58
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." Theodore Roosevelt
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned there was within me an invincible summer." Albert Camus
"One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity." Albert Schweitzer
"Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind." Aristotle
"The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper." Aristotle
"A high character might be produced, I suppose, by continued prosperity, but it has very seldom been the case. Adversity, however it may appear to be our foe, is our true friend; and, after a little acquaintance with it, we receive it as a precious thing -- the prophecy of a coming joy. It should be no ambition of ours to traverse a path without a thorn or stone." Charles Spurgeon
"Of course it's hard. It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. Hard is what makes it great." From "A League of Their Own"
"Mankind will reject and kill their prophets, but men love their martyrs and honour those whom they have slain." Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
"View a negative experience in your life like you'd look at a photo negative. A single negative can create an unlimited number of positive prints." Gerhard Gschwandtner
"Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again." Henry Ford
"We create our fate every day . . . most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior." Henry Miller
"A grindstone that had not grit in it, how long would it take to sharpen an axe? And affairs that had not grit in them, how long would they take to make a man?" Henry Ward Beecher
"Adversity, if for no other reason, is of benefit, since it is sure to bring a season of sober reflection. Men see clearer at such times. Storms purify the atmosphere." Henry Ward Beecher
"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before." James Buckham
"The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory." Marcus Tullius Cicero
"The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes." Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, p. 131
"There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them." Phyllis Bottome
"The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand....A mob is a society of bodies voluntarily bereaving themselves of reason....The martyr cannot be dishonored....every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The very greatest things -- great thoughts, discoveries, inventions -- have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty." Samuel Smiles
"What is to give light must endure the burning." Viktor Frankl
"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. " Walt Disney
"Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records." William A. Ward
"Greatness is best measured by how well an individual responds to the happenings in life that appear to be totally unfair, unreasonable, and undeserved." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, November 1984, page 22
"Too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations!" Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1989, p.82
"We are not measured by the trials we meet -- only by those we overcome." Spencer W. Kimball
"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!" Abraham Lincoln, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (September 30, 1859), pp. 481-482
"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." African Proverb
"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." Albert Einstein
"No man is more unhappy than the one who is never in adversity; the greatest affliction of life is never to be afflicted." Anonymous
"The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper." Aristotle
"The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances." Aristotle
"There is no education like adversity." Benjamin Disraeli
"Small ills are the fountains of most of our groans. Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones." Chinese Proverb
"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." Chinese Proverb
"Difficulties are things that show a person what they are." Epictetus
"Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacles is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment." Eric Butterworth
"I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work and my God." Helen Keller
"As a rule adversity reveals genius and prosperity hides it." Horace
"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before." James Buckham
"What does not kill me makes me stronger." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Out of suffering comes the serious mind; out of salvation, the grateful heart; out of endurance, fortitude; out of deliverance faith." John Ruskin
"Life is a grindstone. But whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us." L. Thomas Holdcroft
"Adversity is the midwife of genius." Napoleon Bonaparte
"The darkest hour is just before the dawn." Proverb
"It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe." Robert W. Service
"By experiencing temptations, we know ourselves. By fighting them, we have the chance to become winners. By overcoming them, we are crowned victors." Saint Augustine
"Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body." Seneca
"I love the man who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress and grows brave by reaction. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principals unto death." Thomas Paine
"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply we esteem too lightly." Thomas Paine
"Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters." Victor Hugo
"Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it." Winston Churchill
"And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness of the great whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw." 1 Nephi 14:12
"Because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book [the Bible], which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God - because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them." 1 Nephi 13:29
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Joseph Smith - History 1:19
"Wo be unto him that lieth to deceive because he supposeth that another lieth to deceive, for such are not exempt from the justice of God." D&C 10:28
"A group touring Westminster Abbey in London heard the guide list the famous people buried within its walls. During a momentary silence a little old lady's voice blurted out loud and clear, 'Anybody been saved here lately?'" Anonymous
"I have no objections to churches so long as they do not interfere with God's work." Brooks Atkinson
"I don't take my religion from any man who never works except with his mouth and never cherishes any memory except the face of the woman on the American silver dollar." Carl Sandburg
"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." George Washington
"Superstition is...religion which is incongruous with intelligence." John Tyndall
"Christianity with its doctrine of humility, of forgiveness, of love, is incompatible with the state with its haughtiness, its violence, its punishment and its wars." Leo Tolstoy
"The trouble with some of us is that we have been inoculated with small doses of Christianity which keep us from catching the real thing." Leslie Dixon Weatherhead
"There seems to be a great misunderstanding on the part of a great many people to the effect that when you cease to believe you may cease to behave." Louis Kronenberger
"There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt." Niccolo Machiavelli
"The fatal trait of the times is the divorce between religion and morality." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair
"If you were to destroy in mankind the belief in immortality, not only love but every living force maintaining the life of the world would at once be dried up. Moreover, nothing then would be immoral, everything would be permissible, even cannibalism." Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
"How to trap an atheist: Serve him a fine meal, then ask him if he believes there is a cook." Anonymous
"It is true that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." Francis Bacon
"If there is no God, everything is permitted." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"To be an atheist requires an infinitely greater measure of faith than to receive all the great truths which atheism would deny." Joseph Addison
"There are few people so stubborn in their atheism, who when danger is pressing in, will not acknowledge the divine power." Plato
"There is one thing more serious than merely to not believe, and that is to not care." Sterling W. Sill, CR, October 1955, p. 46
"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." Albert Einstein
"A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm." Charles M. Schwab
"Almost everybody walks around with a vast burden of imaginary limitations inside his head. While the burden remains, personal success is as difficult to achieve as the conquest of Everest with a sack of rocks tied to your back." J. H. Brennan
"There is no such thing as can't, only won't. If you're qualified, all it takes is a burning desire to accomplish, to make a change. Go forward, go backward. Whatever it takes! But you can't blame other people or society in general. It all comes from your mind. When we do the impossible we realize we are special people." Jan Ashford
"Don't say, 'If I could, I would.' Say, 'If I can, I will.'" Jim Rohn
"Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you." Jim Rohn
"You say, 'The country is messed up.' That's like cursing the soil and the seed and the sunshine and the rain, which is all you've got. Don't curse all you've got. When you get your own planet, you can rearrange this whole deal. This one you've got to take like it comes." Jim Rohn
"For they conquer who believe they can." John Dryden
"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz
"The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall... Freedom and slavery are mental states." Mahatma Gandhi
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"All have eyes but few have the vision." Ravi
"When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard,' I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what?'" Sydney Harris
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." Thomas Jefferson
"We must not be cast down or discouraged in this work. There is no basis for discouragement. We are not alone. We will not, we cannot fail if we will do our duty. The Lord will magnify us even beyond our present talents and abilities." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.381
"Go with a smile on your face. Be happy in this work. A friendly reception never came to a man with a frown. Smile." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"The gospel is a thing of joy. It provides us with a reason for gladness. Of course there are times of sorrow. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all worry. But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice. I see so many people...who seem never to see the sunshine, but who constantly walk with storms under cloudy skies. Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine." Gordon B. Hinckley, General Womens Meeting, October 1984
"You can't bring anybody into the Church while you are scowling...You look better with a smile on your face. It doesn't cost you a thing. Be happy about it - let that happiness be a radiance from your countenance." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Even when someone rejects the message, missionaries need to learn to have a positive attitude, because the message is still true, whether accepted or not. Now I know that tracting isn't very efficient, but I think it is good for the soul of the missionaries." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"In order to do well, missionary work has to be totally positive." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"The word gospel means 'good news' and missionaries ought to be radiant and upbeat as they reach out to share the gospel." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"A constant effort must be made to lift our daily conduct so that it squares with our knowledge of truth and our standards. Self-mastery must always triumph over self-deceit for us to taste the fruits of good cheer." Marvin J. Ashton, LDS General Conference, April 1986
"Being of good cheer makes it possible for us to turn all of our sunsets into sunrises." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May 1986, page 68
"Let thy heart be of good cheer before my face" D&C 112:4
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein
"Cheerfulness, too, promotes health and immortality. Cheerful people live longest hear on earth, and afterwards in our hearts." Anonymous
"It is amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions." Charles F. Kettering
"We only do well the things we like doing." Colette
"I was complaining that I had no shoes till I met a man who had no feet." Confucius
"Depression, gloom, pessimism, despair, discouragement, these slay ten human beings to every one murdered by typhoid, influenza, diabetes or pneumonia." Gilbert Murray
"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do." Henry Ford
"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." Henry Ford
"The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is, that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't." Henry Ward Beecher
"The formula for disaster is: Could + Should + Won't" Jim Rohn
"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz
"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever." Mahatma Gandhi
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." Mahatma Gandhi
"Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last." Marcus Aurelius
"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances." Martha Washington
"As you ramble on through life, brother, whatever be your goal: keep you eyes upon the donut, and not upon the hole." Murray Banks
"In the kingdom of hope there is no winter." Russian Proverb
"The habit of looking on the bright side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year." Samuel Johnson
"There is nothing so easy but it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly." Terance
"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we decide to do about it." Thomas A. Edison
"The great discovery of my age is that men can change their circumstances by changing the attitude of their mind." William James
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill
"I hope you will develop a spirit of fellowship, a social ease, a capacity to mix and mingle with people whenever you meet them, of low caste or high caste, recognizing their strengths and powers and capacities and goodness...A vibrant personality that comes out of the capacity to listen and learn, that comes of the ability to contribute without boring, that comes of a talent for mingling and mixing with people in a constructive way is something precious." Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Devotional, October 16, 1990
"The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons." Aristotle
"I studied the lives of great men and famous women; and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy, enthusiasm, and hard work." Harry Truman
"Sharpen your interest in two major subjects: life and people. You will only gather information from a source if you are interested in it." Jim Rohn
"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they
are." Malcom Forbes
"The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be self-sufficient." Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
"Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier." Mother Teresa
"There is one virtue, attribute, or principle, which, if cherished and practiced by the Saints, would prove salvation to thousands upon thousands. I allude to charity, or love, from which proceed long suffering, kindness, and patience." Brigham Young, DNW, 11 January 1860, p.1
"Character is won by hard work." Delbert L. Stapley, Relief Society Courses of Study, 1985, page 141
"Character is the one thing we make in this world and take with us into the next." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1966
"The characteristics of a good missionary are: A man who has sociability -- whose friendship is permanent and sparkling -- who can ingratiate himself into the confidence and favor of men who are in darkness. This cannot be done offhand. You must get acquainted with a man, learn him and gain his confidence and make him feel and know that your only desire is to do him good and bless him; then you can tell him your message, and give the good things you have for him, kindly and lovingly. Therefore, in selecting missionaries, choose such as have sociability, who have friendship and not enmity towards men..." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine pp. 356-357
"The things of God are of great import; and time, and experience,and careful, and ponderous, and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, oh man, if thou wilt lead a man unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanses of eternity; thou must commune with God!" Joseph Smith
"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul; And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence. Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." D&C Section 4
"Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control. These three alone lead to sovereign power. " Alfred Lord Tennyson
"The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse." Confucius
"There were four things that the Master wholly eschewed: he took nothing for granted, he was never over positive, never obstinate, never egotistic." Confucius, The Teachings of Confucius
"They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it." Confucius
"Think no vice so small that you may commit it, and no virtue so small that you may overlook it." Confucius
"To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigor is to be near to magnanimity. To posses the feeling of shame is to be near to energy. He who knows these three things, knows how to cultivate his own character, he knows how to govern other men. Knowing how to govern other men, he knows how to govern the kingdom with all its states and families." Confucius
"Wisdom, compassion and courage--these are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men. " Confucius
"Technical training is important, but it accounts for less than 20% of one's success. More than 80% is due to the development of one's personal qualities, such as initiative, concentration, decision, adaptability, organizing ability, observation, industry and leadership." Dr. G. P. Koch, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
"The 7 Deadly Sins are: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Knowledge without character. Business without morality. Science without humanity.W orship without sacrifice. Politics without principle." Mahatma Gandhi
"Subtlety may deceive you; integrity never will." Oliver Cromwell
"Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give." William A. Ward
"I take it to be a principle rule of life, not to be too much addicted to any one thing." Terence
"Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." Thomas Paine
"See that ye are not baptized unworthily." Mormon 9:29
"And now I speak concerning baptism. Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; and they were not baptized save they brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of it. Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins. And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end." Moroni 6:1-3
"We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins..." Joseph Smith, Fourth Article of Faith
"Perhaps no other book has been denounced so vigorously by those who have never read it as has the Book of Mormon." Boyd K. Packer, LDS General Conference, April 1986
"The Book of Mormon is not on trial--the people of the world, including the members of the Church, are on trial as to what they will do with this second witness of Christ." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, October 1984
"Young men, the Book of Mormon will change your life. It will fortify you against the evil of our day. It will bring spirituality into your life that no other book will. It will be the most important book that you will read in preparation for a mission and for life. A young man who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord." Ezra Taft Benson, To Young Men of the Priesthood
"When you get into the active operation of your proselyting program, this is a concept you absolutely must have. It has been our traditional course in days past, unfortunately all too frequently, to say, 'Here is the Bible, and the Bible says this and this, and therefore the Gospel has been restored.' Well now, there is no person on earth that believes the Bible more than I do. I read it and ponder its words. I know that what is in it is true. But let me tell you, it is not the Bible that brings people into the Church; it is the Book of Mormon and latter-day revelation. We can use the Bible to lay a foundation, and to point people's attention to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, but until we get involved with latter-day revelation, the process of conversion does not begin to operate in any substantial degree in the heart of an investigator. The Lord said to Joseph Smith: 'this generation shall have my word through you...' (D&C 5:10). That is his decree. They either get it through Joseph Smith or they do not get it, and our whole perspective is: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents Seminar, June 21, 1975
"A great challenge and day of preparation is at hand for missionaries to meet and teach with the Book of Mormon. We need missionaries to match our message." Ezra Taft Benson, Regional Representatives Seminar, 4 April 1986
"A missionary who is inspired by the Spirit of the Lord must be led by that Spirit to choose the proper approach to be effective. We must not forget that the Lord Himself provided the Book of Mormon as His chief witness. The Book of Mormon is still our most powerful missionary tool. Let us use it." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 204
"Also, through the Family-to-Family Book of Mormon Program, send copies of the Book of Mormon on missions for you with your testimonies enclosed." Ezra Taft Benson, Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice, To the Elderly in the Church, p. 74
"The Book of Mormon is the great standard we are to use in our missionary work. It shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It contains the words of Christ, and its great mission is to bring men to Christ. All other things are secondary. The golden question of the Book of Mormon is 'Do you want to learn more of Christ?' The Book of Mormon is the great finder of the golden contact. It does not contain things which are 'pleasing unto the world,' and so the worldly are not interested in it. It is a great sieve. (See 1 Nephi 6:5)" Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents Seminar, Provo, Utah, 25 June 1986
"The Book of Mormon must be the heart of our missionary work in every mission of the Church if we are to come out from under this condemnation (see D&C 84:56-57). And what a marvelous missionary tool it is! Already we see an increase in baptisms, which testifies to the power of this sacred volume." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents Seminar, Provo, Utah, 25 June 1986
"We need to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon." Ezra Taft Benson
"Would not the progress of the Church increase dramatically today with an increasing number of those who are spiritually reborn? Can you imagine what would happen in our homes? Can you imagine what would happen with an increasing number of copies of the Book of Mormon in the hands of an increasing number of missionaries who know how to use it and who have been born of God? When this happens, we will get the bounteous harvest of souls that the Lord promised. It was the 'born of God' Alma who as a missionary was so able to impart the word that many others were also born of God. (See Alma 36:23-26.)" Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents Seminar, Provo, Utah, 25 June 1986
"You know of my great love for the Book of Mormon. Sister Benson and I try to read it every morning, and we have a great love for that book. The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God has designed to 'sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out His elect unto the New Jerusalem.' This sacred volume of scripture has not been, nor is it yet, central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work." Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City, Utah, 5 March 1987
"I cannot understand how any intelligent man could think that anyone without the help of the Lord could have produced the Book of Mormon, which has been before us now for more than a hundred years and has stood the test during all that period of time, notwithstanding the ridicule that has been brought against it, for one reason or another. Today that book, which was translated by Joseph Smith as the instrumentality of the Lord, stands out supreme. It is today the greatest missionary that we have for proclaiming this gospel; there is nothing else to compare with it." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 15
"I counsel you, my beloved brothers and sisters and friends everywhere, to make reading the Book of Mormon a few minutes each day a lifelong practice. All of us need the uninterrupted association with the Spirit of the Lord. We need to take the Holy Spirit for our constant guide that we be not deceived. I am persuaded by my own experience and that of my loved ones, as well as by the statements of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that one can get and keep closer to the Lord by reading the Book of Mormon than by reading any other book. Don't be content with what someone else tells you about what is in it. Drink deeply from the divine fountain itself." Marion G. Romney, LDS General Conference, April 1980
"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity - the pure love of Christ - will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness." Marion G. Romney, LDS General Conference, April 1980
"And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye-for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness." 2 Nephi 33:10-11
"And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal. And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell." 2 Nephi 33:4-6
"And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received- Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written- That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion." D&C 84:54-58
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. I am he who said-Other sheep have I which are not of this fold-unto my disciples, and many there were that understood me not. And I will show unto this people that I had other sheep, and that they were a branch of the house of Jacob; And I will bring to light their marvelous works, which they did in my name; Yea, and I will also bring to light my gospel which was ministered unto them, and, behold, they shall not deny that which you have received, but they shall build it up, and shall bring to light the true points of my doctrine, yea, and the only doctrine which is in me. And this I do that I may establish my gospel, that there may not be so much contention; yea, Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them." D&C 10:57-63
"The Book of Mormon...contains a record of a fallen people, and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also; Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels, and is declared unto the world by them- Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old; Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. Therefore, having so great witnesses, by them shall the world be judged, even as many as shall hereafter come to a knowledge of this work. And those who receive it in faith, and work righteousness, shall receive a crown of eternal life; But those who harden their hearts in unbelief, and reject it, it shall turn to their own condemnation- For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear witness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." D&C 20:9-16
"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." Austin Phelps
"Everybody know how to read and nobody knows what to read." George Bernard Shaw
"Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all." Henry David Thoreau
"One half who graduate from college never read another book." Herbert True
"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." Mark Twain
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." Mark Twain
"The books that help you the most are those that make you think the most." Theodore Parker
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." Thomas Jefferson
"If you will ponder it in your mind, you will come up, in my judgment, with the conclusion that we could bring immeasurably more people into the Church than we are now doing. We could fellowship more than we are now fellowshipping; in practice this could be five or ten or twenty times as many as we are now baptizing. Perhaps in due course it should be 24 times or 100 times as many as at present." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 21 June 1975
"We are not getting the results we ought to get. We are not getting the numbers of baptisms that in my judgment the Lord expects us to get. To a degree, at least, we are grinding our wheels without going forward...Perhaps what is wrong is that we have not desired faith with all our hearts to bring souls into the kingdom. Perhaps we have not made up our minds that we can and will bring people into the Church. Now, very frankly, whether we gain many converts or few depends in large measure upon our frame of mind." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 21 June 1975
"I have a vision of thousands of missionaries going into the mission field with hundreds of passages memorized from the Book of Mormon so that they might feed the needs of a spiritually famished world." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, October 1988
"The Lord calls nobody to fail, but to succeed; and they [missionaries] should understand this fully." Ezra Taft Benson, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, June 21, 1975
"Missionary work is different in nature than any other position, and is a great privilege and blessing to be involved in, and a very small gift to give. Missionary work is the payment of a tithe of your life to the advancement of the work of God in all the world...Missionaries who are prayerful, obedient and who work hard will be given some measure of harvest, for which you will be grateful all the days of your life...You will never be able to judge the consequences of that which you do as a missionary...If you bring someone into the Church and that individual stays in the Church, the harvest will go on and on, growing and growing through the years and through generations of time...We place tremendous confidence in you. We count on you to do a superb job. No less than the best will do. You must do your very, very best." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"We are thrilled with the increase in baptisms, but we know we've only scratched the surface of what we are capable of doing." Robert L. Backman
"Now, my brothers and sisters, it seems clear to me, indeed, this impression weighs upon me--that the Church is at a point in its growth and maturity when we are at last ready to move forward in a major way. Some decisions have been made and others pending, which will clear the way, organizationally. But the basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals." Spencer W. Kimball, LDS General Conference, April 1979
"We want missionaries who have the kind of faith that Wilford Woodruff and Heber C. Kimball had each bringing hundreds and thousands of souls into the waters of baptisms." Spencer W. Kimball, cited in Ensign, April 1986
"And because of their iniquity the church had begun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face." Helaman 4:23
"And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God. And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress." Alma 4:9-10
"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them." Mosiah 7:29
"For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people." Mosiah 27:13
"Now this great loss of the Nephites...would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God." Helaman 4:11
"We can only change the world by changing men." Charles Wells
"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem." Mahatma Gandhi
"I think that the work of the Church in the developed and rich Western Hemisphere is more difficult than in Calcutta, South Yemen, or other areas where the needs of the people are reduced to the clothes needed to ward off the cold, or a dish of rice to curb their hinger -- anything that will show them that someone loves them. In the West the problems that people have go much deeper; the problems are in the depths of our hearts." Mother Teresa
"In the developed countries there is a poverty of intimacy, a poverty of spirit, of loneliness, of lack of love. There is no greater sickness in the world today than that one." Mother Teresa
"There are two kinds of fools. One says, 'This is old therefore it is good.' The other one says, 'This is new therefore it is better.'" Dean William R. Inge
"Don't ever take a fence down, until you know why it was put up." Robert Frost
"A person's reaction to his appetites and impulses when they are aroused gives the measure of that person's character." David O. McKay, LDS General Conference, April 1964
"The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence – these are the features of the Jewish tradition which makes me thank my lucky stars that I belong to it." Albert Einstein
"The virtue of man ought to be measured, not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his everyday conduct." Blaise Pascal
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller
"Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul." Henry David Thoreau
"Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, money takes wings, those who cheer you today may curse you tomorrow. The only thing that endures is character." Horace Greeley
"There is one categorical imperative: Act so that every action of yours should be capable of becoming a universal rule of action for all men." Immanuel Kant
"Character is a quality that embodies many important traits, such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you are born with and can't change, character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing." Jim Rohn
"Nothing teaches character better than generosity." Jim Rohn
"Character is much easier kept than recovered." Thomas Paine
"If you think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself." Woodrow Wilson
"Let us consider youth as grouped into three classes according to their degree of aspiration: (1) First in their degree of aspiration: The 'Infusoria' class in which falls the listless, drifting youth. Down among the lowest types of living creatures, there is a little animal that moves about randomly and aimlessly...The Infusoria enter upon life aimlessly, and ninety-nine out of one hundred of these animals perish in consequence... (2) Higher in the scale of intelligence and uplift, there are those who may be classed as the 'firefly men'. Often on a summer's evening you perhaps observed as children what we used to call the 'lightening bug.' These flying creatures seemed most active just before a shower. The light from each would shine but for an instant, then the thing would be absorbed in the darkness. Another momentary flash, then blackness again. Such is the 'Firefly' youth with respect to noble aspiration. He has luminous hours in which his soul ardently desires to rise above all things mean and sordid, and to bask in the realm of enlightenment and beauty. He would be valiant and courageous in defending virtue and right under all circumstances. If he could only obtain strength and power, he would use them to help his fellowmen and make the world better! But when a few hours later he associates with his companions unfired by such noble ideals, the light of his aspiration fades, the fires of enthusiasm die, and his soul is absorbed in the darkness of indifference. However, it is better to have hoped and yearned for better things and had the hopes fade, then never to have yearned at all. The flicker at least shows the presence of a light that might be fanned into a constant flame. That is better than damp driftwood from which will come not even a spark. (3) Then there is the third group, which I call the 'Conifer' youth. In using this term, I have in mind not just the ordinary cone-bearing tree of the Conifer group, but particularly, the Giant Sequoia...Among them is one, 'The General Sherman,' which is estimated to be 3500 years old. It has withstood lightning, floods, fire and still lives on. It has survived because in it is the power of resistance. The 'Conifer' youth senses the fact that man is not just a mere animal, but is rather a spiritual being. He realizes that he is more than a physical object that is tossed for a short time from bank to bank, only to be submerged in the ever-flowing stream of life. There is something within him which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical, and to live in a higher and more beautiful world." David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life, pp. 30-31
"The real test of any church or religion is the kind of men it makes." David O. McKay, CR April 1949, p.11
"We are like children walking a path in the rain. We can walk in or around the mud of life as we desire, but with our choices come the consequences. And we are rapidly becoming what we are choosing to be for all eternity." Elaine Cannon, Ensign, November 1983
"You learn to do by doing. You learn to be by being." H. Burke Peterson
"The Lord is always looking for men in whom he can place his full confidence, who can represent him in the mission field, and men who can be trusted in every way and who are prepared to help build his kingdom." N. Eldon Tanner, LDS General Conference, April 1975
"The success of this life is not measured at the end of it by what we have, but rather by what we are." Rulon S. Wells, LDS General Conference, October 1912
"A striking personality and good character is achieved by practice, not merely by thinking it. Just as a pianist masters the intricacies of music through hours and weeks of practice, so mastery of life is achieved by the ceaseless practice of mechanics which make up the art of living. Daily unselfish service to others is one of the rudimentary mechanics of the successful life. 'For whosoever will save his life,' the Galilean said, 'shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.' (Matthew 16:25.) What a strange paradox this! And yet one needs only to analyze it to be convinced of its truth...Only when you lift a burden, God will lift your burden. Divine paradox this! The man who staggers and falls because his burden is too great can lighten that burden by taking on the weight of another's burden. You get by giving, but your part of giving must be given first." Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 250-251
"Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single one." Anonymous
"The man of virtue makes the difficult to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration; -- this may be called perfect virtue." Confucius
"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Dale Carnegie
"Let us not say, Every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, Every man is the architect of his own character." George Boardman
"He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has." Henry Ward Beecher
"He who reins within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king." John Milton
"The real character of a man is found out by his amusements." Joshua Reynolds
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Character is never built in a classroom; it is built in the circumstances of life." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p. 360
"Character is not made in crisis -- it is only exhibited." Robert Freeman
"To be worth anything, character must be capable of standing firm upon its feet in the world of daily work, temptation, and trial; and able to bear the wear and tear of actual life. Cloistered virtues do not count for much." Samuel Smiles
"Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance. It is character which builds an existence out of circumstance. From the same materials one man builds palaces, another hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar are mortar and bricks until the architect can make them something else." Thomas Carlyle
"Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference." Voltaire
"This above all: to thine own self be true." William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, scene iii
"Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 24
"The nearer we get to our Heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs. If you would have God have mercy on your, have mercy on one another." Joseph Smith, History of the Church 5:24
"As disciples of Christ, we need to feel genuine charity for one another. As we do, new light will come into our own lives. This charity is essential in missionary work, but we must never allow ourselves to treat our neighbors only as potential converts. We have had the sad experience of seeing members of the Church who attempted to convert their neighbors and friends and, when they did not respond, withdrew their friendship and neighborliness. We must not be so anxious to share the gospel that we become insensitive to the feelings of others." Russell M. Nelson, LDS General Conference, October 1988
"I believe it was Saint Vincent de Paul who used to say to those who wanted to join his congregation: 'Never forget, my children, that the poor are our masters. That is why we should love them and serve them, with utter respect, and do what they bid us.' Do you not believe that it can happen, on the other hand, that we treat the poor like they are a garbage bag in which we throw everything we have no use for? Food we do not like or that is going bad -- we throw it there. Perishable goods past their expiration date, and which might harm us, go into the garbage bag: in other words, go to the poor. An article of clothing that is not in style anymore, that we do not want to wear again, goes to the poor. This does not show any respect for the dignity of the poor; this is not to consider them our masters, like Saint Vincent de Paul taught his religious, but to consider them less than our equals." Mother Teresa
"One day a young couple came to our house and asked for me. They gave me a large amount of money. I asked them, 'Where did you get so much money?' They answered, 'We got married two days ago. Before we got married we had decided not to celebrate the wedding, not to buy wedding clothes, not to have a reception or a honeymoon. We wanted to give you the money we saved.' I knew what such a decision meant, especially for a Hindu family. That is why I asked them, 'But how did you think of such a thing?' 'We love each other so much,' they answered, 'that we wanted to share the joy of our love with those you serve.' To share: what a beautiful thing!" Mother Teresa
"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, he appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger, when he came in a lonely human being, a lost child in search of a home." Mother Teresa
"There appears to be something beyond and above the reasons apparent to the human mind why chastity brings strength and power to the peoples of the earth, but it is so." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine p. 274
"Immorality and unchastity are so common today that our youth, seeing many types, of perversions on television and in movies, are feeling that these are accepted modes of living. I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of keeping ourselves clean and pure and chaste in order to be worthy to bear this holy priesthood and to prepare ourselves and our families f or eternal life." N. Eldon Tanner, LDS General Conference, October 1976
"Faith is the power, obedience is the price, love is the motive, the Spirit is the key and Christ is the reason." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"Continue to make time in your lives and hearts for Christ." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 2 Nephi 25:26
"O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world." Helaman 5:9
"If you make a great deal of Christ, He will make a great deal of you; But it you make but little of Christ, He will make but little of you." R.A. Torrey
"The Lord distinguishes between the Church and its members. He said He was well pleased with the restored Church, speaking collectively, but not individually (D&C 1:30). During His ministry on earth, the Lord spoke of the gospel net drawing in fish. The good fish, He said, were gathered into vessels, while the bad were cast away. (See Matthew 13:47-50). It is important to realize that while the Church is made up of mortals, no mortal is the Church. Judas, for a period of time, was a member of the Church -- in fact, one of its Apostles -- but the Church was not Judas. Sometimes we hear someone refer to a division in the Church. In reality, the Church is not divided. It simply means that there are some who, for the time being at least, are members of the Church but not in harmony with it. These people have a temporary membership and influence in the Church; but unless they repent, they will be missing when the final membership records are recorded." Ezra Taft Benson, God, Family, Country, pp. 253-54
"It should be recognized that this Church is not a social club. This is the kingdom of God on the earth. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Its purpose is to bring salvation and exaltation to both the living and the dead." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1990
"I have never known a person, man or woman, who attended his meetings, and partook of the spirit and inspiration that are present in the meetings of true, faithful Latter-day Saints, who has ever apostasized." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 42
"Worship is an individual activity, even at church. If one wishes to worship the Lord, they may do so by song, prayer, and participation in the sacrament. If the service is a failure, it is you who have failed. No one can worship for you." Spencer W. Kimball, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Missionaries should sit with investigators or new members and not sit as a group of missionaries." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"Church attendance is as vital to a disciple, as a transfusion of rich healthy blood to a sick man." D.L. Moody
"Don't focus on growing a church with programs, focus on growing people with a process." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.108
"Most churches rarely attract unbelievers to their services because members are uncomfortable bringing them to church. It doesn't matter how much the pastor encourages members to bring friends or how many visitation programs are launched, the results are the same: Most members never bring any lost friends to church. Why is this? There are three important reasons. First, as I mentioned, the target of the messages is unpredictable. Members don't know from week to week if the pastor will be preaching an evangelistic message or an edification message. Second, the services are not designed for unbelievers; so much of what goes on in them would not be understandable to an unchurched friend. Third, members may be embarrassed by the quality of the service." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.252
"The church should be seeker sensitive but it must not be seeker driven. We must adapt our communication style to our culture without adopting the sinful elements of it or abdicating to it." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.80
"To accommodate our continuous growth we used seventy-nine different facilities in the first fifteen years of Saddleback's history...I'm often asked, 'How big can a church grow without a building?' The answer is, 'I don't know!' Saddleback met for fifteen years and grew to 10,000 attenders without our own building, so I know it's possible to grow to at least 10,000! A building, or lack of a building, should never be allowed to become a barrier to a wave of growth. People are far more important than property." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.46
"What is the most natural way to increase the number of visitors to your church? By making members feel guilty for not inviting friends? No. By putting up a big sign that says 'Visitors Welcome'? No. By cold-calling on homes in your community? Probably not. By holding advertising contests? Unlikely. By using telemarking or advertising? Wrong again. The answer is quite simple: Create a service that is intentionally designed for your members to bring their friends to. And make the service so attractive, relevant, an appealing to the unchurched that your members are eager to share it with the lost people they care about." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.253
"The difference between those who are committed and those who are not is the difference between the words want and will." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, November 1983
"A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them." Antoine de St. Exupery
"Neutral men are the devil's allies" Edwin Hubbel Chapin
"[Missionary companions] stand as witnesses one with another. What a precious thing is a good companion. He becomes your protector in times of trouble or temptation." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"[The companion] is there for a purpose. He isn't there just to decorate you. He's there to make you shine, he's there to serve a great purpose. Think of what life would be without your companion. Getting up every morning alone, going out to work, knocking on doors every day, alone. Pretty scary, wouldn't it be? I think it would. Be grateful for your companions. I thank the Lord and will always be grateful for my companions in the mission field." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission President Seminar, LDS Church News, July 3, 1999
"Treasure your companions. They have something to offer you if you will learn. Look for the good in them, and help them. Help one another. Get on your knees and pray to the Lord and ask Him to bless you. Never leave your apartments in the morning without asking for the directing and protecting guidance of the Lord. And never come back to them in the evening and go to bed without getting on your knees and thanking Him for the blessings of the day." Gordon B. Hinckley, Hamilton, Ontario, missionary meeting, Aug. 8, 1998
"And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also." D&C 84:106
"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Matthew 5:23-24
"Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment."
"Friendship renders prosperity more brilliant, while it lightens adversity by sharing it and making its burdens common." Cicero
"If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself." Confucius
"The most agreeable of all companions is a simple, frank man, without any high pretensions to an oppressive greatness; one who loves life, and understands the use of it; obliging, alike, at all hours; above all, of a golden temper, and steadfast as an anchor. For such a one we gladly exchange the greatest genius, the most brilliant wit, the profoundest thinker." Gotthold Lessing
"You can employ men and hire hands to work for you, but you must win their hearts to have them work with you." Tiorio
"All men who have moved the world have been men who would stand true to their conscience." David O. McKay, LDS General Conference, October 1908
"You cannot do wrong and feel right. It is impossible!" Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1977, page 30
"I would sooner have the approval of my own conscience and know that I had done my duty than to have the praise of all of the world and not have the approval of my own conscience. A man's conscience, when he is living as he should, is the finest monitor and the best judge in all the world." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p.186
"The only way to cure a bad conscience is to stop doing what we shouldn't, and start doing what we should." Richard L. Evans, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"A God-given conscience will not let us rest until our duty is done." Robert L. Simpson, CR, October 1964, P.96
"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me." Abraham Lincoln
"The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life." Albert Einstein
"Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another." Charles Caleb Colton
"Never 'for the sake of peace and quiet' deny your own experience or convictions." Dag Hammarskjold
"The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man." Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little celestial fire, called conscience." George Washington
"A man of integrity will never listen to any plea against conscience." Henry Home
"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it polite?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor polite, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him that it is right." Martin Luther King Jr.
"It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him." Abraham Lincoln
"Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it." Albert Einstein
"He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes." Chinese Proverb
"Whatever is done without ostentation, and without the people being witnesses of it, is, in my opinion, most praiseworthy: not that the public eye should be entirely avoided, for good actions desire to be placed in the light; but notwithstanding this, the greatest theater for virtue is conscience." Cicero
"The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell." Confucius
"The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside." Dag Hammarskjold
"If we have not peace within ourselves, it is in vain to seek it from outward sources." Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." Hans Margolius
"Two things fill me with constantly increasing admiration and awe, the longer and more earnestly I reflect on them: the starry heavens without and the moral law within." Immanuel Kant
"In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place." Mahatma Gandhi
"Two men please God -- who serves Him with all his heart because he knows him; who seeks Him with all his heart because he knows Him not." Nikita Ivanovich Panin
"In matters of conscience, first thoughts are best; in matters of prudence, last thoughts." Robert Hall
"Conscience is thoroughly well-bred and soon leaves off talking to those who do not wish to hear it." Samuel Butler
"Let us satisfy our own consciences, and trouble not ourselves by looking for fame... The praise bad actions obtain dies soon away; if good deeds are at first unworthily received, they are afterward more properly appreciated." Seneca
"Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes as a judge." Stanislaus Leszczynski
"The accumulation of right choices builds inner spiritual strength and divine character." Rulon G. Craven, LDS General Conference, April 1996
"It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer." Albert Einstein
"The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up...A man can do only what a man can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day." Albert Schweitzer
"Courage to start and willingness to keep everlasting at it are the requisites for success." Alonzo Newton Benn
"I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret." Anthony Robbins
"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle
"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation." Aristotle
"Enough shovels of earth - a mountain. Enough pails of water - a river." Chinese Proverb
"The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." Chinese Proverb
"It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has accumulated during the first half." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"The heights by great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"The seed you sow today will not produce crop till tomorrow. For this reason, your identity does not lie in your current results. This is not who you are. Your current results are who you were." James A. Ray
"You don't have to change that much for it to make a great deal of difference. A few simple disciplines can have a major impact on how your life works out in the next 90 days, let alone in the next 12 months or the next 3 years." Jim Rohn
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." Jim Ryun
"How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser." Lou Holtz
"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams" Og Mandino
"Creating success is tough. But keeping it is tougher. You have to keep producing, you can never stop." Pete Rose
"All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The power of a man increases steadily by continuing in one direction." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." William Feather
"And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will." Helaman 10:5
"The secret of success is constancy of purpose." Benjamin Disraeli
"Diligence is the mother of good luck." Benjamin Franklin
"The strength of a man's virtue is measured by his habitual acts." Blaise Pascal
"The superior man is firm in the right way, and not merely firm." Confucius
"Consistency is the foundation of virtue." Francis Bacon
"Someone once asked a revival preacher why he preached revivals since revivals do not last. The preacher responded, 'Neither do baths.' Whether in physical or spiritual life, we are continuously picking up the soil and grit of the world, and we must be repeatedly cleansed." from Quiet Walk Devotional, June 7, 2000, Crosswalk.com
"Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood, the courses in which it moves." Horace Bushnell
"If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it." Ignace Paderewski
"Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals" Jim Rohn
"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure." Jim Rohn
"The maelstrom attracts more notice than the quiet fountain; a comet draws more attention than the steady star. But it is better to be the fountain than the maelstrom, and the star than comet, following out the sphere and orbit of quiet usefulness in which God places us." John Hall
"Fortitude I take to be the quiet possession of a man's self, and an undisturbed doing his duty whatever evils beset, or dangers lie in the way. In itself an essential virtue, it is a guard to every other virtue." John Locke
"To be good, one must be consistent...Goodness without consistency is not goodness." Jules Vernes, Captain Nemo, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
"This is the mark of a really admirable man: stead-fastness in the face of trouble." Ludwig van Beethoven
"We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne." Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
"Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
"Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Mark Twain
"Without consistency there is no moral strength." Owen
"The force of character is cumulative." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." Samuel Johnson
"Try to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment." Sydney Smith
"Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steady gains in strength. At first it may be but as a spider's web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel." Tryon Edwards
"The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time." W. J. Davidson
"We are to take the gospel to every person. Without exception, without excuse, without rationalization, we are to go 'unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature' (Mormon 9:22)." Ezra Taft Benson, Regional Representatives' Seminar, 5 April 1985.
"You can never speak to the wrong person about Christ." Anonymous
"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true." Charles Dickens
"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." Dale Carnegie
"It is necessary that all have the privilege of receiving or rejecting eternal truth, that they may be prepared to be saved, or be prepared to be damned." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p. 319
"The best means of preaching the gospel is by personal contact." David O. McKay, LDS General Conference, October 1969
"Speak to everyone: shopkeepers, passengers riding buses, people on streets, and everyone you meet." Earl C. Tingey, April 1998 General Conference, Priesthood Session
"Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss." D&C 80:3
"Blessed is he or she who avoids being offended." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May 1988, p. 62
"How important it is to know how to disagree without being disagreeable." Marvin J. Ashton
"I never saw an instance of one or two disputants convincing the other by argument." Thomas Jefferson
"The best way to win an argument is to begin by being right." Jill Ruckelshaus
"Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; arguments an exchange of ignorance." Robert Quillen
"In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves." Thomas Carlyle
"Our elders are instructed here, and they are taught from their childhood up, that they are not to go out and make war upon the religious organizations of the world when they are called to go out to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but to go and bear with them the message which has been given to us through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph, in this latter dispensation, whereby men may learn the truth, if they will." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 357
"Go in all meekness and sobriety, and preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified; not to contend with others on account of their faith, or systems of religion, but to pursue a steady course. This I deliver by way of commandment, and all who observe it not will pull down persecution upon their heads, while those who do shall always be filled with the Holy Ghost; this I pronounce as a prophecy." Joseph Smith
"Let the elders be exceedingly careful about unnecessarily disturbing and harrowing up the feelings of the people. Remember that your business is to preach the Gospel in all humility and meekness, and warn sinners to repent and come to Christ. Avoid contentions and vain disputes with men of corrupt minds who do not desire to know the truth. Remember that 'it is a day of warning, and not a day of many words.' If they receive not your testimony in one place, flee to another, remembering to cast no reflections, nor throw out any bitter sayings. If you do your duty, it will be just as well with you, as though all men embraced the Gospel." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 176
"Seek to help save souls, not to destroy them: for verily you know, that 'there is more joy in heaven, over one sinner that repents, than there is over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.' Strive not about the mysteries of the kingdom; cast not your pearls before swine, give not the bread of the children to dogs, lest you and the children should suffer, and you thereby offend your righteous Judge." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 172
"When we arrived, some of the young elders were about engaging in a debate on the subject of miracles. The question-'Was it, or was it not, the design of Christ to establish his Gospel by miracles?' After an interesting debate of three hours or more, during which time much talent was displayed, it was decided, by the president of the debate, in the negative, which was a righteous decision. I discovered in this debate, much warmth displayed, too much zeal for mastery, too much of that enthusiasm that characterizes a lawyer at the bar, who is determined to defend his cause, right or wrong. I therefore availed myself of this favorable opportunity to drop a few words upon this subject, by way of advice, that they might improve their minds and cultivate their powers of intellect in a proper manner, that they might not incur the displeasure of heaven; that they should handle sacred things very sacredly, and with due deference to the opinions of others, and with an eye single to the glory of God." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 176-77
"Letting off steam always produces more heat than light." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1989
"The partisan, when he is engaged in a dispute, cares nothing about the rights of the question, but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions." Plato, Phaedo
"The moment a man or a woman becomes angry they show a great weakness." Wilford Woodruff, JD 4:98
"And thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in me, reviling not against revilers." D&C 19:30
"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." 3 Nephi 11:29
"When much dispute has past, we find our tenets just the same as last." Alexander Pope
"The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to others, but hides us from ourselves. We injure our own cause in the opinion of the world when we too passionately defend it." Charles Caleb Colton
"So long as a man is angry he cannot be right." Chinese Proverb, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson which is to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world." Mahatma Gandhi
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi
"In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves." Thomas Carlyle
"A person is just about as big as the things that make him angry." Unknown
"Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause." Victor Hugo
"Weakness on both sides is the motto of all quarrels." Voltaire
"Nothing does reason more right, than the coolness of those that offer it: For Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders, than from the arguments of its opposers." William Penn
"And now I speak concerning baptism. Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; and they were not baptized save they brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of it. Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins. And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end." Moroni 6:1-3
"He who is the most slow in making a promise is the most faithful in the performance of it." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"We must learn not to disassociate the airy flower from the earthy root, for the flower that is cut off from its root fades, and its seeds are barren, whereas the root, secure in mother earth, can produce flower after flower and bring their fruit to maturity." Kabbalah
"The people...if it is really to be free, can not have any master, but God." Louis Kossuth
"All men are alike in their dreams, and all men are alike in the promises they make. The difference is what they do." Moliere, 15th century French playwright
"It goes without saying that conversion in all ages, for all peoples, is dependent upon their receipt of the Spirit. No one gets a testimony of the divinity of the Lord's work unless he gains it from the Spirit -- that is, unless it comes by the power of the Holy Ghost. But the Book of Mormon is the means, the tool, the way which has been ordained and given so that men can get their hearts and souls in a frame of mind, in a condition where they can hearken to the testimony of the Spirit." Bruce R. McConkie, CR, April 1961, p. 38
"The gospel of Jesus Christ can make bad men good and good men better, can alter human nature, can change human lives." David O. McKay
"There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of the iron rod, and one who is not. I promise you that you will have more and better converts in every mission of the Church if you will teach and inspire missionaries to effectively use the Book of Mormon as the great converter." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 25 June 1986
"President Faust stated that two principles would lead to conversions of people in any country: 'First, the powerful bearing of testimony and, second, being guided by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.'" James E. Faust, LDS Church News, Saturday, June 26, 1999
"And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin. And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me. For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin. And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me. And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now." D&C 84:49-53
"And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation." D&C 35:12
"It is nobler to convert souls, than to conquer kingdoms." Louis Debonnaire
"What can we do? Maybe we cannot convert masses of people to a good life. But let the few who do hear live well. Let the few who live well endure the many who live badly." Saint Augustine
"To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them." Thomas Aquinas
"It is important that a man gets into the church, but it is more important that the church get into the man." Unknown
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'" Anonymous
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Lao Tzu
"What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of science is not able to make an oyster." Jeremy Taylor
"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator." Mahatma Gandhi
"There is no more reason to believe that man descended from some inferior animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion descended from a small cottage." William Jennings Bryan
"I have no special gift. I am only passionately curious." Albert Einstein
"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world." Arthur Schopenhauer
"It is easy to believe that something must be true because everyone else believes it. But the truth often only comes to light by daring to question the unquestionable, by doubting notions which are so commonly believed that they are taken for granted." Floyd Maxwell
"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Franklin D. Roosevelt
"...to strive consciously for an object and to engage in engineering --that is, incessantly and eternally to make new roads, wherever they may lead." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Things don't turn up in this world unless someone turns them up." James A. Garfield
"A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night." Marilyn Vos Savant
"I have never been contained except I made the prison." Mary Evans
"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen." Robert Bresson
"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind." Samuel Johnson
"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do
doesn't mean it's useless." Thomas Edison
"The overall objective to be accomplished in missionary work, temple work, providing for the needy, and bringing up our children in righteousness has always been the same; only our methods to accomplish these objectives have varied. Any faithful member in this dispensation, no matter when he lived, could have found righteous methods to have carried out these objectives without having to wait for the latest, specific Churchwide program." Ezra Taft Benson, God, Family, Country, p. 382
"It is wonderful what we can do as we practice a little ingenuity. You ought to take advantage of every opportunity in the world to speak with people about why we are there and what we are doing and give them some taste of a gospel message." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned." D&C 58:27-29
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." Albert von Szent-Gyorgy
"Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many." Baruch de Spinoza
"An inventor is simply a person who doesn't take his education too seriously. You see, from the time a person is six years old until he graduates from college he has to take three or four examinations a year. If he flunks once, he is out. But an inventor is almost always failing. He tries and fails maybe a thousand times. If he succeeds once then he's in. These two things are diametrically opposite. We often say that the biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep trying and failing until he learns what will work." Charles Kettering
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." Chinese Proverb
"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." Francis Bacon
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." Galileo Galilei
"You see things and you say 'Why?'; but I dream things that never were and I say 'Why not?'" George Bernard Shaw
"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking." J.K. Galbraith
"Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing." John Andrew Holmes
"The great creative individual...is capable of more wisdom and virtue than collective man ever can be." John Stuart Mill
"It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life." Julius Caesar
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." L.A. van de Snepscheut
"Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Inscription beneath his bust in the Hall of Fame
"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
"A mind is like a parachute; it only works when it is open." Sir James Dewar (1877-1923)
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
"We also wish [missionaries] to understand the geography, habits, customs, and laws of nations and kingdoms...This is recommended in the revelations given to us [see D&C 88:78-80. 93:53]. In them we are taught to study the best books, that we may become as well acquainted with the geography of the world as we are with our gardens, and as families with the people -- so far at least as they are portrayed in print -- as we are with our families and neighbors." Brigham Young, DBY p.254-55
"Young men and young women should be encouraged to include in their high school and college courses some of these languages. Some important factors to be kept in mind by all Americans who go abroad: (1) To learn another language is to learn that nation's way of thinking. We must have some knowledge of the religious and philosophical thoughts. (2) We must be conversant with the foreign life of its individual, social, and political aspects. (3) One should study and know their best literature. (4) Before you can understand a people you must know how they think. (5) Be respectful to other peoples' beliefs, and forms of worship, as you expect them to be tolerant with you and your teachings." David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life, p. 51-52
"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
"Looking at the world as a collection of individual nations is not the best approach because it assumes that all people in a nation are the same. Yugoslavia is a classic example. We thought it was one nation, but now we know that there are Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Muslims -- and they are all different." Don Kammerdiener
"Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought of that setting." Francis Schaeffer
"No two ages, and scarcely any two countries, have decided it alike; and the decision of one age or country is a wonder to another. Yet the people of any given age and country no more suspect any difficulty in it, than if it were a subject on which mankind had always been agreed. The rules which obtain among themselves appear to them self-evident and self-justifying." John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
"Targeting for evangelism begins with finding out all you can about your community. Your church needs to define its target in four specific ways: geographically, demographically, culturally, and spiritually...I must pay as much attention to the geography, customs, culture, and religious background of my community as I do to those who lived in Bible times if I am to faithfully communicate God's Word." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.160
"In matters of principles, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current." Thomas Jefferson
"Culture is not just an ornament; it is the expression of a nation's character, and at the same time it is a powerful instrument to mould character. The end of culture is right living." William Somerset Maugham
"To follow, without halt, one aim: There's the secret of success." Anna Pavlova
"I wish I could awaken in the heart of every man, woman, boy, and girl here this morning the great consuming desire to share the gospel with others. If you do that you live better, you try to make your lives more exemplary because you know that those you teach will not believe unless you back up what you say by the goodness of your lives." Gordon B. Hinckley, Alaska Anchorage Regional Conference, June 18, 1995
"If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely...change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now." George Sheehan
"Our headstrong passions shut the door of our souls against God." Confucius
"It is not from nature, but from education and habits, that our wants are chiefly derived." Henry Fielding
"You can't merely snap your fingers and get great faith in God, any more than you can snap your fingers and get great musical ability. Faith takes hold of us only when we take hold of it. The great psychologist, William James, said, 'That which holds our attention determines our action,' and one of the unfortunate things in life is that we sometimes focus our attention on the wrong things." Sterling W. Sill, Conference Report", April 1955, p.117
"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world..." D&C 121:34-45
"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62
"There is wickedness in the intention of wickedness, even though it may not be perpetrated in the act." Cicero
"Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it." George Bernard Shaw
"Tell me what you like and I'll tell you what you are." John Ruskin
"Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication but in the deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants." Mahatma Gandhi
"Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The fewer our wants, the nearer we resemble the gods." Socrates
"To be innocent is not to be guilty, but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations." William Penn
"[Christ] was perfect and sinless, not because he had to be, but rather because he clearly and determinedly wanted to be." Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, November 1976, p.19
"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing." Abraham Lincoln
"Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few stones upon it." Albert Schweitzer
"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he know exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it." Alexander Graham Bell
"The hill has not yet lifted its face to heaven that perseverance will not gain the summit of at last." Charles Dickens
"Every human mind is a great slumbering power until awakened by a keen desire and by definite resolution to do" Edgar F. Roberts
"Nothing of worth or weight can be achieved with half a mind, with a faint heart, and with a lame endeavor." Isaac Barrow
"The worth of every conviction consists precisely in the steadfastness with which it is held." Jane Addams
"Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies." Lord Chesterfield
"The will to conquer is the first condition of victory." Marshal Ferdinand Foch
"When every physical and mental resource is focused, one's power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously." Norman Vincent Peale
"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down 70 times and get up off the floor saying, 'Here comes number 71!'" Richard M. Devos
"Other people may not have had high expectations for me...but I had high expectations for myself." Shannon Miller, Olympic Gymnast
"Self-motivation flows from the importance we attach to today." Steve Chandler
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vincent T. Lombardi
"Great things are not something accidental, but must certainly be willed." Vincent van Gogh
"Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence, when you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably." Walt Disney
"The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions." William F. Scolavino
"Most people never run far enough on their first wind, to find out if they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got, and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you." William James
"Why is it that Latter-day Saints are enabled to convert people? It is because they have the truth to offer, because they have no doubt in their minds regarding the divinity of the work in which we are engaged." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 104
"Make certain decisions only once . . . We can make a single decision about certain things that we will incorporate in our lives and then make them ours - without having to brood and re-decide a hundred times what it is we will do and what we will not do." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1976
"Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories." Abraham Lincoln, Letter to Major General Joseph Hooker, January 26, 1863
"Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860
"You can have anything you want - if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose." Abraham Lincoln
"I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism have brought me to my ideas." Albert Einstein
"Some men succeed because they are destined to, but most because they are determined to." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." Benjamin Franklin
"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance." Bruce Barton
"All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right about face which turns us from failure to success." Dorthea Brande
"The purpose firm is equal to the deed." Edward Young
"Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we would always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible." Francois de la Rouchefoucauld
"'But' is a fence over which few leap." German Proverb
"I will find a way...if there is no way, I will make one." Hannibal
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." Henry Ford
"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions." James Freeman Clarke
"Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort. There must be the will to produce a superior thing." John Ruskin
"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests." John Stuart Mill
"There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose." Kin Hubbard
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." Mahatma Gandhi
"The history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity." Mahatma Gandhi
"A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop." Rupert Hughes, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great difference between the great and the insignificant, is energy -- invincible determination -- a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory." Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton
"A person with half volition goes backwards and forwards, but makes no progress on even the smoothest of roads." Thomas Carlyle
"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." Thomas Fowell Buxton
"The real difference between men is energy. A strong will, a settled purpose, an invincible determination, can accomplish almost anything; and in this lies the distinction between great men and little men." Thomas Fuller
"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination" Tommy Lasorda
"They are able because they think that they are able." Vergil
"It is wonderful what strength of purpose and boldness and energy of will are roused by the assurance that we are doing our duty." Walter Scott
"Great minds have great purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them." Washington Irving
"Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and God gives abundantly to industry. So plow deep while the sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep." Benjamin Franklin
"Energy and persistence will conquer all things." Benjamin Franklin
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence! Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent! Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts! Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb! Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge
"The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools." Confucius
"What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence." Samuel Johnson
"You will see plenty of the world--it will be before you all the time--but if you live so as to possess the Holy Ghost you will be able to understand more in relation to it in one day than you could in a dozen days without it, and you will at once see the difference between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God, and you can weigh things in the balance and estimate them at their true worth." Brigham Young, JD 12:34
"Work Smarter. Believe more. Listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Trust your own judgment." Gordon B. Hinckley, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Experience is the best teacher of discernment." Robert E. Hales, Ensign, May 1985, p. 29
"When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman." La Bruyere, Les Caractres, 1688
"Learning is acquired by reading books; but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired by reading man, and studying all the various editions of them." Lord Chesterfield
"You must look into people, as well as at them." Lord Chesterfield
"Do things which are hard to do." David O. McKay, Improvement Era, June 1951, p. 401
"It is not the macho thing. It is an indication of weakness. Anger is not an expression of strength. It is an indication of one's inability to control his thoughts, words, his emotions. Of course it is easy to get angry. When the weakness of anger takes over, the strength of reason leaves. Cultivate within yourselves the mighty power of self-discipline." Gordon B. Hinckley
"I have no hesitancy, brothers and sisters, in stating that unless checked, permissiveness, by the end of its journey, will cause humanity to stare in mute disbelief at its awful consequences." Neal A. Maxwell, LDS General Conference, April 1996
"Let him that would move the world, first move himself." Socrates
"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self." Aristotle
"The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success." Brian Tracey
"What you concentrate on largely determines the quality and quantity of the results that you get and the success that you enjoy." Brian Tracy
"The force is within you. Force yourself." Harrison Ford
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." Jim Rohn
"The best advice I ever came across on the subject of concentration is: Wherever you are, be there. When you work, work. When you play, play. Don't mix the two." Jim Rohn
"Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life's problems. Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems." M. Scott Peck
"Concentration is the magic key that opens the door to accomplishment. By concentrating our efforts upon a few major goals, our efficiency soars, our projects are completed -- we are going somewhere. By focusing our efforts to a single point, we achieve the greatest results. The first rule of success, and the one that supercedes all others, is to have energy. It is important to know how to concentrate it, how to husband it, how to focus it on important things instead of frittering it away on trivia." Michael Korda
"The education of the will is the object of our existence." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Self-mastery is a continuous program--a journey . . . Men do not suddenly become righteous any more than a tiny acorn suddenly becomes an oak." Spencer W. Kimball
"With self-discipline most anything is possible." Theodore Roosevelt
"Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not." Walter Bagehot
"Self-mastery is a challenge for every individual. Only we can control our appetites and passions. Self-mastery cannot be bought by money or fame. It is the ultimate test of our character. It requires climbing out of the deep valleys of our lives and scaling our own Mount Everests." James E. Faust, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"You may have heard the expression mind over matter. I would like to ...phrase it a little differently: spirit over body. That is self-mastery." Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, November 1985
"Edison was once asked how he accomplished so much. He said, 'It is deceptively simple. You and I have eighteen hours in a day in which we do something. You spend that eighteen hours doing a number of unrelated things. I spend it doing just one thing, and some of my work is bound to amount to something." Sterling W. Sill, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"There is no such thing as a great talent without great willpower." Balzac
"The only discipline that last is self discipline." Bum Phillips
"He who lives without discipline dies without honor." Icelandic Proverb
"If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent." Isaac Newton
"Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion." Jim Rohn
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." Jim Rohn
"Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control." Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
"When every physical and mental resource is focused - one's power to solve a problem multiplies tremendously." Norman Vincent Peale
"I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know that it has to get down to earth." Pearl Buck
"I have conquered an empire but I have not been able to conquer myself." Peter the Great
"None is deemed to be free who has not perfect self-command." Pythagorus, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Concentration is the secret of strength." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Most powerful is he who has in himself his own power." Seneca
"Show me a man who is not a slave. One is a slave to lust, another to greed, another to ambition, and all men are slaves to fear...No servitude is more disgraceful than that which is self-imposed." Seneca
"Educate men without religion and you make of them but clever Devils." Arthur Wellesley
"Only the educated are free." Epictetus
"An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer." Mahatma Gandhi
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Mark Twain
"Clearly, it is not by harshness or by severity, or by overbearing methods, that social evils are removed. It is by education rather than by formal commands, by persuasion rather than by threats." Saint Augustine
"All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education." Sir Walter Scott, letter to J G Lockhart, 16 June 1830
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." Richard Feynman
"It is a waste of time to fish in a spot where the fish aren't biting. Wise fishermen move on. They understand that fish feed in different spots at different times of the day. Nor are they hungry all the time. This is the principle of receptivity...At certain times, unbelievers are more responsive to spiritual truths than at other times. This receptivity often lasts only briefly, which is why Jesus said to go where the people would listen. Take advantage of the responsive hearts that the Holy Spirit prepares. Notice Jesus' instructions in Matthew 10:14 (NCV): 'If a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place...' This is a very significant statement that we shouldn't ignore. Jesus told the disciples they were not supposed to stay around unresponsive people. We aren't supposed to pick green fruit, but to find the ripe fruit and harvest it." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.187-88
"The best rest is a change of activity." Vladimir I. Lenin
"It is probable that the average man could, with no injury to his health, increase his efficiency fifty percent." Walter Scott
"A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope. " Epictetus
"I am thankful for small mercies. I compared notes with one of my friends who expects everything of the universe, and is disappointed when anything is less than the best, and I found that I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, and am always full of thanks for moderate goods." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The world belongs to the energetic." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I hope, my brothers and sisters, that you can infuse your missionaries with the spirit of capturing every great opportunity that comes their way. They will have failures, you'll have failures. They will have disappointments, you'll have disappointments.
Discouragement can become contagious. You must rise above it and lift those about you." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"There have been only a few millennia since Adam and Eve walked out of the garden. There have only been two millennia since the Savior walked the Earth. And you are going to be out doing His work during this change of millennia. I think it is a marvelous thing. The Church is really doing so well. I feel like saying hallelujah! Keep it up! Go forward with faith!" Gordon B. Hinckley
"We are in the business of communication. Missionaries need to communicate with people if we are to teach them the gospel. . . . But the missionaries still need to have the right attitude in contacting people. They need to cast aside all fear and be positive about the great message which is here." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, Saturday, June 26, 1999
"There is only one thing more contageous than enthusiasm, and that is the lack of enthusiasm." Thomas S. Monson, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." Aldous Huxley
"A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks." Charles Gordy
"One man has enthusiasm for thirty minutes, another for thirty days, but it is the man who has it for thirty years who makes a success of his life." Edward B. Butler
"I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish." Mother Teresa
"There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment." Norman Vincent Peale
"Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Every great and commanding moment in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face." Victor Hugo
"To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness." Confucius
"A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind; a message prepared in a life reaches a life." Bill Gothard
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy
"The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be." Socrates
"It is not uncommon for Elders to say, 'If I could have a mission, and be sent among strangers, I could speak to them, because they have not been instructed in the way of life and salvation; I could lay before them the principles of the Gospel, which have been taught to me, without that diffidence of feeling, and fear, which I experience while speaking to my brethren.' It is very true that the first principles of the Gospel taught by the Elders of this Church are easy to be understood, compared with what it is to preach them to our families, or to our neighborhood, and to govern and control ourselves by the principles of righteousness which the Gospel inculcates. Again, to gather the Saints, to preach the Gospel to the world, and convince them of the truth, are much easier tasks than to convince men that you can master yourself, and practise the moral principles inculcated by your religion. That is a small portion of the duty required of you in order to obtain crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:47
"Be smart -- in your appearance, in your deportment, in your manners. I am suggesting that you be clean and neat in your appearance, that you be gentle in your speech, that you be courteous and respectful in your manner...Whether you think it or not, you will reflect good or ill on the church by reason of your behavior." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, October 1981
"Let us as Latter-day Saints reach out to others not of our faith. Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, may we show love and respect and helpfulness toward them. We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love, and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"I do not believe we accomplish very much in life unless we are enthusiastic, unless we are in earnest, and unless we practice what we preach." Heber J. Grant, CR April 1910
"I maintain that it is the absolute duty of each and every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to so order his life that his example will be worthy of the imitation of all men, thus bringing credit and blessings to himself and his posterity and also making friends for the work of the Lord. This should be the loftiest ambition of every Latter-day Saint" Heber J. Grant, Era 3:192, cited in Gospel Standards p.43
"We carry upon our shoulders the reputation of the Church -- each and every one of us." Heber J. Grant, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Because we love the Lord, we should be spiritually sensitive to moments when the powerful and important truths of the gospel can be shared with others. Perhaps more importantly, however, we should seek at all times to purify ourselves and to lead such worthy lives that the Light of Christ emanates from us in all that we say and do. Our day-to-day lives should stand as immutable witness of our faith in Christ." M. Russell Ballard, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"The greatest missionary tool we have is that of demonstrating friendliness, brotherly kindness, harmony, love and peace in our homes and in all our church meetings." Theodore M. Burton, LDS General Conference, October 1974
"Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
"For every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness." Alma 32:31
"Example is not the main thing in life -- it is the only thing." Albert Schweitzer
"As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." Andrew Carnegie
"Be careful how you live; you will be the only Bible some people ever read." Anonymous
"The Master said, He does not preach what he practices till he has practiced what he preaches." Confucius
"A good example is far better than a good precept." D.L. Moody
"Men may not read the gospel in sealskin, or the gospel in morocco, or the gospel in cloth covers, but they can't get away from the gospel in shoe leather." Donald Grey Barnhouse
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way: The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear, fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear." Edgar A. Guest
"Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other" Edmund Burke
"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips." Goldsmith
"Worth begets in base minds, envy; in great souls, emulation." Henry Fielding
"A man has no more religion than he acts out in his life." Henry Ward Beecher
"Religion is the best armor in the world, but the worst cloak." John Bunyan
"If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today." Mahatma Gandhi
"If you don't ask, you don't get. We must become the change we want to see." Mahatma Gandhi
"To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest." Mahatma Gandhi
"We must become the change we want to see." Mahatma Gandhi
"In order to be Christians, we should resemble Christ, of this I am firmly convinced. Gandhi once said that if Christians lived according to their faith, there would be no more Hindus left in India. People expect us to be consistent with our Christian life." Mother Teresa
"Often we Christians constitute the worst obstacle for those who try to become closer to Christ; we often preach a gospel we do not live. This is the principle reason why people of the world don't believe." Mother Teresa
"When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them." Plato
"Go put your creed into your deed, nor speak with double tongue." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Is your Christianity ancient history--or current events?" Samuel M. Shoemaker
"Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears. The effect of precepts is, therefore, slow and tedious, while that of examples is summary and effectual." Seneca
"Let him that would move the world, first move himself." Socrates
"I want to see you shoot the way you shout." Theodore Roosevelt
"Conviction never so excellent, is worthless until it turns itself into conduct" Thomas Carlyle
"He does not believe that does not live according to his belief ." Thomas Fuller
"Where Example keeps pace with Authority, Power hardly fails to be obey'd." William Penn
"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded." Alexander Pope
"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else." Benjamin Franklin
"If you expect perfection from other people, your whole life is a series of disappointments, grumbling and complaints. If, on the contrary, you pitch your expectations low, taking folks as the inefficient creatures which they are, you are frequently surprised by having them perform better than you had hoped." Bruce Barton
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." Douglas Adams
"There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave." Ernest Hemingway
"We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience." George Bernard Shaw
"Take time to gather up the past so that you will be able to draw from your experiences and invest them in the future. Don't let the learning from your own experiences take too long. If you have been doing it wrong for the last ten years, I would suggest that's long enough!" Jim Rohn
"You don't learn anything the second time you're kicked by a mule." Anonymous
"A little experience often upsets a lot of theory." Cadman
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a mistake when you make it again." F. P. Jones
"There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your greatcoat." J. R. Lowell
"The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it." Jean-Paul Sartre
"Experience is the worst teacher. It always gives the test first and the instruction afterwards." Mark Twain
"Most people would desire--if it were possible--to obtain at once the joys of lovely and perfect wisdom, without the endurance of toil in action and suffering. However, that is impossible in this mortal life...In the discipline of the human, the toil of doing the work precedes the delight of understanding the truth." Saint Augustine
"I never once made a discovery...I speak without exaggeration that I have constructed three thousand different theories in connection with the electric light...Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory." Thomas A. Edison
"The mind, in discovering truths, acts in the same manner as it acts trhough the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it." Thomas Paine
"There can be no theory of any account unless it corroborates with the theory of the earth." Walt Whitman
"Unless we do his teachings, we do not demonstrate faith in him." Ezra Taft Benson
"Righteousness is a companion to faith. Strong faith is earned by keeping the commandments." James E. Faust, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" James 2:19-20
"Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind." Cicero
"Faithfulness and sincerity are the highest things." Confucius
"It is better to be faithful than famous." Theodore Roosevelt
"He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and you will see the effect when the weaving of a lifetime is unraveled." William Ellery Channing
"A faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted." Adrian Rogers
"Good homes are not easily created or maintained. They require discipline, not so much of children as of self." Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something, p. 165
"A worried society now begins to see that the disintegration of the family brings upon the world the calamities foretold by the prophets. The world's councils and deliberations will succeed only when they define the family as the Lord has revealed it to be. 'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it' (Ps. 127:1).
" Howard W. Hunter, LDS General Conference, October 1994
"Good homes are still the best source of good humans." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, October 1974, p.71
"Those who do too much for their children will soon find they can do
nothing with their children. So many children have been so much done for they are almost done in." Neal A. Maxwell, CR April 1975 p. 150
"A child needs a mother more than all the things money can buy. Spending time with your children is the greatest gift of all." Ezra Taft Benson
"Good homes are not easily created or maintained. They require discipline, not so much of children as of self." Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something, p. 165
"Positive sibling relationships begin with parents who model
fairness." Jay Kessler
"If the children are untaught, their ignorance and vices will in
future life cost us much dearer in their consequences than it would
have done in their correction by a good education." Thomas Jefferson
"We should commence our labors of love and kindness with the family to which we belong, and then extend them to others." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.271
"The law of cause and effect is working in parenthood as it is in any other law of nature. There is a responsibility upon all, and especially upon fathers and mothers, to set examples to children and young people worthy of imitation. Parents must be sincere in upholding law and upholding the priesthood in their homes, that children may see a proper example." David O. McKay, Conference Report, April 1927
"The patterns we set in our homes and the values we develop there, whether they be good or bad, almost cannot be overcome." Dean L. Larson, Ensign, May 1983
"The Lord has given us a commandment that we shall teach our children the principles of the gospel and have them baptized when they are eight years of age. If we fail to keep this commandment, the blessings that are promised to us by the Lord will be revoked, and we will have to mourn and sorrow in seeing our children grow up without a desire to serve God. And in after years, when we endeavor to instil into their minds of the principles of the gospel, we will make a failure of it." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p.164
"Parents have the glorious opportunity of being the most powerful influence, above and beyond any other, on the new lives that bless their homes." L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 1989, p. 114
"It was President Harold B. Lee who said that the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers and the fathers to the children was not only a commission to do work for the dead, but it also applied to the living and the importance of keeping those family relationships intact in this life." Loren C. Dunn, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"The failure of parents to teach their children affects not only them and their children but whole civilizations." Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1969, p.108
"We should remember that any disobedience to God or any other offenses that we pick up in our own lives are soon transmitted to others, particularly our children. That is, the power of example is the greatest power in the world. That is the way we learn to walk. That is the way we learn to talk. That is why we speak with the accent we do. That is how we learn to dress ourselves. That is why we have our hair cut and our clothing tailored the way we do." Sterling W. Sill, CR April 1960, p.68
"All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." Abraham Lincoln
"A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day." Andre Marois
"A single man has not nearly the value he would have in a state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors." Benjamin Franklin
"It is the man and woman united that make the complete human being. Separate, she wants his force of body and strength of reason; he, her softness, sensibility and acute discernment. Together, they are most likely to succeed in the world." Benjamin Franklin
"The family is the most basic unit of government. As the first community to which a person is attached and the first authority under which a person learns to live, the family establishes society's most basic values." Charles Colson
"In a broken nest there are few whole eggs." Chinese Proverb
"Women know what men have long forgotten. The ultimate economic and spiritual unit of any civilization is still the family." Clare Booth Luce
"A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian...and most of all his family ought to know." D.L. Moody
"He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"A happy family is but an earlier heaven." John Bohring
"I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effect of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul." Mahatma Gandhi
"The greatest lessons in life, if we would but stoop and humble ourselves, we should learn not from the grown-up learned men, but from the so-called ignorant children. " Mahatma Gandhi
"A great poverty reigns in a country that allows taking the life of an unborn child -- a child created in God's image, created to live and to love. His or her life is not for destroying but for living, despite the selfishness of those who fear that they lack the means to feed or educate one more child." Mother Teresa
"Sometimes it is harder for us to smile at those who live with us, the immediate members of our families, than it is to smile at those who are not so close to us. Let us never forget: love begins at home." Mother Teresa
"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher." Socrates
"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams." Dr. Jonas Salk
"Courage is imperial. It underlies true achievement. Unless we havemoral nerve to live out our convictions, they are of small account." Anonymous
"Most fears in the end are fears of oneself and can be conquered by bringing in the Lord as an ally." Arthur Henry King , Cited in Ensign, April 1975, p.16
"To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom." Bertrand Russell
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone." Bill Cosby
"Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside." Brian Tracy
"Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality." C. S. Lewis
"And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more." Erika Jong
"Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor." James L. Allen
"Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease." Jim Rohn
"The brave man is not he who feels no fear, for that were stupid and irrational; but he, whose noble soul its fears subdues, and bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from." Joanna Baille
"He that is over-cautious will accomplish little." Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." Marcus Aurelius
"I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened." Mark Twain
"Knowledge is the antidote to fear." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Playing safe is probably the most unsafe thing in the world. You cannot stand still. You must go forward." Robert Collier
"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can." Robert Cushing
"The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work." Robert Frost
"Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others." Samuel Johnson
"Oh how vain and vile a passion is this fear! What base, uncomely things it makes men do." Samuel Johnson
"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult." Seneca
"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." Swedish Proverb
"The most drastic and usually the most effective remedy for fear is direct action." William Burnham
"Courage is rightly considered the foremost of virtues, for upon it, all others depend." Winston Churchill
"When I went on a mission, my father gave me a little card with a verse from the New Testament, the words of the Lord to the centurion servant who brought news concerning the little daughter of the centurion. Those words, 'be not afraid, only believe.' I commend those words to each of us, my brothers and sisters. You do not need to fear if you are on the side of right." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley p. 221
"Your fears leave you. You are not afraid to go up and knock on a door. That is a terrible thing the first time you try it, but your fears leave you. There comes into your hearts a new assurance and a new boldness that you didn't have." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Disciples of Christ in every generation are invited, indeed commanded, to be filled with a perfect brightness of hope. (See 2 Ne. 31:20.) This faith and hope of which I speak is not a Pollyanna-like approach to significant personal and public problems. I don't believe we can wake up in the morning and simply by drawing a big 'happyface' on the chalkboard believe that is going to take care of the world's difficulties. But if our faith and hope are anchored in Christ, in his teachings, commandments, and promises, then we are able to count on something truly remarkable, genuinely miraculous, which can part the Red Sea and lead modern Israel to a place 'where none shall come to hurt or make afraid.' (_Hymns_, 1985, no. 30.) Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal which Satan uses to make mankind unhappy. He who fears loses strength for the combat of life in the fight against evil. Therefore the power of the evil one always tries to generate fear in human hearts. In every age and in every era, mankind has faced fear. As children of God and descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we must seek to dispel fear from among people. A timid, fearing people cannot do their work well, and they cannot do God's work at all. The Latter-day Saints have a divinely assigned mission to fulfill which simply must not be dissipated in fear and anxiety." Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, October 1993
"[Missionaries should] fear not and doubt not. We have a leader who fears not and doubts not." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"Fear is the devil's first and chief tool." John A. Widtsoe, CR, April 1950, p. 127
"But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them. And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have." D&C 60:2-3
"It has been well said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." Charles Spurgeon
"The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear." Confucius
"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared." David Ben-Gurion
"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." Dorothy Bernard
"If you put on more garments, the cold cannot reach you. Similarly, increase your patience and concentration and even great injuries cannot vex your mind." Leonardo da Vinci
"All fear is a sign of want of faith." Mahatma Gandhi, Letters From Bapu, No. 8
"Cowards can never be moral." Mahatma Gandhi
"Fear has its use but cowardice has none." Mahatma Gandhi
"Courage consists in equality to the problem before us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of horror, or to beset life with supernumerary distresses." Samuel Johnson
"When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened." Winston Churchill
"We desire all potential members to be friendshipped. Our youth should be involved in missionary work. Some of our finest converts come through the young people of the Church. We hope that home teachers are working closely with those part-member families to see that the Gospel is taught to the non-members in that household." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 209
"Every one of us has an obligation to fellowship those (converts), to put our arms around them, to bring them into the Church in full activity. It is not enough just to go to Church on Sundays, we must reach out each day. I wish with all my heart that in Costa Rica every man, woman, and child who was baptized would remain faithful and active. And that can happen if all of you make up your minds to reach out and help the new convert. There is no point in the missionaries baptizing people only to have them come into the Church for a little while and then drift off. You have remained faithful, and I thank you for that, but again urge that you make an extra effort to reach out to those who have recently been baptized. They cannot do it alone. They are not strong enough yet. They need your help. God bless you to fellowship the new convert. That is so very, very important. That is a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only as we reach out to help others are we truly Latter-day Saints." Gordon B. Hinckley, member fireside, San Jose, Costa Rica, Jan 20, 1997
"With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with 'the good word of God' (Moro. 6:4). It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things." Gordon B. Hinckley
"We must do something to change the emphasis from teaching to a guardians-watching-over-the-Church kind of concept. Until we can get that into their minds, we are not going to do the kind of home teaching that is going to get results." Harold B. Lee, Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 499
"Great sermons have been preached in this church by the simple shaking of hands." J. Golden Kimball, Conference Report, April 1899, p.53
"I believe we must be prepared for more converts coming into the Church than we have ever had before. Perhaps it may not happen in every country. But in the main, the harvest will increase. The Church is being brought out of the wilderness 'clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.' (D&C 5:14.)" James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings." D&C 108:7
"Christians need relationships to grow. We don't grow in isolation; we develop in the context of fellowship." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.339
"In the survey of the unchurched that I took prior to beginning Saddleback, the second most common complaint I discovered was 'Church members are unfriendly to visitors. We feel we don't fit.' Long before the pastor preaches, visitors are already deciding whether or not they will come back. They are asking themselves, 'Do I feel welcome here?'" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.211
"Friends are lost by calling often and calling seldom." Scottish Proverb
"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow." Swedish Proverb
"Either do not attempt at all, or go through with it." Ovid
"Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own." Chinese Proverb, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it." Confucius
"Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble." French Proverb
"Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation." Henry Ward Beecher
"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi
"Hate the sin and love the sinner." Mahatma Gandhi
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Mahatma Gandhi
"Freedom is the right to do what you ought to do." Bishop Fulton Sheen
"No man has a right to do what he pleases, except when he pleases to do right." Charles Simmons
"No society in which these liberties are not, on the whole, respected, is free, whatever may be its form of government; and none is completely free in which they do not exist absolute and unqualified. The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it." John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
"Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having." Mahatma Gandhi
"Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." Pope John Paul II
"The great law of culture: Let each become all that he was created capable of being." Thomas Carlyle
"The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend." Abraham Lincoln
"When a dove begins to associate with crows its feathers remain white but its heart grows black." German Proverb
"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Sir, I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance." Samuel Johnson
"Goals are good. Laboring with a distant aim sets the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives' Seminar, April 3, 1974
"Where performance is measured, performance improves. Where performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." Thomas S. Monson
"Perfection of means and confusion of aims seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age." Albert Einstein
"Setting goals for significant accomplishments you want to achieve in your life, both personal and professional accomplishments, costs you nothing. Failure to set them can cost you plenty. You are smack in the middle of the only life your going to have. You can choose to succeed, or choose to drift; having goals makes the difference." Alec Mackenzie
"A goal is a dream that has an ending." Duke of Ellington
"Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach." Earl Nightingale
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." Flannery O
"In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high." Henry David Thoreau
"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small steps." Henry Ford
"If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow
that flies feels the attraction of earth." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles." Jim Rohn
"You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills." Jim Rohn
"All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims." Lou Holtz
"The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he pursues." Marcus Aurelius
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting
started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small
manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." Mark Twain
"You have to assume that you're in business for the long haul. That belief will drive you to build value." Regis McKenna
"Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day." Sanscrit Proverb
"If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster." Stephen R. Covey
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
"One may miss the mark by aiming too high, as too low." Thomas Fuller
"Missionaries should have goals but they should not be imposed by the mission president, his assistants or the zone leaders. I am persuaded that the missionaries will be more dedicated to their work, will be more committed, if they have set their own goals, and happier in their labors than if goals are imposed upon them. The best motivation is self-motivation." James E. Faust, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, June 21, 1996
"Our goals should stretch us bit by bit. So often when we think we have encountered a ceiling, it is really a psychological or experimental barrier that we have built ourselves. We built it and we can remove it. Just as correct principles, when applied, carry their own witness that they are true, so do correct personal improvement programs. But we must not expect personal improvement without pain or some 'remodeling.' We can't expect to have the thrills of revealed religion without the theology. We cannot expect to have the soul stretching without Christian service." Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple, pp. 33-34
"We do believe in setting goals...we must have goals to make progress, encouraged by keeping records...Laboring with a distant aim sets the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best...Goals should always be made to a point that will make us reach and strain." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 3, 1974
"We'd like to get back into baptizing many, many people...What we want you to do is to establish goals. Now somebody also got mixed up and they thought goal was spelled, 'q-u-o-t-a,' and it isn't, that's another word. Now there's a tremendous difference between a goal and a quota...We hope that every one of you will have a goal and have a goal every month." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 3, 1974
"A half-hearted goal may get you halfway to where you want to go... but I doubt it. It's more likely to get you just as far as the first detour, and off you go in another direction." Alec Mackenzie
"In the long run men hit only what they aim at." Henry David Thoreau
"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." Jim Rohn
"The aims and ideals that move us are generated by imagination. But they are not made out of imaginary stuff. They are made out of the hard stuff of the world of physical and social experience." John Dewey
"Lord grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish." Michelangelo
"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments." Napoleon Hill
"While we may surpass our goals, we can never surpass our dreams. The extent to which we can achieve is therefore only limited by the breadth of our vision and our capacity to follow through." R. Dale Jeffery, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves--to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today." Stewart B. Johnson
"A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder." Thomas Carlyle
"Great minds have purposes, others have wishes." Washington Irving
"You ask: `What is our aim?' I can answer in one word: `Victory!' Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be: for without victory there is no survival." Winston Churchill
"It has been claimed that God was without form, even though the holy Scriptures teach that God created man in his own image. In fact, we are told by Paul the apostle that Jesus Christ was in the express image of his Father. Are we then created in the image of a formless entity? For us, God is not an abstraction. He is not an idea, a metaphysical principle, an impersonal force or power. He is a concrete, living person. And though in our human frailty we cannot know the total mystery of his being, we know that he is akin to us, for he is revealed to us in the divine personality of his Son, Jesus Christ, and he is, in fact, our Father." Hugh B. Brown, Conference Report, April 1969, p.51
"The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of man; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?" Benjamin Franklin
"The message you carry is a precious and wonderful message. There is no greater message in all the world than this of which you bear testimony." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, LDS Church News, July 3, 1999
"This gospel has often been spoken of as a way of life. This however is not quite accurate. Consisting as it does of the principles and ordinances necessary to man's exaltation it is not just a way of life, it is the one and only way of life by which men may accomplish the full purpose of their mortality." Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, October 1958, p.95
"Christianity is either relevant all the time or useless anytime. It is not just a phase of life; it is life itself." Richard Halverson
"Gratitude is the heart's memory." French Proverb
"Good habits are developed in the workshops of our daily lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built. That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life." Delbert L. Stapley, CR, October 1974, page 25
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." Aristotle
"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." Harvey Mackay
"To learn new habits is everything, for it is to reach the
substance of life. Life is but a tissue of habits." Henri Fredric Amiel
"A testimony is a priceless gift from God. But even though a person may receive a witness through the Holy Ghost, there is no guarantee that this testimony will remain steadfast unless the person exerts constant effort to keep that testimony alive." Henry D. Taylor, LDS General Conference, April 1971
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." Jim Ryun
"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones." Phillips Brooks
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." Vince Lombardi
"A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit." Desiderius Erasmus
"It seems in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has accumulated during the first half." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Make good habits and they will make you." Parks Cousins
"You cannot talk about character without talking about habits" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.248
"Our eternal happiness will be in proportion to the way that we devote ourselves to helping others." George Albert Smith, CR, October 1936, p. 71
"When the Spirit of God burns in your soul, you cannot be otherwise than happy." George Albert Smith, CR, April 1950, p. 169
"The surest step toward joy in the morning is virtue in the evening." Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, November 1986, p. 67
"The survey has proved conclusively what has long been held theoretically to be true, that wants are almost insatiable; that one want satisfied makes way for another." 1929 Herbert Hoover Committee on Recent Economic Changes
"What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?" Adam Smith
"I am happy because I want nothing from anyone. I do not care for money. Decorations, titles, or distinctions mean nothing to me. I do not crave praise." Albert Einstein
"It is still the best to concern oneself with eternals, for from them alone flows the spirit that can restore peace and serenity to the
world of humans." Albert Einstein
"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace." Albert Schweitzer
"I find nothing can contribute to true happiness that is inconsistent with duty." Benjamin Franklin
"To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness." Bertrand Russell
"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today." Dale Carnegie
"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has." Epictetus
"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy they are who already possess it." Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it." George Bernard Shaw
"Nothing will content him who is not content with a little." Greek Proverb
"True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but
through fidelity to a worthy purpose." Helen Keller
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." Hugh Downs
"It is not God's will merely that we should be happy, but that we
should make ourselves happy." Immanuel Kant
"The man who is born with a talent which he is meant to use finds his greatest happiness in using it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Happiness walks on busy feet." Kitte Turmell
"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our
dispositions, and not on our circumstances." Martha Washington
"Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as you spare time." Pablo Picasso
"Learn to be pleased with everything; with wealth, so far as it makes us beneficial to others; with poverty, for not having much to care for, and with obscurity, for being unenvied. " Plutarch
"If you would make a man happy, do not add to his possessions
but subtract from the sum of his desires." Seneca
"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature." Socrates
"A man is wealthy when he knows that he has enough." Tibetian Proverb
"We each long to have the 'once upon a time' of our lives filled with so much happiness that it becomes the 'happily ever after' of our hopes and dreams. We are living in our 'once upon a time.'... It is living the gospel of Jesus Christ that is our guarantee of living 'happily ever after." Coleen K. Menlove, LDS General Conference, April 2000
"The real secret of happiness in life and the way in which to prepare ourselves for the hereafter is service, and it is because we give service more than any other people in the world that we are happy." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 187
"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.255
"Ask any people, nations, kingdoms, or generations of men the question, and they will tell you they are seeking for happiness, but how are they seeking for it? Take the greatest portion of mankind as an ensample, and how are they seeking for happiness? By serving the devil as fast as they can, and almost the last being or thing that the children of men worship, and the last being whose laws they want to keep are the laws of the God of heaven. They will not worship God nor honour His name, nor keep His laws, but blaspheme His name, from day to day... If we really understood that we could not obtain happiness by walking in the paths of sin and breaking the laws of God, we should then see the folly of it, every man and every woman would see that to obtain happiness we should go to work and perform the works of righteousness, and do the will of our Father in heaven, for we shall receive at His hand all the happiness, blessing, glory, salvation, exaltation, and eternal lives, that we ever do receive, either in time or eternity. We should understand that we should not deceive ourselves in this matter, for if we deceive ourselves we shall suffer the loss. We may just as well search our own hearts, and at once resolve that we will do the works of righteousness, honour our Father in heaven, do our duty to God and man, take hold and build up the kingdom of God, and we will then understand that in order to obtain happiness and satisfy the immortal soul in a fullness of glory, that man must abide a celestial law, and be quickened by a portion of the celestial Spirit of God; and we will also understand that to commit sin, break the law of God, and blaspheme His name, will bring sorrow and misery, and it will bring death, both temporally and spiritually. If we walk in the paths of unrighteousness, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and grieve our brethren, and injure ourselves." Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses 4:192
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Albert Schweitzer
"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." Colette
"If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue." Edmund Burke
"Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence, not in an exemption from suffering." Frances Fenelon
"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known." Garrison Keillor
"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring." George Santayana
"Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit." Hosea Ballou
"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do." James M. Barrie
"Happy is the man who early learns the wide chasm that lies between his wishes and his powers." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and happy purchase" John Balguy
"In our pursuit of the things of this world, we usually prevent enjoyment by expectation; we anticipate our happiness, and eat out the heart and sweetness of worldly pleasures by delightful forethoughts of them; so that when we come to possess them, they do not answer the expectation, nor satisfy the desires which were raised about them, and they vanish into nothing." John Tillotson
"True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents." John W. Gardner
"The pleasures of the world are deceitful; they promise more than they give. They trouble us in seeking them, they do not satisfy us when possessing them, and they make us despair in losing them." Mad. de Lambert
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Mahatma Gandhi
"Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us: avarice, ambition, envy, anger and pride. If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace." Petrarch
"Bad times! Troublesome times! This is what people are saying. Let our lives be good and the times will be good. For we make our own times. Such as we are, such are the times." Saint Augustine
"Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones." Seneca
"If all the misfortunes of mankind were cast into a public stack in order to be equally distributed among the whole species, those who now think themselves the most unhappy would prefer the share they are already possessed of before that which would fall to them by such a division." Socrates
"We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy and more although abounding in wealth who are wretched." Tacitus
"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, that gives happiness." Thomas Jefferson
"Be careful, and be wise. Take care of yourselves. Protect yourselves against physical danger." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Keep you apartments tidy, make your beds every day, live orderly lives. Live lives that will preserve your health. A sick missionary is a handicap." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." George Orwell
"The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer and obtain divine teaching." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 191
"This work of reactivation is done a soul at a time, quietly and with dignity...and if some bristle a bit, then let us learn how to pat a porcupine." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1982, p. 37
"Home teachers can help stem the tide of evil. When our home teachers are made to realize and are schooled in their responsibilities to teach and urge parents to assume their responsibilities, we will be able to stem the tide of evil which is sweeping over the world." Harold B. Lee
"Home teaching is missionary work to the member. Missionary work is home teaching to the nonmember." Harold B. Lee
"Hope is an anchor to the souls of men." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, page 398
"Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues." Confucius
"Humility is the part of wisdom, and is most becoming in men. But let no one discourage self-reliance; it is, of all the rest, the greatest quality of true manliness." Louis Kossuth
"Self-esteem is different than conceit. Conceit is the weirdest disease in the world. It makes everyone sick except the one who has it." Hartman Rector, Jr., Ensign, May 1979
"Humility is royalty without a crown." Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, August 1963
"So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." 1 Corinthians 3:7
"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius." Arthur Conan Doyle, Complete Sherlock Holmes
"The graveyards are full of indispensable men." Charles de Gaulle
"A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions." Confucius
"It is the way of the superior man to prefer the concealment of his virtue, while it daily becomes more illustrious, and it is the way of the mean man to seek notoriety, while he daily goes more and more to ruin." Confucius
"Big words seldom accompany good deeds." Danish Proverb
"It is an indiscreet and troublesome ambition that cares so much about fame; about what the world says of us; to be always looking in the faces of others for approval; to be always anxious about the effect of what we do or say; to be always shouting to hear the echoes of our own voices." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"There's a lot to be said for the fellow who doesn't say it himself." Maurice Switzer
"If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people." Oriental Proverb
"A great man is always willing to be little." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundation of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation." Saint Augustine
"Unless humility precede, accompany, and follow up all the good we accomplish, unless we keep our eyes fixed on it, pride will snatch everything right out of our hands." Saint Augustine
"The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation." William Hutton
"I weigh the man, not his title; 'tis not the king's stamp can make the metal better." William Wycherley
"If we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a 'wandering to find home,' why should we not look forward to the arrival?" C.S. Lewis
"All of us have mortal bodies, composed of perishable matter, but the soul lives forever." Flavius Josephus
"Life is the childhood of our immortality" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"In all we do we must cultivate faith. Increased faith is the touchstone to improved church performance." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1984, p. 99
"The simple fact is this: anything that does not draw us closer to God takes us away from Him. We have no middle ground, no foggy gray area where we can sin a little without suffering spiritual decline." Joseph F. Wirthlin, LDS General Conference, October 1992
"My father used to say: 'The true way to honor the past is to improve upon it.'" N. Eldon Tanner, Ensign, July 1976, p. 4
"You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was." Abraham Lincoln
"Bureaucracy is the death of any achievement." Albert Einstein
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." Albert Einstein
"The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." Albert Einstein
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley
"A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." Alexander Pope
"When you blame others you give up your power to change." Anonymous
"A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it." Bovee
"No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals." Brian Tracy
"There are countless ways of attaining greatness, but any road to reaching one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity." Buck Rodgers
"You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read." Charles Jones
"There are no secrets to success: Don't waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for who you work, and persistence." Colin Powell
"The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way." Dale Carnegie
"If you really want to make a difference, stand up for an unpopular cause." Edward Asner
"A study compared the personal qualities of people whose performance is so extraordinary we call them "geniuses." Geniuses were found to have three traits in common:
1 . They take an organized, orderly approach to solving problems.
2 . They maintain an attitude of wonder about the world around them, a habit of seeing things from a fresh, open perspective.
3 . They are able to concentrate harder and longer than the average person on whatever interests them." Floyd Maxwell
"The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters." Frederick Douglass
"Decisions determine destiny." Frederick Speakman
"Realists do not fear the results of their study." Fyodor Dostoyevski
"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. It may mean a giving up of familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, values no longer believed in. As Dostoevsky put it, 'Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.'" Gail Sheehy
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure." General Colin Powell
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." George Bernard Shaw
"To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." George Orwell
"99% of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." George Washington Carver
"When we blame, we give away our power." Greg Anderson
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." Henry Ford
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else
expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard
master to yourself - and be lenient to everybody else." Henry Ward Beecher
"It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his
faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him
and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship." Henry Ward Beecher
"The past cannot be changed. The future is still in your power." Hugh White
"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in the lack of understanding, but in the lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Have courage to use your own understanding!" Immanuel Kant
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin
"At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you." Jim Rohn
"I used to say, 'I sure hope things will change.' Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change." Jim Rohn
"Learn how to turn frustration into fascination. You will learn more being fascinated by life than you will by being frustrated." Jim Rohn
"Life asked you to make measurable progress in reasonable time. That's
why they make those fourth grade chairs so small - so you won't fit
in them at age twenty-five." Jim Rohn
"One of the best places to start to turn your life around is by doing
whatever appears on your mental 'I should' list." Jim Rohn
"We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or
desperation." Jim Rohn
"He who moves not forward, goes backward." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." John F. Kennedy
"A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires." Joseph Conrad
"Life can be real rough...you can either learn from your problems, or keep repeating them over and over." Marie Osmond
"In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we
need to be by remaining what we are." Max De Pree
"Never walk away from failure. On the contrary, study it carefully -- and imaginatively -- for its hidden assets." Michael Korda
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." Oprah Winfrey
"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." Oscar Wilde
"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what
it is still possible for you to do." Pope John XXIII
"A problem well defined is a problem half solved." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good
learner would not miss." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already
mastered, you will never grow." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up." Robert Frost
"If at first you don't succeed, find out why." Stephen R. Covey
"There is no one better to talk to than yourself if you really want to get things worked out. No other person has as much information about your problems, and no one knows your skills and capabilities better." Steve Chandler
"Is it an unreasonable conjecture, that the errors which may be contained in the plan of the convention are such as have resulted rather from the defect of antecedent experience on this complicated and difficult subject, than from a want of accuracy or care in the investigation of it; and, consequently such as will not be ascertained until an actual trial shall have pointed them out? It is a matter both of wonder and regret, that those who raise so many objections against the new Constitution should never call to mind the defects of that which is to be exchanged for it. It is not necessary that the former should be perfect; it is sufficient that the latter is more imperfect. No man would refuse to give brass for silver or gold, because the latter had some alloy in it." The Federalist Papers, no. 38
"I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded
is another step forward." Thomas A. Edison
"The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty.
The activist is the man who cleans up the river." Unknown
"There are times when a man should be content with what he has, but
never with what he is." William George Jordan
"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction." Winston Churchill
"Progress or perish." B.H. Roberts, LDS Speakers Sourcebook, p.360
"How do we achieve spirituality? How do we attain that degree of holiness wherein we can have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and view and evaluate the things of this world with the perspective of eternity? We seek spirituality through faith, repentance, and baptism; through forgiveness of one another; through fasting and prayer; through righteous desires and pure thoughts and actions. We seek spirituality through service to our fellowmen; through worship; through feasting on the word of God, in the scriptures and in the teachings of the living prophets. We attain spirituality through making and keeping covenants with the Lord, through conscientiously trying to keep all the commandments of God. Spirituality is not acquired suddenly. It is the consequence of a succession of right choices. It is the harvest of a righteous life." Dallin H. Oaks, LDS General Conference, October 1985
"The true purpose of life is the perfection of humanity through
individual effort, under the guidance of God's inspiration." David O. McKay
"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life (see Matthew 10:39)." Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson p. 361
"The course of our lives is not determined by great, awesome decisions. Our direction is set by the little day-to-day choices which chart the track on which we run." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, October 1973
"I have given much advice to the Latter-day Saints in my time, and one of the principle items was never to criticise any one but ourselves. I believe in fault-finding for breakfast, dinner and supper, but with our own dear selves." Heber J. Grant, LDS General Conference, April 1902
"I shall go to my grave saying that missionaries... never rise in their entire life above the stature they carve out for themselves in the mission field. I ask the missionaries all over the world to write that in their book, and then read the book ten years from now." Henry D. Moyle, Address to California Mission, June 2, 1962
"Progressing through life is like running a marathon . . . [It] requires a good start and a strong, consistent effort all of the way to the finish." Joseph B. Wirthlin, November 1989 Ensign, p.73
"The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts only can find them out." Joseph Smith
"We can easily see the improvements that the people are making. It is like the babe that passes from a state of infancy to childhood, and thence to manhood. You cannot tell the particular moments of its growth and increase in stature; you cannot point out the particular day, hour, or minute in which it increases; but you are all the time perfectly aware that it is gaining, growing, becoming greater continually. It is precisely so in regard to ourselves spiritually. If we are doing our duty, though we cannot point out the moment, the day, or the particular time when we receive the increase of knowledge, wisdom, or power, yet we know and feel conscious, as we reflect back, that we have gained." Lorenzo Snow, JD 9:21
"Human development...consists of both refusing to do evil and choosing to do good." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, July 1976, page 72
"From the errors of others a wise man corrects his own." Publius Syrus
"We make our own destiny...We can satisfy ourselves with mediocrity. We can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless, or we can so channel our lives to be clean, vibrant, progressive, colorful, and rich." Spencer W. Kimball, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Can we not appreciate that our very business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves? To break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our todays, to bear our trials more beautifully than we ever dreamed we could, to give as we have never given, to do our work with more force and a finer finish than ever- this is the true idea: to get ahead of ourselves." Thomas S. Monson, Pathways to Perfection, p. 81
"When missionaries are progressing, they are happy" Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Hebrews 12:6
"O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. O be wise; what can I say more?" Jacob 6:11-12
"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday." Abraham Lincoln, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure." Abraham Lincoln
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it." Albert Einstein
"Bad men excuse their faults. Good men abandon them." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"To be forever reaching out, and to remain unsatisfied, is the key to spiritual progress." Arden Engebretsen, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established." Aristotle
"Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself." Ausonius
"You can't expect to win unless you know why you lose." Benjamin Lipson
"When you're through changing, you're through." Bruce Barton
"Little progress can be made merely by attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good." Calvin Coolidge, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Where we cannot invent, we may at least improve." Charles Caleb Colton
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries and predecessors; try to be better than yourself." Charlie T. Jones
"At fifteen I set my heart upon learning. At thirty, I planted my feet firm upon the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities. At Fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven. At sixty, I heard them with docile ear. At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right." Confucius
"In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself." Confucius
"The superior man is distressed by his want of ability." Confucius
"The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself." Confucius
"They must change who would be constant in happiness and wisdom." Confucius
"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." Elbert Hubbard, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices." English Proverb
"What makes men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas but the obsession that what has already been done is not enough." Eugene Delacroix, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"They that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils." Francis Bacon
"Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on." Frederic Chopin
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." Henry David Thoreau
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do.
" Henry David Thoreau
"Would you learn the secret of the sea? Only those who brave its dangers, comprehend its mystery." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself." Henry Ward Beecher
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin
"Reform must come from within, not from without. You cannot legislate for virtue." James Cardinal Gibbons
"Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom." Jim Rohn
"Progress consists largely of learning to apply laws and principles which have already existed." John Allen May, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong, honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes." John Ruskin
"Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them." John W. Gardner
"Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth." Joseph Joubert
"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have." Leonardo da Vinci
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the atomic age -- as in being able to remake ourselves." Mahatma Gandhi
"Rectify one angle of a square and the other angles will be automatically right." Mahatma Gandhi
"Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain." Mark Twain
"I am still learning." Michaelangelo
"He who stops being better stops being good." Oliver Cromwell
"Common sense is as rare as genius." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Evaluation is the key to excellence." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.275
"Second Corinthians 13:5 says, 'Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.' How does a church evaluate itself? Not by comparing itself to other churches, but by asking, 'Are we doing what God intends for us to do?' and 'How well are we doing it?'" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.93
"No one will persist long in helping someone who will not help themselves." Samuel Johnson
"It is right to be contented with what we have, never with what we are." Sir James Mackintosh
"He who adds not to his learning diminishes it." The Talmud
"He that never changes his opinion, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today." Tryon Edwards
"A man's failure to question the ideas by which he lives keeps his life as it is." Vernon Howard
"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them." Washington Irving
"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Will Rogers
"Want, is one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction; the others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness." William Henry Beveridge
"If thou wouldst conquer thy weakness thou must not gratify it." William Penn
"All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble." William S. Halsey
"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to Heaven." William Shakespeare
"People who drift away from the true doctrine usually know in their hearts something is missing. The kernel of truth, though small, remains - never to be replaced with fame or money or worldly pleasures." David B. Haight, Ensign, November 1981, page 59
"True shepherds nourish and care for each member of the flock and keep them in remembrance. They do not simply number them. Shepherds know and care for their flock. A shepherd cannot rest when even one of the flock is lost." Robert D. Hales, Ensign, May 1987
"Growing churches focus on reaching receptive people. Nongrowing churches focus on reenlisting inactive people...It usually takes about five times more energy to reactivate a disgruntled or carnal member than it does to win a receptive unbeliever. I believe that God has called pastors to catch fish and feed sheep, not to corral goats!" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.183
"Often the local pastor and I would spend the afternoons making evangelistic house calls. Many times the pastor would take me to toe same stubborn case that previous evangelists had failed to win. It was a waste of time. Is it good stewardship to continue badgering someone who has already rejected Christ a dozen times when there is a whole community of receptive people waiting to hear the gospel for the first time?...The apostle Paul's strategy was to go through open doors and not waste time banging on closed ones. Likewise, we should not focus our efforts on those who aren't ready to listen. There are far more people in the world who are ready to receive Christ than there are believers ready to witness to them." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.188
"Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God." Saint Augustine
"People who wait for something to turn up might start with their own shirtsleeves." Anonymous
"The best motivation is self-motivation. The guy says, 'I wish someone would come by and turn me on.' What if they don't show up? You've got to have a better plan for your life than that." Jim Rohn
"The best time to set up a new discipline is when the idea is
strong." Jim Rohn
"Walk away from the 97% crowd. Don't use their excuses. Take charge of your own life and future." Jim Rohn
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." Napoleon Hill
"We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do." Oswald Chambers
"The beginning is the most important part of the work." Plato
"The world belongs to the energetic." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Destiny is not a matter of chance--it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for--it a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan
"Do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?" Alma 60:21
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." Ezra Pound
"Affairs that depend on many rarely succeed." Guicciardini
"A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men." Henry David Thoreau
"There are two kinds of failures: The man who will do nothing he is told, and the man who will do nothing else." Perle Thompson
"While we wait for God to work for us, God is waiting to work through us!" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.60
"Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome." Samuel Johnson
"Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you." William Frederick Book
"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan
"Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind." Cicero
"Be sincere and true to your word, serious and careful in your actions; and you will get along even among barbarians, But if you are not sincere and untrustworthy in your speech, frivolous and careless in your actions, how will you get along even among your own neighbors? When stand, see these principles in front of you; in
your carriage see them on the yoke. Then you may be sure to get along." Confucius
"I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man." George Washington
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
"I will govern my life and my thoughts as if all the world were to see the one and to read the other; for what does it signify to make anything a secret to my neighbor, when to God all our privacies are open?" Seneca
"There is nothing so strong or safe in an emergency of life as the simple truth." Charles Dickens
"Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at the moment, the other for all time." Chilton
"Ability without honor is useless." Cicero
"Sincerity is to speak as we think, to do as we pretend and profess, to perform what we promise, and really to be what we would seem and appear to be." John Tillotson
"Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect." Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else. The basis of all integrity and character is whatever faith we have in our own integrity." Roy L. Smith
"Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom." Thomas Jefferson
"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity." Zig Ziglar
"There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless." Niccolo Machiavelli
"All hate is self hate." David O. McKay
"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime." Dale Carnegie
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly
endless." Mother Teresa
"Oh, let us not deal in personalities and tear down a brother's reputation and hurt his feelings. We are striving to establish the kingdom of God: let us hold to that fact as the anchor of our soul and then breathe forth charity and love to those who may not see just as we do." David O. McKay, Conference Report, October 1912, p.122
"Let us be serene and filled with peace and love as we live in a world that is unfortunately filled with increasing crime and violence. Let us remember and keep the Lord's great commandment to love our neighbors. Where there are differences or misunderstandings, let us resolve or diminish them through kindly, brotherly service and genuine concern and regard." Spencer W. Kimball, LDS General Conference, April 1981
"He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." Benjamin Franklin
"The best portion of a man's life consists of his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." Benjamin Franklin
"We should learn how to give. But we should not regard giving as an obligation, but as a desire. I usually say to our Co-Workers: 'I do not need your surplus. I do not want you to give me your leftovers. Our poor do not need your condescending attitude nor your pity. The poor need your love and your kindness." Mother Teresa
"The music that can deepest reach, And cure all ill, is cordial speech." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down." Wilson Mizner
"If you will go before the Lord in all humility, and ask him for wisdom and intelligence, your prayers will be heard. You are commanded to search after wisdom from the best of books, and also through faith; and I will promise you that diligent study of our own works will place you in possession of a fund of knowledge that you never dreamed of. And then devote your leisure time to the acquisition of such useful knowledge as can be obtained through the schools, and from works on the sciences; but do not be led by their nonsense and skepticism, and false theories. And in doing this, seek earnestly for the Spirit of God to aid you, to enlighten your mind, that you may the better comprehend truth, and be able to discard error." John Taylor, JD 19:246
"The deeper we search, the more we find there is to know, and
as long as human life exists I believe that it will always be so." Albert Einstein
"The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do." Benjamin Disraeli
"A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a lot of ignorance is just as bad." Bob Edwards
"When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes." Desiderius Erasmus
"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is a very simple and effective one: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." Elbert Hubbard
"Knowledge comes by eyes always open and working hands, and there is no
knowledge that is not power." Jeremy Taylor
"The only thing worse than not reading a book in the last ninety days
is not reading a book in the last ninety days and thinking that it
doesn't matter." Jim Rohn
"The end of learning is to know God and out of that knowledge, to love Him and to imitate Him... by possessing our souls of true virtue." John Milton
"It is nonsense to say there is not enough time to be fully informed. Time given to thought is the greatest time-saver of all." Norman Cousins
"Understanding can overcome any situation, however mysterious or insurmountable it may appear to be." Norman Vincent Peale
"Vice is ignorance. Virtue is knowledge." Plato
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Plato
"Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then distribute your knowledge to the people." Brigham Young
"We are in a great school, and we should be diligent to learn, and continue to store up the knowledge of heaven and of earth, and read good books, although I cannot say that I would recommend the reading of all books, for it is not all books which are good. Read good books, and extract from them wisdom and understanding as much as you possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.248
"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." Plato, The Republic, Book VII, 536
"I have no fear of learning, of the pursuit of knowledge, for any of
our young people, if they will keep in mind diligence and obedience--obedience to the commandments of God, diligence in keeping close to the Church, in keeping active, keeping prayerful, keeping clean, keeping circumspect in their conduct. It isn't learning or the love of learning, or knowledge, or the pursuit of any subject that would take from a man his faith, but it is failure to keep the commandments, the failure of a man to feed all sides of himself..." Richard L. Evans, CR, April 1956, p.44
"Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich." D&C 11:7
"Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." Abigail Adams
"Some people throw away a bushel of truth because it contains a grain of error, while others swallow a bushel of error because it contains a grain of truth." Anonymous
"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action." Anthony Robbins
"Ignorance is content to stand still, with her back to the truth; but error is more presumptuous, and proceeds in the wrong direction. Ignorance has no light, but error follows a false one." Charles Caleb Colton
"Malinformation is more hopeless than noninformation; for error is always more busy than ignorance. Ignorance is a blank sheet, on which we may write; but error is a scribbled one, from which we must first erase." Charles Caleb Colton
"Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education." Chuang Tzu
"Acquire new knowledge while thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others." Confucius
"The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance." Confucius
"The person who knows 'how' will always have a job. The person who knows 'why' will always be his boss." Diane Ravitch
"Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know. " George Macdonald
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
"Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune." Jim Rohn
"It isn't what the book costs; it's what it will cost if you don't read it." Jim Rohn
"Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book." Jim Rohn
"Some people claim that it is okay to read trashy novels because sometimes you can find something valuable in them. You can also find a crust of bread in a garbage can, if you search long enough, but there is a better way." Jim Rohn
"All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price." Juvenal
"(Of Abraham Lincoln): The way he became educated was by never being ashamed to confess his ignorance of what in fact he did not know, by always asking questions where he could probably elicit information, and by studying all his life." Leonard Swett, a lawyer who rode the Eighth Judicial Circuit with Lincoln
"Just as iron rusts from disuse, and stagnant water putrefies, or when cold turns to ice, so our intellect wastes unless it is kept in use." Leonardo da Vinci
"Knowledge is only an instrument in the hands of wisdom. Great minds discuss ideas and principles; mediocre minds discuss events, and the business at hand. Small minds discuss other peoples' business." quoted by Tom Morris, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Consider what you have in the smallest chosen library. A company of the wisest and wittiest men that could be picked out of all civil countries, in a thousand years, have set in best order the results of their learning and wisdom...The men themselves were hid and inaccessible, solitary, impatient of interruption, fenced by etiquette; but the thought which they did not uncover to their bosom friend is here written out in transparent words to us, the strangers of another age." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I had six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew. Their names were: Where, What, When; Why, How and Who." Rudyard Kipling
"We should be a people of profound learning pertaining to the things of the world. We should be familiar with the various languages, for we wish to send missionaries to the different nations and to the islands of the sea. We wish missionaries who may go to France to be able to speak the French language fluently, and those who may go to Germany, Italy, Spain, and so on to all nations, to be familiar with the languages of those nations." Brigham Young, DBY p.254
"Young men and young women should be encouraged to include in their high school and college courses some of these languages. Some important factors to be kept in mind by all Americans who go abroad: (1) To learn another language is to learn that nation's way of thinking. We must have some knowledge of the religious and philosophical thoughts. (2) We must be conversant with the foreign life of its individual, social, and political aspects. (3) One should study and know their best literature. (4) Before you can understand a people you must know how they think. (5) Be respectful to other peoples' beliefs, and forms of worship, as you expect them to be tolerant with you and your teachings." David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life, p. 51-52
"To our young men I would like to say, prepare yourselves, not only financially as you have been urged to do, but also intellectually and morally and spiritually. Study languages. This gospel is not for the people of America only. This gospel is for the people of the earth, and we have incumbent upon us the obligation to learn to speak their tongues. If you be called to a foreign language mission, you will be better equipped if you have studied the language. If called to an English-speaking mission, you will understand your own language better." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley p. 345
"To our young men I would like to say, prepare yourselves, not only financially as you have been urged to do, but also intellectually and morally and spiritually. Study languages. This gospel is not for the people of America only. This gospel is for the people of the earth, and we have incumbent upon us the obligation to learn to speak their tongues. If you be called to a foreign language mission, you will be better equipped if you have studied the language. If called to an English-speaking mission, you will understand your own language better." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 345
"Language is the pedigree of nations." Samuel Johnson
"Example is leadership." Albert Schweitzer
"To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion." Ayn Rand
"Your mission should be run and operated as you would expect it to be if you were the investigator." David Stewart
"The secret of a leader lies in the tests he has faced over the whole course of his life and the habit of action he develops in meeting those tests." Gail Sheehy
"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better." Jim Rohn
"My mentor said, 'Let's go do it,' not 'You go do it.' How powerful when someone says, 'Let's!" Jim Rohn
"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly." Jim Rohn
"All the effective leaders I have encountered knew 4 things:
1 ) The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers, there can be no leaders.
2 ) Effective leaders are not those who are loved or admired. They are those whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. Results are.
3 ) Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set examples.
4 ) Leadership is not rank, privilege, titles, or money. It is responsibility." Peter Drucker, The Leader of the Future
"Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct." Thomas Jefferson
"You may be flexible on strategy, but must remain consistent on principle." Unknown
"The most important position in the Church is the one you presently hold." Antoine R. Ivins, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"In the kingdom, the greater our responsibilities, the greater is our
need to see ourselves as servants." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1979, p. 107
"Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike." Alexander Hamilton
"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." Arnold Glasow
"The man who commands efficiently must have obeyed others in the past." Cicero
"Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower
"A leader is best when people barely know he exist. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say 'We did it ourselves.'" Lao Tzu
"You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself. The height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depths of his failure by his self-abandonment. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others." Leonardo da Vinci, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Every calling is great when greatly pursued." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
"True dignity is never gained by place, and never lost when honors are withdrawn." Philip Massinger
"It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against a man's oration -- nay, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome." Plutarch, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Obedience alone gives the right to command." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." Theodore Hesburgh
"The only safe ruler is he who has learned to obey willingly." Thomas a Kempis
"Nothing more impairs authority that a too frequent or indiscreet use of it. If thunder itself was to be continual, it would excite no more terror than the noise of a mill." Unknown
"We never listen when we are eager to speak." Francois
"Love for the Lord, love for His servants the missionaries. Missionary work is a work of love and trust, and it has to be done on that basis." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, July 1995
"Love gives itself; it is not bought." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Ahisma (infinite love) is a weapon of matchless potency. It is the summum bonum of life. It is an attribute of the brave, in fact it is their all. It does not come within the reach of the coward. It is no wooden or lifeless dogma but a living and lifegiving force. It is the special attribute of the soul." Mahatma Gandhi, in Young India, May 29, 1924
"Let us not be satisfied just by giving money. Money is not everything. Money is something you can get. The poor need the work of our hands, the love of our hearts. Love, and abundant love, is the expression of our Christian religion." Mother Teresa
"Love does not just sit there, like a stone; it had to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new." Ursula Le Guin
"To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind." William Hazlitt, Characteristics, 1823
"We have something that the world needs to hear about, and these [media] interviews afford an opportunity to give voice to that." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1996, Priesthood Session
"When we have increased the missionaries from the organized areas of the Church to a number close to their potential, that is, every able and worthy boy in the Church on a mission; when every stake and mission abroad is furnishing enough missionaries for that country; when we have used our qualified men to help the apostles to open these new fields of labor; when we have used the satellite and related discoveries to their greatest potential and all of the media--the papers, magazines, television, radio--all in their greatest power; when we have organized numerous other stakes which will be springboards; when we have recovered from inactivity the numerous young men who are now unordained and unmissioned and unmarried; then, and not until then, shall we approach the insistence of our Lord and Master to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Spencer W. Kimball, Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 585
"Radio and television waves cannot be taken hostage, captive, or be chained. They do not respect boundaries. They are free to visit every home and tell every occupant about the love of God." Hannu Haukka
"I suggest you grow the church from the outside in, rather than from the inside out. Start with your community, not your core! This is opposite the advice given by most books on church planting. The traditional approach to beginning a new church is to build a committed core of mature believers first, and then start reaching out to the community. The problem I have found with an 'inside-out' approach is that by the time the church planter has 'disciplined' his core, they have often lost contact with the community and are actually afraid of interacting with the unchurched. It's easy to ...[develop] such a close-knit fellowship that newcomers are afraid or unable to break into it. Too often, a core group planning a new church spends so long in the small group stage that they become comfortable with it and lose their sense of mission. The fire of evangelism dies out. The problem with most small churches is that they are all core and nothing else. The same fifty people come to everything the church does. They've all been Christians for so long they have few...unbelieving friends to witness to." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.138-39
"When finances get tight in a church, often the first thing cut is the evangelism and advertising budget. That is the last thing you should cut. It is the source of new blood and life for your church." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.202
"Too many missionaries are neutralized, and occasionally lost (excommunicated), because of oversolicitous members, member sisters who 'mother' the missionaries, and socializing occurring between missionaries and members. Because of the importance of members and missionaries working effectively together on the member missionary program, it is vital that missionaries maintain the proper missionary image and have the reputation as great proselyting elders and not simply 'good guys'. The greatest help members can be to a missionary is not to feed him, but to give the names of their friends so that he can teach them with the spirit in their homes and challenge them, with the wonderful members helping to fellowship." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents' Seminar, June 21, 1975
"Great and magnificent as is the work of the . . . missionaries who have been set apart, I am convinced that we have a far greater force for teaching the gospel to the world in the membership of the Church-'every man a missionary'-as has been said here so convincingly tonight. 'Every man a missionary!'" Gordon B. Hinckley, Conference Report, April 1961, pp. 87-88
"I think every member of the Church has the capacity to teach the gospel to nonmembers. I was told the other day of a crippled woman, homebound, who spends her days in a wheelchair, who has been the means of bringing thirty-seven people into the Church...We need an awareness, an everyday awareness of the great power that we have to do this thing. Second, a desire. I think many of us realize that we could do it, but we lack the desire. Let every man single out another, a friend. Let him get on his knees and pray to the Lord to help him bring that man into the Church. I am as satisfied as I am of anything that with that kind of prayerful, conscientious, directed effort, there isn't a man in this Church who could not convert another...Third, the faith to try. It is so simple...This is not complex. It is simple. We have in the Northern Far East Mission of the Church today a beautiful and capable Japanese girl, born in Honolulu. I said to her, 'Were your folks members of the Church?' 'No, they were Buddhists.' 'How is it then that you are here?' She said, 'I had a high school friend who took me to Mutual once a week and then gave me a tract to read.' That girl went on to the University of Hawaii and then to Illinois Wesleyan University, from which school she was graduated. Today she is a missionary in Japan." Gordon B. Hinckley, Improvement Era, July 1961, p. 508
"Missionary work will never be what it might be without the help of the members. Stake presidents need to feel some responsibility and ownership of missionary work. The stake president is the one who has the presiding priesthood keys over both the members and non-members in his stake. The missionaries are his helpers." James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"There is only one Church, and the responsibility for missionary work is universal. 'Every member a missionary.'" James E. Faust, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"...could we bring concerted action to a 'lengthening stride' movement that would bring into the missionary activity the good members of the Church the world around. The approach and the attack will need to be planned very carefully. We will need to impress upon stake, ward, and branch leaders around the globe their opportunity and responsibility. There will be need for strong, well-organized stake, ward, and district missions. It cannot be left to a mere suggestion, and a comprehensive score must be kept as a stimulant to the workers. Such a special, organized and developed program could bring many other of the blessings of the Church to more people as we have said." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 3, 1975
"...Several decades ago when President David O. McKay presided over the church, he gave impetus to the missionary work in the stakes of Zion. He coined the term, 'Every member a missionary,' and it is obvious that would be a giant step toward the accomplishment of our directives. Certainly we could extend our efforts and 'lengthen our stride' and greatly increase the conversions and build the kingdom and eventually knock at every door. That would only be about 2000 to every missionary, but the ratio would rapidly change if we really did this." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 3, 1975
"There are two keys to productive missionary work -- (1) family-to-family friendshipping (when a member family shares the gospel with a nonmember family) and (2) cooperation between members and the missionaries to reach people...Every member knows of nonmembers he or she can refer to the missionaries. Every father, mother, and youth in this church should share the gospel by giving a Book of Mormon, telling the account of the Prophet Joseph Smith, or inviting our acquaintances to a special meeting." Spencer W. Kimball, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 3, 1975
"We expect to have complete cooperation between the stake and the full-time missionaries, and to involve the members of the Church generally in opening the gospel door to our Father's other children." Spencer W. Kimball, quoted by Thomas S. Monson, in LDS Church News, Saturday, June 26, 1999
"[When members and missionaries work together they create] 'a wonderful, cooperative relationship. Nothing will bring more joy nor increase success like that cooperative endeavor.'" Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"A motto relative to relationships with ward and stake leaders is 'Ignore and you injure; inform and you inspire.'" Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"If we have all the mission presidents and the stake presidents and all of the district presidencies as partners in our missionary labors, we will see the mission take off." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"No mission will ever reach its highest potential until there is cooperation between the missionary force and the membership of the Church." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Of course we work hard. But the Prophet Joseph said that we must work by mental exertion and not by physical force. The referral program is such an example which brings people into the kingdom of God - through friendship and close fellowship when we work with the member organization." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Mercy among the virtues is like the moon among the stars...It is the light that hovers above the judgment seat." Edwin Hubbel Chapin
"Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature." C. S. Lewis
"There is a ... group of missionaries whose names do not appear in the missionary roster, whose hours of service are not counted and whose beneficient efforts are not reported...They are the missionary hosts and hostesses -- men and women who are ministers indeed, who in denying themselves for the comfort and happiness of others are true servants of the Christ. As their Master of Old, they 'go about doing good.' These unreported missionaries are designated variously 'missionary mothers,' and 'missionary homes'...God bless the unreported missionaries in the world over whose self-denial and generous devotion to the work contribute so much to the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness, p. 176
"I hope that every one of you is going to be the kind of missionary that your mother thinks you are. If you are that kind of a missionary, you'll be all right. Write that in your journal and live up to it." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 3, 1999
"There is not a home from which missionaries come that will not be enriched and blessed because of their service in the cause of the Lord. What a wonderful thing this great program is. How grateful every father and mother ought to be who has a missionary in the field. What a wonderful service it is." Gordon B. Hinckley
"Recently I reviewed the history of many missionaries and found a powerful correlation between exceptional missionaries and mothers who chose to remain home, often at great financial and personal sacrifice...They reflect honor to mothers who sacrificed to remain home for their children's benefit." Richard G. Conference, LDS General Conference, April 1993
"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." Jewish Proverb
"All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is the same everywhere, because it comes from God." Voltaire
"Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." Victor Hugo
"When missionaries are called to serve locally, great benefits accrue to the Church in local areas. First, the missionaries can speak the language fluently so that no language training is necessary. Second, the acceptance by local people to the missionaries of their own nationality is superior to the reception received by non-nationals. Third, the great benefits which the missionaries themselves receive through their mission experience is not exported from the local area but serves to strengthen and build the kingdom in the homeland. Thus, there must be increased emphasis on the preparation of young men and women to step forward and carry the missionary responsibility in their own lands." Ezra Taft Benson, Language Training Mission Groundbreaking, Provo, Utah, July 18, 1974
"Take Jacob Zundell and Frederick H. Moeser, and tell them never to drink a drop of ale, wine, or any spirit, only that which flows right out from the presence of God; and send them to Germany; and when you meet with an Arab, send him to Arabia; when you find an Italian, send him to Italy; and a Frenchman, to France; or an Indian, that is suitable, send him among the Indians. Send them to the different places where they belong. Send somebody to Central America and to all Spanish America; and don't let a single corner of the earth go without a mission." Joseph Smith, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 173
"A little neglect may breed great mischief." Benjamin Franklin
"It is the neglect of timely repair that makes rebuilding necessary." Richard Whately
"He that thinks he can afford to be negligent is not far from being poor." Samuel Johnson
"Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof until all of the events transpire." Joseph Smith, HC 5:135
"If we don't want temptation to follow us we shouldn't act like we are interested. No one ever fell over a precipice who never went near one." Richard L. Evans
"Our religion is not a thing apart from our life. It is incorporated in it, and forms a part of the very tissue and sinews of our being. It provides a rule of conduct and of action for us, not only in our occasional worship but in our lives, in our work, in our play, in all that we do in the whole course of our conduct. It is this intense practicality of it that appeals to me as its greatest strength, constituting its greatest salvation for the human family." Stephen L. Richards, CR, April 1917, p. 138
"When one has definitely eliminated those things that he will not do, then he can concentrate all of his time and energy on the things that he should do." Sterling W. Sill, Ensign, December 1971, p. 92
"The destiny of civilized humanity depends more than ever on the moral forces it is capable of generating." Albert Einstein
"The most important human endeavor is striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depends on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to our lives." Albert Einstein
"Obedience leads to freedom. The more we obey revealed truth, the more we become liberated." James E. Faust, LDS General Conference, April 1999
"'Don't you think the commandments should be rewritten?' The answer was,'No, they should be reread.'" Richard L. Evans, Ensign, December 1971, p. 57
"The commandments found in the scriptures, both the positive counsel and the 'shalt nots,' form the letter of the law. There is also a spirit of the law. We are responsible for both." Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, November 1990
"Those who speak of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see." Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1983
"I believe that it is a hell intolerable for a people, a family or a single person, to strive to grasp truth with one hand, and error with the other, to profess to walk in obedience to the commandments of God, and, at the same time, mingle heart and hand with the wicked." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 223
"I have learned years ago that the Lord stands at the helm that guides Zion's ship...Unless we work exactly to the line that is marked out by him, our works will be in vain...In every branch and avenue of our lives we must learn to work to the line of truth" Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p. 440
"I will here remark, that it is natural for the people to desire to know a great deal of the mysteries; this, however, is not universally the case, though it is so with a great many of the Elders of Israel. I do not suppose it will apply to those who compose this congregation; your object in being here this evening is not to hear some great mystery of the Kingdom, which you never understood before. The greatest mystery a man ever learned, is to know how to control the human mind, and bring every faculty and power of the same in subjection to Jesus Christ; this is the greatest mystery we have to learn while in these tabernacles of clay. It is more necessary for the Elders to learn and practise upon this lesson in the midst of the Saints at head quarters than in the world; for their facilities for learning are much greater, and I will tell you wherein." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:47
"To [be] valiant...is to take the Lord's side on every issue." Bruce R. McConkie, CR, October 1974, p. 46
"The first condition of happiness is a clear conscience." David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p. 498
"Unless we do His teachings, we do not demonstrate faith in Him." Ezra Taft Benson
"I know scores of Latter-day Saints who have been commanded of the Lord time and again, but have failed to receive the blessings promised through fulfillment of the commandments of God, because they have obeyed not." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 36
"The only safe ground is to get as far from danger as it is possible to get." Heber J. Grant, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"When you are in the line of your duty, it is like standing in front of a line of posts, and every post is in line. But step one step aside, and every post looks as though it were not quite in line. The farther you get away from that straight line, the more crooked the posts will appear. It is the straight and narrow path of duty that will lead you and me back to the presence of God." Heber J. Grant, LDS General Conference, October 1935
"For those who are ready to listen to him and be brought under the influence of the Spirit of God and be led by the principles of revelation and the light of heaven, and who are willing to yield obedience to his commands at all times and carry out his purposes upon the earth, and who are willing to abide a celestial law, he has prepared for them a celestial glory, that they may be with him for ever and ever." John Taylor, JD 20:116
"I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it." Joseph Smith, History of the Church 2:170
"To get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything which God has commanded...The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what he tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular; I will always maintain a true principle even if I stand alone in it." Joseph Smith, History of the Church vol. 6 p. 223
"Remember, young men, that purity precedes power. The Lord said, 'But purify your hearts before me; and then go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel unto every creature who has not received it' (D&C 112:28). Missionaries discover this very early in their missions and make every effort to be worthy so they can serve with power." M. Russell Ballard, LDS General Conference, October 1990
"I have never been very particular to determine when [Church leaders] were speaking as prophets of God and when they were speaking as men. It has never occurred to me that I had the ability to determine that. It has been the rule of my life to find out if I could, by listening closely to what they said and by asking the Lord to help me interpret it, what they had in mind for the Latter-day Saints to do and then do it. I am happy to say, not boastfully but gratefully, that I have never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life." Marion G. Romney, CR April 1941 p. 123
"An enterprising turkey gathered the flock together and, following instructions and demonstrations, taught them how to fly. All afternoon they enjoyed soaring and flying and the thrill of seeing new vistas. After the meeting, all of the turkeys walked home. -- It is not our understanding of the principles of the gospel that brings the blessings of heaven. But the living of them." Merlin R. Lybbert, Ensign, May 1990, p. 82
"If we keep our covenants, our covenants will keep us spiritually safe." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1987, p. 71
"Personal, spiritual symmetry emerges only from the shaping of prolonged obedience. Twigs are bent, not snapped into shape." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1990, p. 34
"On occasion I will be asked, 'Brother Monson, if the Savior appeared to you, what questions would you ask of Him?' My reply is always the same: 'I would ask no question of Him. Rather, I would listen!'" Thomas S. Monson, LDS General Conference, April 1999
"If you and I ever get into the celestial kingdom, we have got to keep the law of that kingdom. Show me the law that a man keeps and I will tell you where he is going." Wilford Woodruff, Millenial Star, July 1889, p. 596
"Our aim is high. We aim at eternal life; we aim at immortal glory; we aim at a place in the celestial Kingdom of our God, with God and Christ and those who have kept the celestial law. In order to get there, we have got to keep the same law that has exalted those who have gone before us. This is not our home. We were kept in the spirit world until this generation, and have been brought forth, through the loins of Joseph and Ephraim, to stand in the flesh and to bear off the Kingdom, to hold the Holy Priesthood, to do the works of righteousness, to build temples, to redeem our dead, and to attend to those ordinances which the God of heaven has declared we shall perform. This is our work. We have a long eternity before us." Wilford Woodruff, LDS General Conference, April 1889
"And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things." D&C 93:27-28
"And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself." D&C 105:5
"But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them." D&C 103:8
"For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you." D&C 78:7
"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10
"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." John 7:17
"If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness." D&C 95:12
"Seek to bring forth and establish my Zion. Keep my commandments in all things." D&C 14:6
"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated-And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." D&C 130:20-21
"Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death." Helaman 14:19
"Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him guiltless that obeys not my commandments? Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above." D&C 58:31-33
"There is a difference between him who does no misdeeds because of his own conscience and him who is kept from wrongdoing because of the presence of others." Anonymous
"To get to heaven, turn right and keep straight." Anonymous
"Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love." Aristotle
"The ship that will not obey the helm will have to obey the rocks." British Proverb
"Being true to oneself is the law of God. To try to be true to oneself is the law of man." Confucius
"To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice." Confucius
"God doesn't seek for golden vessels, and does not ask for silver ones, but He must have clean ones." D.L. Moody
"Never think that Jesus commanded a trifle, nor dare to trifle with anything He has commanded." D.L. Moody
"The world is dying for want, not of good preaching, but of good hearing." George Dana Boardman
"It makes a difference to all eternity, whether we do right or wrong today." James F. Clark, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good." Mahatma Gandhi
"There is no exception to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule." Malcolm Forbes
"The saints are all the people who live according to the law God has given us." Mother Teresa
"...we gain the strength of the temptations we resist." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It's easier to prepare and prevent, than to repair and repent." Unknown
"And he shall not suppose that he can say enough in my cause; and lo, I am with him to the end." D&C 24:10
"And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see." D&C 19:29
"Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor." D&C 88:81
"Let my servant...go and proclaim my everlasting gospel with a loud voice, and with great joy." D&C 124:88
"Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." Mosiah 28:3
"You shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you." D&C 30:11
"Thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing." D&C 28:16, D&C 28:16
"Open your mouths and they shall be filled, and you shall become even as Nephi of old, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness. Yea, open your mouths and spare not, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your backs, for lo, I am with you. Yea, open your mouths and they shall be filled, saying: Repent, repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; Yea, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for a remission of your sins; yea, be baptized even by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost." D&C 33:8-11
"Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." D.T. Niles
"The Christianity which is shared is the Christianity which is convincing." Lynn Harold Hough
"Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now -- always." Albert Schweitzer
"The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car... a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little." Ben Sweetland
"Your biggest opportunity probably lies under your own feet, in your
current job, industry, education, experience or interests." Brian Tracy
"Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand." Bruce Barton
"If you want to catch beasts you don't see everyday,
You have to go places quite out-of-the-way.
You have to go places no others can get to.
You have to get cold, and you have to get wet, too." Dr. Seuss
"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them." George Bernard Shaw
"Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor the best opportunities; they will never come." Janet E. Stuart
"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone." Orison Swett Marden
"Once the 'what' is decided, the 'how' always follows. We must not make the 'how' an excuse for not facing and accepting the 'what.'" Pearl Buck
"Today is yesterday's effect and tomorrow's cause." Phillip Gribble
"These days come and go, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service." Robert Collier
"Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them." Samuel Smiles
"Each of us has more opportunities to do good and to be good than we
ever use." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, August 1979, p.7
"Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems." Stephen Covey
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
"Procrastination is opportunity's natural assassin." Victor Kiam
"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action
until all factors are favorable do nothing." William Feather
"God will judge you by the way you make use of all your possibilities." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, November 1983, p.62
"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." Alexander Graham Bell
"A kindness put off until tomorrow becomes only a bitter regret." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Four things don't come back. The spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity." Arabic Proverb
"The commonest form, one of the most often neglected, and safest opportunity for the average man to seize, is hard work." Arthur Brisbane
"Great men think of opportunity, not time. Time is the excuse of feeble and puzzled spirits." Benjamin Disraeli, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Man is not a creature of circumstances. Circumstances are the creatures of men." Benjamin Disraeli
"He that hath a trade hath an estate; he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor." Benjamin Franklin
"Opportunities are often things you haven't noticed the first time around." Catherine Denueve
"Every successful man I have ever heard of has done the best he could with the conditions as he found them, and not waited until next year for better." Elias Howe
"Some things...arrive on their own mysterious hour, on their own terms and not yours, to be seized or relinquished forever." Gail Godwin
"There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come to us like birds seeking an inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing a while upon the roof, and then fly away." Henry Ward Beecher
"Do not wait for extraordinary situations to do good; try to use ordinary situations." Jean Paul Richter
"Indecision is the thief of opportunity." Jim Rohn
"Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as you can." John Wesley
"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself." Mark Caine
"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"We have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only one short hour before sunset in which to win them." Robert Moffat
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas A. Edison
"Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what clearly lies at hand." Thomas Carlyle
"This is not a dress rehearsal. This is *It*." Tom Cunningham
"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow-being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again." William Penn
"Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." 3 Nephi 27:27
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de St. Exupery
"The perfecting of one's self is the fundamental base of all progress and all moral development." Confucius
"Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency makes them give it up as unattainable." Lord Chesterfield
"In order to be saints, you have to seriously want to be one. Saint Thomas Aquinas assures us that holiness 'is nothing else but a resolution made, the heroic act of a soul that surrenders to God.' And he adds: 'Spontaneously we love God, we run towards him, we get close to him, we possess him.' Our willingness is important because it changes us into the image of God and likens us to him! The decision to be holy is a very dear one. Renunciation, temptations, struggles, persecutions, and all times of sacrifices are what surround the soul that has opted for holiness.'" Mother Teresa
"The fact of death should not sadden us. The only thing that should sadden us is to know that we are not saints." Mother Teresa
"The question is not 'How much may I indulge in and still be saved.' God forbid! I must rather ask, 'What about Christ's will and the example I set for my fellow Christians?'" Robert A. Cook
"Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price." Samuel Johnson
"Sow a thought and you reap an act; Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a habit and you reap a character; Sow a character and you reap a destiny." Samuel Smiles
"Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time." Voltaire
"Let us alone, and we will send Elders to the uttermost parts of the earth, and gather out Israel, wherever they are; and if you persecute us, we will do it the quicker, because we are naturally dull when let alone, and are disposed to take a little sleep, a little slumber, and a little rest. If you let us alone, we will do it a little more leisurely, but if you persecute us, we will sit up nights to preach the Gospel." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 351
"It always has been when a man was sent of God with the priesthood and he began to preach the fulness of the Gospel, that he was thrust out by his friends, who are ready to butcher him if he teach things which they imagine to be wrong; and Jesus was crucified upon this principle." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 177
"Men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects -- all united to persecute me." Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith -- History 1:22
"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." Abraham Lincoln, The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House by Francis B. Carpenter (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1995), pp. 258-259
"Bigotry and intolerance, silenced by argument, endeavors to silence by persecution, in old days by fire and sword, in modern days by the tongue." Charles Simmons
"The way of the world is to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones." Nathaniel Howe
"People who change their way of life and begin to think about making spiritual progress also begin to suffer from the tongues of detractors. Whoever has not yet suffered this trial has not yet made progress, and whoever is not ready to suffer it does not even endeavor to progress." Saint Augustine
"With ordinary talents and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable." T.F. Buxton
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." Dale Carnegie
"I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up. Most people in this business gave up and went on to other things. If you simply didn't give up, you would outlast the people who came in on the bus with you." Harrison Ford
"I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up. Most people in this business gave up and went on to other things. If you simply didn't give up, you would outlast the people who came in on the bus with you." Henry Ford
"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind." Leonardo da Vinci
"When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes." Thomas A. Edison
"Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised." Denis Waitley
"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs." Henry Ford
"At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you." Jim Rohn
"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change. If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much. The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed. The guy says, "When you work where I work, by the time you get home, it's late. You've got to have a bite to eat, watch a little TV, relax and get to bed. You can't sit up half the night planning, planning, planning." And he's the same guy who is behind on his car payment!" Jim Rohn
"I remember saying to my mentor, 'If I had more money, I would have a better plan.' He quickly responded, 'I would suggest that if you had a better plan, you would have more money.' You see, it's not the amount that counts; it's the plan that counts." Jim Rohn
"Never begin the day until it is finished on paper." Jim Rohn
"Success is 20% skills and 80% strategy. You might know how to read, but more importantly, what's your plan to read?" Jim Rohn
"The morning is wiser than the evening." Russian proverb
"A danger foreseen is half avoided." Thomas Fuller
"In the work of the Lord there should be no serious mistakes. The most important point of your planning should be on your knees." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1977
"Most people don't plan to fail -- they just fail to plan." Anonymous
"Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems." Anthony J. D'Angelo
"A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door." Confucius
"Better counsel comes overnight." Doris Lessing
"I can give you a six word formula for success 'Think things through - then follow through.'" Eddie Rickenbacker
"A good plan violently executed right now is worth a hundred perfect plans put off until next week." General George S. Patton, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Think as you work, for in the final analysis your worth to your company comes not only in solving problems, but also in anticipating them." H.H. Ross
"Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends." Jawaharlal Nehru
"It is a bad plan that admits of no modification." Publius Syrus
"Act before there is a problem. Bring order before there is disorder." The Tao Te Ching, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Some persons do first, think afterward, and then repent forever." Thomas Secker
"When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that in itself is a choice." William James
"Given the importance of the message, the help offered by the Spirit, the number of missionaries, and the size of the field that is ready to harvest, 300,000 new converts per year is not nearly enough." Elder Robert C. Oaks, LDS General Conference, October 2000
"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been!'" John Greenleaf Whittier
"Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools." Napoleon Bonaparte
"The only honest measure of your success is what you are doing compared to your true potential." Paul J. Meyer
"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never." Soren Kierkegaard
"The Elders have also preached through the different nations of Europe so far as they were allowed to do so. In some countries the law would not permit them; but the Lord will yet revolutionize those nations until the door will be opened and the Gospel will be preached unto all." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.320
"It is a time of harvest and not a time of gleaning." Ezra Taft Benson, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, 25 June 1986
"There are greater opportunities to build the kingdom of God than ever before." James E. Faust
"Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit and seldom draw to their full extent." Horace Walpole
"Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" John Greenleaf Whittier
"Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny." John Oliver Hobbes
"It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done." Samuel Johnson, in Boswell's Life, 1770
"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." Thomas A. Edison
"Poverty has not been created by God. We are the ones who have created poverty. Before God, we are all poor." Mother Teresa
"Family prayer is the greatest deterrent to sin, and hence the most beneficent provider of joy and happiness. The old saying is yet true: The family that prays together stays together." Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, November 1988, p. 69
"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." Abraham Lincoln
"A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realized that prayer is listening." Soren Kierkegaard
"Prayer keeps man from sin, and sin keeps man from prayer." Brigham Young, Quoted by H. Burke Peterson, Ensign, January 1974, p. 19
"Say your prayers always before going to work. Never forget that. A father-the head of the family-should never miss calling his family together and dedicating himself and them to the Lord of Hosts, asking the guidance and direction of his Holy Spirit to lead them through the day-that very day. Lead us this day, guide us this day, preserve us this day, save us from sinning against thee or any being in heaven or on earth this day! If we do this every day, the last day we live we will be prepared to enjoy a higher glory." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 12:261
"Prayer is the yearning of the spirit. Sincere praying implies that when we ask for any virtue or blessing we should work for the blessing and cultivate the virtue...Why pray for the Kingdom of God to come unless you have in your heart a desire and a willingness to aid in its establishment? Praying for His will to be done and then not trying to live it, gives you a negative answer at once. You would not grant something to a child who showed that attitude towards a request he is making of you. If we pray for the success of some cause or enterprise, manifestly we are in sympathy with it. It is the height of disloyalty to pray for God's will to be done, and then fail to conform our lives to that will." David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness, p. 226
"Sincere prayer implies that when we ask for any virtue or blessing, we should work for the blessing and cultivate the virtue." David O. McKay
"If you want the blessing, don't just kneel down and pray about it. Prepare yourselves in every conceivable way you can in order to make yourselves worthy to receive the blessing you seek. Brigham Young illustrated this when he said: 'You may go to some people here, and ask what ails them, and they answer, 'I don't know but we feel a dreadful distress in the stomach and in the back; we feel all out of order, and we wish you to lay hands on us.' He said to these people, 'Have you used any remedies?' meaning herbs or whatever the pioneers had. 'No,' they said, 'we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed.' President Young said: 'That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and then ask my Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body...But supposing we were traveling in the mountains, and all we had or could get, in the shape of nourishment, was a little venison, and one or two were taken sick, without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord Almighty to send an angel to heal the sick. This is our privilege...' (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 163) When we are situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves, then we may call upon the Lord and His servants who can do all. But it is our duty to do what we can within our own power." Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places, pp. 244-245
"A few years ago, Bishop Stanley Smoot was interviewed by President Spencer W. Kimball. President Kimball asked, 'How often do you have family prayer?' Bishop Smoot answered, 'We try to have family prayer twice a day, but we average about once.' President Kimball answered, 'In the past, having family prayer once a day may have been all right. But in the future it will not be enough if we are going to save our families.'" James E. Faust, LDS General Conference, October 1990
"I have reason to believe that many of the Latter-day Saints, during a great portion of their lives, could approach the Lord in all confidence and make this same prayer-- 'Search me, O God, and know my heart, and see if there be any wicked way in me (Psalm 139:23-24);' but if we, as a people could live so as to be able at all times to bow before the Lord and offer up a prayer like this, what a delightful thing it would be, what an attainment we should have acquired in righteousness and good works! To every person who has at heart the preparing of himself for the great change, that is the work of regeneration, I would recommend that he adopt this prayer of David, and see how near he can live according to the light that he has, so as to make it in all sincerity part of his devotions to God. Many fail in coming up to this standard of excellence because they do things in secret where mortal eye cannot penetrate, that has a direct tendency to alienate them from the Almighty, and to grieve away the Spirit of God. Such persons cannot in their private closet use this prayer; they could not unless they had repented of their sins and repaired the wrong they may have committed, and determined to do better in the future than they had done in the past, and to establish a character before God that could be relied upon in the hour of trial, and that would fit them to associate with holy beings and with the Father himself when they shall have passed into the spirit world." Lorenzo Snow, Journal of Discourses 23:190-191
"Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock. One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God's judgment -- not ours -- right for us. Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open. We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does. I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me. Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father." Neal A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple, p.20
"Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks." Thomas S. Monson
"And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private." D&C 19:28
"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul" 2 Nephi 32:9
"Pray always, lest you enter into temptation and lose your reward." D&C 31:12
"Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." D&C 10:5
"Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation." D&C 20:34
"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."" Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Observed: The Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks, edited by Michael Burlingame (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1998), p. 210.
"Practical prayer is harder on the soles of your shoes than on the knees of your trousers." Austin O'Malley
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'" C.S. Lewis
"Pray as though everything depends on the Lord and work as though everything depends on you." Francis Cardinal Spellman
"Prayer is not a substitute for work; it is a sometimes desparate effort to work further and to be efficient beyond the range of one's powers. It is not the lazy who are most inclined to prayer; those pray most who care most, and who, having worked hard, find it intolerable to be defeated." George Santayana, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Prayer is a conversation with God, but prayer is no substitute for work." Henry D. Moyle, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"A man of faith does not bargain or stipulate with God." Mahatma Gandhi
"Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared." Mahatma Gandhi
"Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action." Mahatma Gandhi
"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. . . . It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Mahatma Gandhi
"Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to his voice in the depths of our hearts." Mother Teresa
"No man ever prayed heartily without learning something." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays." Soren Kierkegaard
"Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees." Victor Hugo
"Teenagers also sometimes think, 'What's the use? The world will soon be blown all apart and come to an end.' That feeling comes from fear, not from faith. No one knows the hour or the day (see D&C 49:7), but the end cannot come until all of the purposes of the Lord are fulfilled. Everything that I have learned from the revelations and from life convinces me that there is time and to spare for you to carefully prepare for a long life." Boyd K. Packer, LDS General Conference, April 1989
"In missionary work, as in all else, preparation precedes power. Encouragement to prepare while still very young can make a tremendous difference." Gordon B. Hinckley, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 1987, cited in TGBH p. 349
"A message prepared in the mind reaches a mind; a message prepared in
a life reaches a life." Bill Gothard
"The best preparation for good work tomorrow is good work today." Elbert Hubbard
"Success is the sum of detail." Harvey S. Firestone
"You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation." Jim Rohn
"You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation." Jim Rohn
"Victory is achieved before, not during, battle." Sun Tzu
"At what age do we begin teaching our sons these gospel truths? Alma taught his son Helaman while he was in his youth (see Alma 36:3). Our youth ought not to wait until the mission field to get a grasp of the scriptures and a closeness to the Lord. Lehi said that his son Jacob beheld the glory of the Lord in his youth (see 2 Nephi 2:4). Imagine what would happen to missionary work if we sent out that kind of young men." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, October 1985
"Give me a young man who has kept himself morally clean and has faithfully attended his church meetings. Give me a young man who has magnified his priesthood and has earned the Duty of God Award and is an Eagle Scout. Give me a young man who is a Seminary graduate and has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me such a young man, and I will give you a young man who can perform miracles for the Lord in the mission field and throughout his life." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1984
"If you want to get the spirit of the gospel in your home, support the missionary program. Prepare your sons and daughters through your home evenings; through setting the proper example in your homes. Prepare to send them into the mission field. These young sons and daughters will bless your names forever if you help to make it possible through your training and your example and your willingness to sacrifice just a little, if you can call it sacrifice, to see them go into the mission field." Ezra Taft Benson, Glasgow Scotland Area Conference, 21 June 1976
"Prepare yourselves mentally. A mission requires a great deal of mental preparation. You must memorize missionary discussions, memorize scriptures, and oftentimes learn a new language. The discipline to do this is learned in your early years. Establish now the daily practice of reading the scriptures ten to fifteen minutes each day. If you do so, by the time you reach the mission field, you will have read all four of the standard works. I urge you to read particularly the Book of Mormon so that you can testify of its truthfulness as the Lord has directed." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1985
"Reading the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest persuaders to get men on missions. We need more missionaries. But we also need better-prepared missionaries coming out of the wards and branches and homes where they know and love the Book of Mormon. A great challenge and day of preparation is at hand for missionaries to meet and teach with the Book of Mormon. We need missionaries to match our message." Ezra Taft Benson, Regional Representatives Seminar, 4 April 1986
"We all have confidence that when we have fully prepared ourselves, the Lord will provide a way for us to take the gospel to those lands now closed to our missionaries. President Spencer W. Kimball has said, 'Somehow, brethren, I feel that when we have done all in our power that the Lord will find a way to open doors. That is my faith.' We all share this faith." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents' Seminar, June 27, 1974
"We love all of our missionaries who are serving the Lord full-time in the mission field. But there is a difference in missionaries. Some are better prepared to serve the Lord the first month in the mission than some who are returning home after twenty-four months. We want young men entering the mission field who can enter the mission field 'on the run,' who have faith, born of personal righteousness and clean living, that they can have a great and productive mission." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1986
"We want to send forth missionaries who have a testimony of the scriptures and who are spiritually prepared to be guided and instructed of the Spirit, that they in turn may teach by that same spirit. Is that too much to ask? Not if we commence early enough and prepare well enough." Ezra Taft Benson, Regional Representatives' Seminar, 3 October 1974
"In missionary work, as in all else, preparation precedes power. Encouragement to prepare while still very young can make a tremendous difference." Gordon B. Hinckley, Regional Representatives Seminar, April 1987
"It follows that if we have more missionaries, there will be more converts. It also follow that if missionaries are better prepared, they will be more effective." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, December 1986
"It is deemed inconsistent to send men out into the world to promise to others through obedience to the gospel that which they have not themselves received. Neither is it considered proper to send men out to reform them." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine p.355
"Awake to righteousness, and sin not; let your light shine, and show yourselves workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Apply yourselves diligently to study, that your minds may be stored with all necessary information." Joseph Smith, on missionary work, in Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 176
"Missionary preparation consists largely of effort in three areas: 1. Keeping one's life clean and worthy and remaining free from all sins of the world. The Lord has provided that forgiveness can be had if there is total repentance. If there have been problems, there must be a total transformation of one's life, if he is to be forgiven. 2. Preparing one's mind and the spirit to know the truth. To arrive at mission age and be illiterate in the gospel or the common knowledge of the world would be most unfortunate indeed. Certainly by the time young people reach the age when they are eligible to be called, they should be prepared to step from conventional roles at home into the important role of the missionary without a total reorganization of their life, standards, or training. 3. Preparing to finance the mission so it may be the missionary's own contribution, as far as is possible. It costs money to go to the various parts of the world and preach the gospel. How wonderful it would be if each future missionary were to have saved for a mission from birth. How wonderful it would be if each missionary were to totally or largely finance his or her own mission and thereby receive most of the blessings coming from missionary labors." Spencer W. Kimball, President Kimball Speaks Out, p. 32-33
"Preparing one's mind and the spirit to know the truth. To arrive at mission age and be illiterate in the gospel or the common knowledge of the world would be most unfortunate indeed. Certainly by the time young people reach the age when they are eligible to be called, they should be prepared to step from conventional roles at home into the important role of the missionary without a total reorganization of their life, standards, or training." Spencer W. Kimball, President Kimball Speaks Out, p. 33
"If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." D&C 38:30
"Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men." D&C 11:21
"Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear: Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh." Doctrine and Covenants 1:11-12
"I will prepare and someday my chance will come." Abraham Lincoln
"Get your tools ready: God will find the work." Anonymous
"Desire can be measured by preparation." Barton Thacker
"The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators" Edward Gibbon
"Chance favors the prepared mind." Louis Pasteur
"Doubt with regard to what we ought to know is a condition too violent for the human mind, it cannot long be endured; in spite of itself the mind decides one way or another, and it prefers to be deceived rather than to believe nothing. I suppose this prodigious diversity of opinion is caused, in the first place, by the weakness of the human intellect; and, in the second, by pride." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Some of us are inclined to look to the weaknesses and shortcomings of others in order to expand our own comfort zone." Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May 1988, page 63
"Expedients are for the hour; principles for the ages." Henry Ward Beecher
"Our principles are the springs of our actions; our actions the springs of our happiness or misery. Too much care, therefore, cannot be taken in forming our principles." Philip Skelton
"The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain, and there is no good theory of disease which does not at once suggest a cure." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Never let things which matter most be at the mercy of things which matter least." Marion D. Hanks, Ensign, January 1971
"Life is so great in its opportunities and possibilities, that you should rise confidently above the inevitable trifles incident to daily contact with the world. Life is too precious to be sacrificed for the nonessential and transient... Ignore the inconsequential." Grenville Kleiser
"We have so much to look after, so many business interests, so many important things, so far as dollars and cents are concerned, that we are neglecting the one great thing of all; namely; the proclaiming of the gospel, and making [instead] what some people call sacrifices but what actually are the exact opposite. We have in very deed the pearl of great price." Heber J. Grant, CR April 1927
"When priorities are in place, one can more patiently tolerate unfinished business." Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, November 1987, p. 88
"I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things." Benjamin Franklin
"Action expresses priorities." Charles Garfield
"There are men in this Church who are as good in their hearts and feelings as men ever were, but lack faith and energy, and do not obtain really what it is their privilege to receive. If their faith, their energy and determination were equal to their good feelings and desires, their honesty and goodness, they would indeed be mighty men in Israel; and sickness and disease and the power of the evil one would flee before them as chaff before the wind." Lorenzo Snow, JD 23:194-195
"I have generally found that a man who is good at excuses is good at nothing else." Benjamin Franklin
"An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise." James Howell
"The most important of all sciences man can and must learn is the science of living so as to do the least evil and the greatest possible good." Leo Tolstoy
"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"God wants your church to be both faithful and fruitful. One without the other is only half the equation. Numerical results are no justification for being unfaithful to the message, but neither can we use faithfulness as an excuse for being ineffective! Churches that have few or no conversions often attempt to justify their ineffectiveness with the statement, 'God has not called us to be successful. He has just called us to be faithful.' I strongly disagree because the Bible clearly teaches that God expects both." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.64
"Success is bearing as much fruit as possible given your gifts, opportunities, and potential." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.65
"The Bible also compares ministry to farming, another profession that requires skill. A farmer can be a dedicated and hard worker but he must also be skilled in using the right equipment. If he tries to harvest a corn field with a wheat harvester, he's bound to fail. If he tries to harvest tomatoes with a cotton picker, he'll end up with a mess! Successful ministry, like farming, requires more than dedication and hard work; it takes skill, timing, and the right tools." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.58
"Personally, I hold that a man, who deliberately and intelligently takes a pledge and then breaks it, forfeits his manhood." Mahatma Gandhi
"Vows made in storms are forgotten in calms." Thomas Fuller
"The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of this church to lead you astray." Wilford Woodruff
"We gather the poorest of the people, the unlearned, and a few of the learned; but generally, we gather the poor, who wish to be redeemed; who feel the oppression the high and the proud have made them endure; they have felt a wish to be delivered, and consequently their ears were open to receive the truth. Take those who are in the enjoyment of all the luxuries of life, and their ears are stopped up; they cannot hear." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 321
"War destroys men, but luxury destroys mankind; at once corrupts the body and the mind." John Crowne
"The machine unmakes the man. Now that the machine is so perfect, the engineer is nobody." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Your capacity to keep your vow will depend upon the purity of your life." Mahatma Gandhi
"The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations." Benjamin Disraeli
"The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgement should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge." Albert Einstein
"On one point--on that I was quite clear--my ideas differed from (Pastor Wennagel's, his confirmation teacher) in spite of all the respect I showed him. He wanted to make us understand that in submission to faith all reasoning must be silenced. But I was convinced--and I am so still--that the fundamental principles of Christianity have to be proved true by reasoning, and by no other method. Reason, I said to myself, is given us that we may bring everything within the range of its action, even the most exalted ideas of religion. And this certainty filled me with joy." Albert Schweitzer
"On three of the rules governing the mechanics of compromise:
1 . In any conflict between two men (or two groups) who hold the same basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins.
2 . In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold different basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.
3 . When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side." Ayn Rand
"A habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only that degree of certainty which the evidence warrants, would, if it became general, cure most of the ills from which the world suffers." Bertrand Russell
"Faith...Must be enforced by reason...When faith becomes blind it dies." Mahatma Gandhi
"A nation that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own
spiritual death on the installment plan. " Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly." Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
"A problem understood is half solved." Stephen R. Covey, Ensign, February 1972, p. 36
"Hear reason, or she'll make you feel her." Benjamin Franklin
"During my eighty-seven years, I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think." Bernard Baruch
"Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood." Freeman Teague, Jr.
"Those who know how to think need no teachers." Mahatma Gandhi
"Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You can't live principles you can't understand." Stephen R. Covey
"I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of the heart, and that is softness of the head." Theodore Roosevelt
"He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; and he that dares not reason is a slave." William Drummond
"Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feelings for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic." William E. Gladstone
"The proper method for hastening the decay of error is...by teaching every man to think for himself." William Godwin
"True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous and conflicting information." Winston Churchill
"If we are afraid to rebuke iniquity, or ashamed to cast it off ourselves, Israel would go to hell, and should be cut off as a people, and the Lord would raise up another, for he is bound to have a people in the last days who will keep His commandments, and magnify their calling, and prove themselves friends of God, and maintain the principles of righteousness and honor them before God, angels, and men, that his kingdom may be established in purity, and be prepared for the coming of the Messiah: for Christ is coming again to earth; he is preparing the bride, and here is a portion of it before me today. Will He receive us to himself? Are we prepared for His coming and kingdom and fullness thereof, unless we are sanctified, and lay aside sin, and do right? No. We must sanctify ourselves, and keep the commandments of God, and do these things that are required of our hands, before we can be prepared for the coming of the Great Bridegroom." Wilford Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 82
"The tragedy of man is what dies inside himself while he still lives." Albert Schweitzer
"People in our culture have a morbid tendency to avoid blame, because they do not wish to take the trouble to change their conduct in any way: blame-avoidance and blame-transference are therefore endemic amongst us. These are substitutes for repentance and renewal." Behavior Research Project, 1951
"To be always intending to live a new life, but never to find time to set about it; this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day and night to another, till he is starved and destroyed." John Tillotson
"Infinite toil would not enable you to sweep away a mist; but by ascending a little you may often look over it altogether. So it is with our moral improvement; we wrestle fiercely with a vicious habit, which would have no hold upon us if we ascended into a higher moral atmosphere." Sir Arthur Helps
"If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men." St. Augustine
"Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past." Tyron Edwards
"Repentance is the key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold that key within our hands, and agency is ours to use it." Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1988
"Let us take a course to be saved today, and, when evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have any to repent of, and say our prayers; then we can lie down and sleep in peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labors of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.16
"Oh, ye elders of Israel, hearken to my voice; and when you are sent into the world to preach, tell those things you are sent to tell; preach and cry aloud, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent and believe the Gospel.' Declare the first principles, and let mysteries alone, lest ye be overthrown. Never meddle with the visions of beasts and subjects you do not understand. Elder Brown, when you go to Palmyra, say nothing about the four beasts, but preach those things the Lord has told you to preach about-repentance and baptism for the remission of sins." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 172
"Repentance is a thing that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance is not that which is pleasing in the sight of God." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
"Just because we have taken one step down the wrong road is no reason why we have to take two." Richard L. Evans, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Self-justification is the enemy to repentance. God's spirit continues with the honest in heart to strengthen, to help, and to save, but invariably the Spirit of God ceases to strive with the man who 'excuses' himself in his wrong doing. Practically all dishonesty owes its continued existence and growth to this inward distortion we call 'self-justification.' It is the first, the worst and most insidious and damaging. form of cheating - cheating ourselves." Spencer W. Kimball, BYU Speeches, February 25, 1964, p. 2
"They were very disturbed when their marriage was postponed to allow time for repentance. They had rationalized the sin nearly out of existence. They pressed for a date, the first possible one on which they could plan their temple marriage. They did not understand that forgiveness is not a thing of days or months or even years but is a matter of intensity of feeling and transformation of self." Spencer W. Kimball
"True repentance does not permit repetition." Spencer W. Kimball, in LDS Speaker's Sourcebook, page 379
"I have never seen happier people than those who have repented." Stephen L. Richards, CR, October 1940, p.15
"Repentance is a change of behavior which invites forgiveness." Theodore M. Burton, Ensign, May 1983
"And I command you that you preach naught but repentance, and show not these things unto the world until it is wisdom in me." D&C 19:21
"And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God." D&C 82:7
"And of the tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost." D&C 19:31
"And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church of God; for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God." Mosiah 25:22
"By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins -- behold, he will confess them and forsake them." D&C 58:43
"Nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." Helaman 13:6
"Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." Alma 37:33
"Say nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed." D&C 6:9
"The Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his son, who is the Holy One of Israel." 2 Nephi 29:2
"This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold, the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." Alma 34:32
"Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people." Mosiah 18:20
"True repentance is to cease from sinning." Ambrose of Milan
"A fault confessed is a fault redressed; a fault once denied is twice committed." Ancient proverb, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future." Bumper Sticker
"A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake." Confucius
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Confucius
"No explanation ever explains the necessity of making one." Elbert Hubbard
"A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was." Joseph Hall
"Confession of error is like a broom that sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface cleaner than before." Mahatma Gandhi
"It is easier to stay out than get out." Mark Twain
"God cannot deal with us on the basis of forgiveness while we are harboring ill-will against those who have wronged us." Max Skousen
"God bears with the wicked, but not forever" Miguel de Cervantes
"All reform except a moral one will prove unavailing." Thomas Carlyle
"Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none." Thomas Carlyle
"The greatest of all faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none." Thomas Carlyle
"Great is the difference betwixt a man's being frightened at, and humbled for his sins." Thomas Fuller
"We need to remember that though we make our friends, God has made our neighbors - everywhere. Love should have no boundary; we should have no narrow loyalties." Howard W. Hunter, LDS General Conference, October 1985
"Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will -- his personal responsibility." Albert Schweitzer
"Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member's heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1999
"You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others." Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Devotional, September 17, 1996
"Since baptism is essential there must be an urgent concern to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. That came as a commandment from Him...We accept the responsibility to preach the gospel to every person on earth. And if the question is asked, 'You mean you are out to convert the entire world?' the answer is, 'Yes. We will try to reach every living soul.' Some who measure that challenge quickly say, 'Why, that's impossible! It cannot be done!' To that we simply say, 'Perhaps, but we shall do it anyway.'" Boyd K. Packer, LDS General Conference, October 1975
"...serve the Lord with cheerfulness and singleness of heart. You need not expect salvation, unless you can administer the same salvation to others, both in precept and example." Brigham Young, DBY p.268-69
"I wish to make this request: that the Elders who return from missions consider themselves just as much on a mission here as in England or in any other part of the world... We frequently call the brethren to go on missions to preach the gospel, and they will go and labor as faithfully as men can do, fervent in spirit, in prayer, in laying on hands, in preaching to and teaching the people how to be saved. In a few years they come home, and throwing off their coats and hats will say, Religion, stand aside, I am going to work now to get something for myself and my family. This is folly in the extreme. When a man returns from a mission where he has been preaching the Gospel he ought to be just as ready to come to this pulpit to preach as if he were in England, France, Germany, or on the islands of the sea. And when he has been at home a week, a month, a year, or ten years, the spirit of preaching and the spirit of the gospel ought to be within him like a river flowing forth to the people in good words, teachings, precepts, and examples. If this is not the case he does not fill his mission." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 328-329
"The purpose of our life should be to build up the Zion of our God, to gather the House of Israel, bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, restore and bless the earth with our ability and make it as the Garden of Eden, store up treasures of knowledge and wisdom in our own understandings, purify our own hearts and prepare a people to meet the Lord when he comes." Brigham Young, DBY p.88
"There is neither man nor woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 322
"We live in that day, the day when the harvest is ripe. We have deluded ourselves long enough that this is a day of gleaning only. This is not a day of gleaning but of harvest." Bruce R. McConkie, Mission Presidents Seminar, June 21, 1975
"As members of the Lord's Church, we must take missionary work more seriously. The Lord's commission to 'preach the gospel to every creature' (Mark 16:15) will never change in our dispensation. We have been greatly blessed with the material means, the technology, and an inspired message to bring the gospel to all men. More is expected of us than any previous generation. Where 'much is given much is required.' (D&C 82:3.)" Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1985
"How do you build in boys a great desire to serve? You do not wait until they are nineteen years old to help them decide to serve a mission. You help them decide to go when they are nine, teen, or eleven! The home is the seedbed for the preparation of young men. And every young man should be prepared in his home to serve. Early preparation consists of teaching a young boy how to pray, reading him stories from the Book of Mormon and other scriptures, having home evenings and giving him a portion of the lesson, teaching him principles of moral cleanliness, starting a savings account for his future mission, teaching him how to work, and providing opportunities to serve others. I know of families who always prayed in family prayer that their sons would be worthy to serve missions. This, they say, had a great effect on their sons. For our teenage young men and women, one of the best preparations for a mission is provided by the Church through seminary and institute of religion classes. We hope you will urge your children to take part in this inspired program." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1985
"It is not enough to be sincere. We must be right." Ezra Taft Benson
"New missionaries need to know exactly the purpose for being in the mission field, which is to save souls, to baptize converts, to bring families into the church." Ezra Taft Benson, New Mission Presidents Seminar, June 1976
"The Lord wants every young man to serve a full-time mission. Currently, only a fifth of the eligible young men in the Church are serving full-time missions. This is not pleasing to the Lord. We can do better. We must do better." Ezra Taft Benson, Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice, p. 5
"You can do nothing more important. School can wait. Scholarships can be deferred. Occupational goals can be postponed. Yes, even temple marriage should wait until after a young man has served an honorable full-time mission for the Lord. And I would admonish you to date only faithful young women who also believe this and give you that encouragement." Ezra Taft Benson, To the Young Men of the Church, in Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice, p. 5
"Young men, look forward to full-time missionary service. Show your love and commitment to the Lord by responding to His call to serve. Know that the real purpose in going into the mission field is to bring souls unto Christ, to teach and baptize our Heavenly Father's children so that you may rejoice with them in the kingdom of our Father. (See D&C 18:15.) Prepare now for your mission by doing these things we have discussed this evening." Ezra Taft Benson, To the Young Men of the Church, in Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice, p. 5
"'Behold how great is your calling' (D&C 112:33). How great is your calling! You are not sent here to take pictures. You are not sent here to play. You are sent here to find and teach. That's our opportunity, our challenge, and our responsibility. You'll never rise higher in all your lives than you will do while you are in the mission field. That may sound like a strange thing. I said that once in Argentina many years ago, and about ten years later I received a letter from a young man who said, 'When I was on a mission in Argentina, you came there and you put a hex on me. I haven't been able to lift it. I have been no good ever since. I failed in school, I failed in my work, I failed in my marriage.' I didn't put a hex on him. I simply told him that he would never stand taller, never rise higher, than while in the service of the Lord, and his subsequent life demonstrated that." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley p.362
"But all of us acknowledge that we have barely scratched the surface. We have a mandate laid upon us from which we cannot shrink. It is the charge from the Lord Himself to teach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The field is white, but the laborers are relatively few." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, December 1987
"I am saying that out of a spirit of appreciation and gratitude, and a sense of duty, you ought to make whatever adjustment is necessary to give a little of your time-as little as two years-consecrating your strength, your means, your talents to the work of sharing with others the gospel, which is the source of so much of the good that you have. I promise that if you will do so, you will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make..." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 347 - 348
"Our message is so imperative, when you stop to think that the salvation, the eternal salvation of the world, rests upon the shoulders of this Church. When all is said and done, if the world is going to be saved, we have to do it. There is no escaping from that. No other people in the history of the world have received the kind of mandate that we have received. We are responsible for all who have lived upon the earth. That involves our family history and temple work. We are responsible for all who now live upon the earth, and that involves our missionary work. And we are going to be responsible for all who will yet live upon the earth. No one ever received a greater or more compelling mandate than we of this Church have received, and we'd better be getting at it. I see that it did so much for me, far greater than the time spent, two years. The things that happened in my life transcend so many other values. I am here today because of that mission, and I plead with you now to make the most of your missions." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, LDS Church News, July 3, 1999
"The world is our responsibility. We cannot evade it." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1986, page 42
"We have never found, and I think we never shall find, an adequate substitute for the situation in which two wholesome young men meet with a family, reason with them, teach them, testify to them, and pray with them. We shall always need missionaries." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1959
"We have so much to do in this world to spread the influence of this gospel. Let us go forth on our assigned mission. We feel the compulsion of the Lord's mandate to teach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. We hope that in so doing we shall not offend, but rather that we shall do so with graciousness and in the spirit of love which was the very essence of him of whom we testify. " Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, October 1982
"It annoys me when men whom the Lord blesses with great abundance are not willing to do their full duty." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p.107
"One great trouble is that we ofttimes lose sight of what is the most valuable labor for us to perform, the labor that will be most pleasing in the sight of our Heavenly Father." Heber J. Grant, CR October 1907
"The first and great commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, might, mind, and strength; and the second was like unto it, to love our neighbors as ourselves. And the best way in the world to show our love for our neighbors is to go forth and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, of which He has given us an absolute knowledge concerning its divinity." Heber J. Grant, CR April 1927
"If you do not magnify your calling, God will hold you responsible for those you might have saved, had you done your duty." John Taylor
"After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel." Joseph Smith, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 172
"After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel." Joseph Smith
"It is our duty to concentrate all our influence to make popular that which is sound and good, and unpopular that which is unsound." Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:286
"Our missionaries are going forth in different nations...the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may raise, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth nobly, boldly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." Joseph Smith, the Wentworth Letter
"All young men in the Church should be very eager to go on a mission, and they should also help their parents to fill missions after the families are raised. Young people should study the gospel, prepare themselves for service in the Church, and keep the commandments as diligently as it is possible to do. Young people who have planned to fill missions are more fruitful, more effective, and more successful when they serve, and more people will come into the Church and will create more enthusiasm, and there will be a chain reaction. Is there any other thing than the gospel that would have a greater chain reaction and affect more interests and people?" Spencer W. Kimball, President Kimball Speaks Out, pp. 31-32
"Perhaps the greatest reason for missionary work is to give the world it's chance to hear and accept the gospel. The scriptures are replete with commands and promises and calls and rewards for teach the gospel. I use the word command deliberately for it seems to be an insistent directive from which we, singly and collectively, cannot escape...I wonder if we are doing all we can. Are we complacent in our approach to teaching all the world? We have been proselyting now 144 years. Are we prepared to lengthen our stride? To enlarge our vision?" Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, October 1974, pp. 4-5
"When I ask for more missionaries, I am not asking for more testimony-barren or unworthy missionaries, I am asking that we start earlier and train our missionaries better in every branch and ward in the world. That is another challenge -- that the young people will understand that it is a great privilege to go on a mission and that they must be physically well, mentally well, spiritually well, and that the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. I am asking for missionaries who have been carefully indoctrinated and trained through the family and the organizations of the Church, and who come to the mission with a great desire. I am asking for better interviews, more searching interviews, more sympathetic and understanding interviews, but especially that we train prospective missionaries much better, much earlier, much longer, so that each anticipates his mission with great joy." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, October 1974, p.7
"The work is demanding, the impact everlasting. This is no time for 'summer soldiers' in the army of the Lord." Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, November 1987, page 41
"And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day." Jacob 1:19
"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." Doctrine and Covenants 4:2
"I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion." Patrick Henry
"Men do less than they ought, unless they do all that they can." Thomas Carlyle
"It isn't enough to do one's best. One must do what is necessary." Winston Churchill
"If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions." Buddhist proverb
"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." Floyd Maxwell
"Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of who and what they have become." Jim Rohn
"No matter how you build it, The ship must sail. You can't explain it to the sea." Unknown
"Here is a great key to reactivation of many of those who have fallen by the wayside. Each has a talent that can be employed. It is the task of leaders to match those talents with needs, and then to offer a challenge." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 1982, p. 8
"With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with the 'good word of God' (Moroni 6:4). It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1997
"Converts are much easier kept than recovered." David Stewart
"A convert is a 'precious person. He or she will make a tremendous decision in coming into the Church. Retention will primarily be the work of the local wards and branches. However, you have a very, very important part in this. Your missionaries must be sure that conversion is real, that it is life-changing, that it is something that is to last forever and go on through generations...There is no point in baptizing people if they do not become solid members of the Church.' Actual harm, he said, may be done to those who leave old friendships and old ways of doing things only to be allowed to slip into inactivity." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, Saturday, July 4, 1998
"He said missionaries should keep in touch with those who have been baptized. 'Any individual who has been worthy of baptism is worthy of saving, now and for as long as he lives and the generations who follow.'" Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"I believe it is totally unnecessary that we lose [any of] those who are baptized." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"It is an absolute imperative that we look after those who have become a part of us." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS General Conference, April 1997
"Nobody gains when there is baptism without retention, The missionary loses, and while the Church gains statistically, the membership suffers, really, and the enthusiasm of the convert turns to ashes." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"They [the missionaries] still have an obligation to nurture and help those they have baptized - to befriend them, to write to them, to give them encouragement. But greater than that is your responsibility, my brethren, as bishops, as stake presidents, as elders quorum presidents, to put your arms around these people and make them feel comfortable and at home and warm and happy. It is an imperative. What does it profit the missionary to baptize someone who leaves the Church within six months? Nothing is accomplished, in fact, damage is done. We have pulled them away from their old moorings and brought them into the Church, only to have them drift away." Gordon B. Hinckley, Woods Cross Utah Regional Conference, 10 January 1998
"Those who have come into the Church made a great sacrifice, many of them, when they were baptized. They are precious. They are the same kind of people that you are and their generations will become the same kind of people as will your generations if they are nurtured and brought along in the Church. I don't know how to say it more strongly. This is a matter about which I feel so deeply as I go about this Church across the world." Gordon B. Hinckley, Woods Cross Utah Regional Conference, 10 January 1998
"Will you please see that every convert who comes into the Church while you are here on this mission is so taught that he or she will grow in faith and that a year after baptism he or she will be ready to get a temple recommend, and as soon as the temple is completed will be eligible to go to the house of the Lord?" Gordon B. Hinckley, Bolivia Cochabamba Missionary Meeting, November 10, 1996
"President Hinckley's strong, continuing challenge to us is retention, which requires full cooperation between the missionary, the leaders and members." James E. Faust, Church News, June 26, 1999
"Elder Perry noted that, according to research, 86 percent of the active converts have close personal ties to other LDS members or relatives." L. Tom Perry, LDS Church News, June 21, 1991
"The role of missionaries has expanded in recent years to include convert retention and activation. . . . The salvation of souls is not compartmentalized. One soul is as precious as another. We are as interested in less-active members as we are a non-member." Richard G. Scott, LDS Church News, July 3, 1993
"Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted." Alma 26:5
"The revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ to the human family are all the learning we can ever possess. Much of this knowledge is obtained from books which have been written by men who have contemplated deeply on various subjects, and the revelations of Jesus have opened their minds, whether they knew it or acknowledged it or not." Brigham Young, DBY p.257-58
"Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit; and in this there is no condemnation, and ye receive the Spirit through prayer; wherefore, without this there remaineth condemnation." D&C 63:64
"Much of the sorrow and distress that is afflicting and will continue to afflict mankind is traceable to the fact that they have ignored[God's] admonition to keep the Sabbath day holy." George Albert Smith, CR, October 1935, p. 120
"If we were looking for some program to cure all of the problems that presently beset our world, we might well find it by properly observing the Sabbath day. The importance of the Sabbath is prefigured in the account of creation. In programming the seven creative periods, God set aside the seventh day as his Sabbath. And then in our interests he especially blessed and hallowed this one day out of each week, which he ordained to be our Sabbath day. And what a magnificent day it is when it is used as he intended." Sterling W. Sill, Conference Report, October 1969, p.16
"Sunday is the core of our civilization, dedicated to thought and reverence." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Some men are willing to die for their faith, but they are not willing to fully live for it." Ezra Taft Benson
"Sweat plus sacrifice equals success." Charles O. Finley
"The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters thehouse a guest and then becomes a host, and then a master." Kahlil Gibran
"Yielding ourselves to the Lord always requires sacrifice, and often a sacrifice of our sins. How many favorite sins are we holding onto that alienate us from the Spirit and keep us from turning our lives over to the Lord? Things such as jealousy, or holding onto grudge, or being casual about the Sabbath day, or the wearing of the garment, or what we watch or read? Imagine the rippling impact on our lives and our families if every one of us determined at this moment to sacrifice something that is dulling our spiritual senses." Sheri Dew, BYU Womens Conference, 1999
"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life." Theodore Roosevelt
"If you give anything for the building up of the Kingdom of God, give the best you have." Brigham Young, Discourse of Brigham Young, p. 445
"Now, you Elders who understand the principles of the kingdom of God, what would you not give, do, or sacrifice, to assist in building up His kingdom upon the earth? Says one, 'I would do anything in my power, anything that the Lord would help me to do, to build up His kingdom.' Says another, 'I would sacrifice all my property.' Wonderful indeed! Do you not know that the possession of your property is like a shadow, or the dew of the morning before the noon-day sun, that you cannot have any assurance of its control for a single moment! It is the unseen hand of Providence that controls it. In short, what would you sacrifice? The Saints sacrifice everything; but, strictly speaking, there is no sacrifice about it. If you give a penny for a million of gold! A handful of earth for a planet! A temporary worn out tenement for one glorified, that will exist, abide, and continue to increase throughout a never ending eternity, what a sacrifice to be sure!" Brigham Young, JD 1:114-115
"We talk about our trials and troubles here in this life: but suppose that you could see yourselves thousands and millions of years after you have proved faithful to your religion during the few short years in this time, and have obtained eternal salvation and a crown of glory in the presence of God; then look back upon your lives here, and see the losses, crosses, and disappointments, the sorrows ... you would be constrained to exclaim, 'But what of all that? Those things were but for a moment, and we are now here. We have been faithful during a few moments in our mortality, and now we enjoy eternal life and glory, with power to progress in all the boundless knowledge and through the countless stages of progression, enjoying the smiles and approbation of our Father and God, and of Jesus Christ our elder brother.'" Brigham Young, JD 7:275-276
"Willingly we give of our time and our means with which He may bless us to the establishment of His kingdom in the earth. This we know is our first duty and our great opportunity... In a statement published to the world during the last world war, the First Presidency of the Church declared: 'No act of ours or of the Church must interfere with this God-given mandate.'" Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1942
"Why have these great missionaries and others like them been willing to sacrifice the comforts of home, family, loved ones and sweethearts to answer the call to serve? It's because they have a testimony of Jesus Christ. And when they know Him there is no bed too hard or too short. No sacrifice is too great to serve the Master who sacrificed His all to provide the way for His brothers and sisters to return home to their Heavenly Father. And because they are faithful to their callings, thousands will revere their names throughout eternity." Harold G. Hillam, LDS Church News, October 7, 1995, p.16
"The cross to be taken up may be heavy, perhaps to be dragged because too burdensome to be borne. We are apt to assume that self-denial is the sole material of our cross; but this is true only as we regard self-denial in its broadest sense, comprising both positive and negative aspects. One man's cross may consist mostly in refraining from doings to which he is inclined, another's in doing what he would fain escape. One's besetting sin is evil indulgence; his neighbor's a lazy inattention to the activities required by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, coupled perchance with puritanical rigor in other observances. But the great question, striking home to every thoughtful soul, is that of the Master -- 'For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' (Matt. 16:26). It is possible then for a man to lose his own soul. To deny is to reject the Lord's own doctrine. The safeguard against such incalculable loss is specifically indicated -- to follow the Savior; and this can mean only keeping His commandments, whatever the temporary suffering or worldly sacrifice may be." James E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism, p. 353
"The Savior gave of Himself, gave His very life that we might live. To sacrifice that others might be blessed was His word, His work, His life. Sacrifice is the evidence of true love. Without sacrifice love is not manifest. Without sacrifice there is no real love, or kindness... We love no one unless we sacrifice for him. We can measure the degree of love that we possess for any man or cause, by the sacrifice we make for him or it." John A. Widtsoe, LDS General Conference, April 1943
"Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury -- to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind." Albert Einstein
"To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness." Albert Schweitzer
"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly." Bertrand Russell
"The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." Charles du Bos
"There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things." D.L. Moody
"I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned." First Duke of Wellington
"When your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independent of thought appears." Ha Gakure
"In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich." Henry Ward Beecher
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog." Jack London
"When a child gets what he wants, you can be sure he is well on the way toward delinquency." Kenneth W. Lund, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth." Mahatma Gandhi
"The mice which helplessly find themselves between the cats teeth acquire no merit from their enforced sacrifice." Mahatma Gandhi
"I ask you one thing: do not tire of giving, but do not give your leftovers. Give until it hurts, until you feel the pain." Mother Teresa
"The charitable give out the door and God puts it back through the window." Proverb
"Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Money often costs too much." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You can't have everything. Where would you put it?" Steven Wright
"Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice." Woodrow Wilson
"The Bible, when it is understood, is one of the simplest books in the world, for, as far as it is translated correctly, it is nothing but truth, and in truth there is no mystery save to the ignorant." Brigham Young, JD 14:136
"One of the great compliments paid the Savior was that he taught as one having authority. The missionary who knows scripture and can quote it speaks with the voice of authority...May I suggest that in our family night gatherings we make it a project to memorize one scripture a week pertinent to this work. At the conclusion of a year our children will have on their lips a fund of scripture which will remain with them throughout their lives." Gordon B. Hinckley, CR April 1959 p. 120
"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior. That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel." Boyd K. Packer, LDS General Conference, October 1986
"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior." Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, November 1986, p. 17
"Because we believe that scripture reading can help us receive revelation, we are encouraged to read the scriptures again and again. By this means, we obtain access to what our Heavenly Father would have us know and do in our personal lives today. That is one reason Latter-day Saints believe in daily scripture study. Similarly, what a scripture in the Book of Mormon meant to me when I first read it at age sixteen is not conclusive upon me as I read it at age sixty. With the benefit of my life's experiences and with my greater familiarity with revelation, I can learn things that were not available to me yesterday by reading the scriptures today." Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, January 1995
"More than at any time in our history we have need for greater spirituality. The way to develop greater spirituality is to feast on the words of Christ as revealed in the scriptures. One of the most significant happenings in recent Church history is the publication of the new editions of the standard works with the new footnotes and other helps. I think we can say without exaggeration that never before in any dispensation have the Saints been so abundantly blessed with the words of the Lord and His prophets. Now our challenge is to do as the Lord commanded: 'Study my word which hath gone forth among the children of men' (D&C 11:22)." Ezra Taft Benson, LDS General Conference, April 1984
"Success in righteousness, the power to avoid deception and resist temptation, guidance in our daily lives, healing of the soul - these are but a few of the promises the Lord has given to those who will come to His word. Does the Lord promise and not fulfill? Surely if He tells us that these things will come to us if we lay hold upon His word, then the blessings can be ours. And if we do not, then the blessings may be lost. However diligent we may be in other areas, certain blessings are to be found only in the scriptures, only in coming to the word of the Lord and holding fast to it as we make our way through the mists of darkness to the tree of life." Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1986
"Those who delve into the scriptural library ... find that to understand requires more than casual reading or perusal - there must be concentrated study. It is certain that one who studies the scriptures every day accomplishes far more than one who devotes considerable time one day and then lets days go by before continuing. Not only should we study each day, but there should be a regular time set aside when we can concentrate without interference. There is nothing more helpful than prayer to open our understanding of the scriptures. Through prayer we can attune our minds to seek the answers to our searchings...Many find that the best time to study is in the morning after a night's rest has cleared the mind of the many cares that interrupt thought. Others prefer to study in the quiet hours after the work and worries of the day are over and brushed aside, thus ending the day with a peace and tranquillity that comes by communion with the scriptures. Perhaps what is more important than the hour of the day is that a regular time be set aside for study. It would be ideal if an hour could be spent each day; but if that much cannot be had, a half hour on a regular basis would result in substantial accomplishment. A quarter of an hour is little time, but it is surprising how much enlightenment and knowledge can be acquired in a subject so meaningful. The important thing is to allow nothing else to ever interfere with our study." Howard W. Hunter, LDS General Conference, October 1979
"An effort must be put forth to learn the gospel, to understand it, to comprehend the relationship of its principles. The gospel must be studied, otherwise no test of its truth may sanely be applied to it. That study must be wide, for the gospel is so organized that in it is a place for every truth, of every name and nature. That study must be constantly continued, for the content of the gospel is illimitable." John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, pp. 16-17
"It is a paradox that men will gladly devote time every day for many years to learn a science or an art; yet will expect to win a knowledge of the gospel, which comprehends all sciences and arts, through perfunctory glances at books or occasional listening to sermons. The gospel should be studied more intensively than any school or college subject. They who pass opinion on the gospel without having given it intimate and careful study are not lovers of truth, and their opinions are worthless. To secure a testimony, then, study must accompany desire and prayer." John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, pp. 16-17
"...it is desirable that our children should learn to memorize important passages; such that will leave a strong impression upon their lives; scriptural passages that they will use as their guiding star; scriptural passages that will help to form convictions in their minds of right and wrong; scriptural passages that will bring conviction to their hearts" Joseph M. Tanner, LDS General Conference, April 1901
"In all of the history of mankind there has never been a time when we have had a greater opportunity to increase our knowledge of the law of the Lord...Surely there can be no excuse for us not to become the best informed generation of all time in our knowledge of the scriptures. Never before have we had opportunity such as we have today to become real gospel scholars." L. Tom Perry
"...we are saddened to learn as we travel about the stakes and missions of the Church that there are still many of the saints who are not reading and pondering the scriptures regularly and have little knowledge of the Lord's instructions to the children of men. Many have been baptized and received a testimony, and have 'gotten into this straight and narrow path,' yet have failed to take the further required step -- to 'press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end.' (2 Nephi 31:19,20). One cannot become a 'doer' of the word without first becoming a 'hearer.' And to become a 'hearer' is not simply to stand idly by and wait for chance bits of information, it is too seek out and study and pray and comprehend. Therefore, the Lord said, 'Whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me' (D&C 84:52)." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign September 1986
"Any intelligent man may learn what he wants to learn. He may acquire knowledge in any field, though it requires much thought and effort. It takes more than a decade to get a high school diploma; it takes an additional four years for most people to get a college degree; it takes nearly a quarter-century to become a great physician. Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary experimental and laboratory work accompanied by compliance with the laws that govern it? Absurd it is, but you will frequently find popular personalities, who seem never to have lived a single law of God, discoursing in interviews on religion. How ridiculous for such persons to attempt to outline for the world a way of life! And yet many a financier, politician, college professor, or owner of a gambling club thinks that because he has risen above all his fellowmen in his particular field he knows everything in every field. One cannot know God nor understand his works or plans unless he follows the laws which govern. The spiritual realm, which is just as absolute as is the physical, cannot be understood by the laws of the physical. You do not learn to make electric generators in a seminary. Neither do you learn certain truths about spiritual things in a physics laboratory. You must go to the spiritual laboratory, use the facilities available there, and comply with the governing rules. Then you may know of these truths just as surely, or more surely, than the scientist knows the metals, or the acids, or other elements. It matters little whether one is a plumber, or a banker, or a farmer, for these occupations are secondary; what is most important is what one knows and believes concerning his past and his future and what he does about it." Spencer W. Kimball, Absolute Truth, BYU 9/6/77; Ensign, Sept. 1978, p. 5
"...The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Revelations 20:12
"And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he [Jesus] taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them." 3 Nephi 26:8-9
"Behold, I command you that you need not suppose that you are called to preach until you are called. Wait a little longer, until you shall have my word, my rock, my church, and my gospel, that you may know of a surety my doctrine." D&C 11:15-16
"Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength. Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. But now hold your peace; study my word which hath gone forth among the children of men, and also study my word which shall come forth among the children of men..." D&C 11:20-22
"For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written." 2 Nephi 29:11
"Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever. Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written. For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it." 2 Nephi 29: 6-12
"If you pray for an angel to visit you, you know what he'll do if he comes. He'll just quote the scriptures to you - so you know you're wasting your time waiting for what we already have. I'm quite serious about that." Hugh Nibley, Of All Things, page 42
"The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that can not read them." Mark Twain
"People cannot be well educated without the Bible." Nott
"Has it ever struck you that the vast majority of the will of God for your life has already been revealed in the Bible? That is a crucial thing to grasp." Paul Little
"We do not have to make the Bible relevant -- it already is! But we do have to show its relevance." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.224
"The depth of the Christian Scriptures is boundless. Even if I were attempting to study them and nothing else, from boyhood to decrepit old age, with the utmost leisure, the most unwearied zeal, and with talents greater than I possess, I would still be making progress in discovering their treasures." Saint Augustine
"Side by Side (Poem). On the table, side by side the Book of Mormon and the TV guide. One is well worn and cherished with pride; not the Book of Mormon, but the TV guide. One is used daily to help folks decide; no, not the Book of Mormon, but the TV guide. As the pages are turned, what will they see? Oh, what does it matter, turn on the TV! So they open the book from which they confide; No, not the Book of Mormon, but the TV guide. The word of God is seldom read maybe a verse or two before they fall into bed, exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be, not from reading the scriptures, but from watching TV. So back to the table, side by side the Book of Mormon, and the TV guide. The plan of salvation is full and free but is found in the scriptures, not on TV." Unknown
"To say nothing of its holiness or authenticity, the Bible contains more specimens of genius and taste than any other volume in existence." Walter S. Landor
"As couple missionaries, you and your wife should prepare to serve when that time comes. We need many, many more couple missionaries." Earl C. Tingey, LDS General Conference, April 1998, Priesthood Session
"Become involved in missionary service. We need increasing numbers of senior missionaries in missionary service. Where health and means make it possible, we call upon hundreds more of our couples to set their lives and affairs in order and to go on missions. How we need you in the mission field! You are able to perform missionary service in ways that our younger missionaries cannot. I'm grateful that two of my own widowed sisters were able to serve as missionary companions together in England. They were sixty-eight and seventy-three years of age when they were called, and they both had a marvelous experience. What an example and a blessing it is to a family's posterity when grandparents serve missions. Most senior couples who go are strengthened and revitalized by missionary service. Through this holy avenue of service, many are sanctified and feel the joy of bringing others to the knowledge of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ." Ezra Taft Benson, Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice, To the Elderly in the Church, p. 74
"Emerson said that every great institution is but the lengthened shadow of a great person. The power is in us, in each of us - the power to do significant acts of service on our own initiative if we will become anxiously engaged." Gordon B. Hinckley, Faith, The Essence of True Religion, p.40
"God loves the world through us." Mother Teresa
"One of the most important and rewarding ways in which we can serve our fellowmen is by living and sharing the principles of the gospel. We need to help those whom we seek to serve to know for themselves that God not only loves them but he is ever mindful of them and their needs. To teach our neighbors of the divinity of the gospel is a command reiterated by the Lord: 'It becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor' (D&C 88:81)." Spencer W. Kimball, New Era, March 1981, p. 48
"Sharing what you have is more important than what you have." Albert M. Wells, Jr.
"A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives." Albert Schweitzer
"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody." Chinese Proverb
"Behave toward everyone as if receiving a great guest." Confucius
"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." E. W. Howe
"A man with a surplus can control circumstances, but a man without a surplus is controlled by them, and often has no opportunity to exercise judgment." Harvey S. Firestone
"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love." Henry Drummond
"Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have." Jim Rohn
"Sharing makes you bigger than you are. The more you pour out, the more life will be able to pour in." Jim Rohn
"Somebody says, 'Well, I can't be concerned about other people. About the best I can do is to take care of myself.' Well, then you will always be poor." Jim Rohn
"Maybe if I had not picked up that one person dying on the street, I would not have picked up the thousands." Mother Teresa
"Never say anything to hurt anyone. Moreover refrain from double talk, from shrewd and canny remarks that are designed to advance our interests at someone's disadvantage. We are to turn our back upon evil, and in every way possible, do good, help people and bring blessings into their lives." Norman Vincent Peale
"If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green." Thomas Carlyle
"The genius of our religion is to have mercy upon all, do good to all, as far as they will let us do good to them." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.272
"If you would bless your fellow-man the most, then you must put the First Commandment first." Ezra Taft Benson
"Tremendous happiness and peace of mind are the results of loving service to others. Nobody can live fully and happily who lives only unto himself or herself." Gordon B. Hinckley
"In the service of the Lord, it is not where, but how you serve." J. Reuben Clark, Jr., cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"We must never ignore or pass by the prompting of the Spirit to render service to one another." M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, May 1990, p. 7
"God does notice us, and He watches over us. But it is usually through another person that He meets our needs." Spencer W. Kimball
"Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly, even if they roll a few more upon it." Albert Schweitzer
"The only ones among you who will really be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." Albert Schweitzer
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Alexander Pope, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Life is like a game of tennis; the player who serves well seldom loses." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Nice guys only appear to finish last. Actually, they are running a different race." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"The best way to keep good acts in memory is to refresh them with new." Cato
"He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own." Confucius
"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate, and do it." E.W. Howe, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world." Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1985, p. 6
"The most delicate, the most sensible of all pleasures, consists in promoting the pleasure of others." Jean de la Bruyere
"Not the maker of plans and promises but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice -- no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service." John Burroughs
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi
"If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others." Mother Teresa
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." Munthe
"Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away." Persian Proverb
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To be pure and strong, to be honest and earnest, to be kindly and thoughtful, and in all to be true, to be manly and womanly. He can do more for others who has done most with himself." S. D. Gordon
"To give pleasure to a single heart by a single kind act is better than a thousand head-bowings in prayer." Saddi
"There is no sensual pleasure in the world comparable to the delight and satisfaction that a good man takes in doing good." Tillotson
"Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of men. He who possesses sincerity, is he who, without an effort, hits what is right, and apprehends, without the exercise of thought; he is the sage who naturally and easily embodies the right way. He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is good, and firmly holds it fast." Confucius
"It is often said that a man's personal religion grows out of the uses to which he puts his moments of solitude. A sure mark of an irreligious person is one who hates to ever be alone, who must be constantly amused by radio, television, canasta or idle companionship. Such shows the lack of self-discipline and self-determination." Gilbert M. Holloway
"I want you to teach the people -- and I want you to follow this counsel yourself -- that they must labor and live so as to obtain the Holy Spirit, for without this you cannot build up the kingdom; without the spirit of God you are in danger of walking in the dark, and in danger of failing to accomplish your calling as apostles and as elders in the church and kingdom of God." Brigham Young, to Wilford Woodruff, as cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"The spirit of truth will do more to bring persons to light and knowledge, than flowery words." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 333
"Thirty year's experience has taught me that every moment of my life must be holiness to the Lord, resulting from equity, justice, mercy, and uprightness in all my actions, which is the only course by which I can preserve the Spirit of the Almighty to myself. What is your experience? It is the same as my own. You cannot constantly be sinning a little and repenting, and retain the Spirit of the Lord as your constant companion. My experience up to this time, has been to do as I would that others should do unto me, under like circumstances; and, if I understand myself, there is not a man or woman on the face of this earth that I have dealt with contrary to this rule, and this practice I have continued each day." Brigham Young, JD 9:220
"You might prove doctrine from the Bible till doomsday, and it would merely convince a people, but would not convert them. You might read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations, and prove every iota that you advance, and that alone would have no converting influence upon the people. Nothing short of a testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost would bring light and knowledge to them -- bring them in their hearts to repentance. Nothing short of that would ever do." Brigham Young, JD 5:327
"You will see plenty of the world--it will be before you all the time--but if you live so as to possess the Holy Ghost you will be able to understand more in relation to it in one day than you could in a dozen days without it, and you will at once see the difference between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God, and you can weigh things in the balance and estimate them at their true worth." Brigham Young, JD 12:34
"A missionary should never permit himself to see a movie or (read) cheap literature, or hear music that tends to interfere with or which dampens the spirit of missionary work. There is ample evidence that rock music is offensive to the Spirit and affects adversely the spirituality of the missionaries and thus the success of the proselyting work." Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 202
"Be guided by the Spirit. I have said so many times to my Brethren that the Spirit is the most important single element in this work. With the Spirit, and by magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit you will never succeed regardless of your talent and ability." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 25 June 1986
"To be a successful missionary one must have the Spirit of the Lord. We are also taught that the Spirit will not dwell in unclean tabernacles. Therefore, one of the first things a missionary must do to gain spirituality is to make sure his own personal life is in order." Ezra Taft Benson, Mission Presidents' Seminar, 21 June 1975
"If we will be submissive and listen to the revelations of the Most High, remembering that His ways are not as our ways, and His thoughts as our thoughts, for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are His ways than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts; if we will remember this, and act upon it, we are in the way to obtain those keys of power, and profit by them; that is to say, we are right on the grand turnpike to exaltation." George Albert Smith, JD 2:219-220
"It is not position, it is not education that gives the Spirit of God; but it is keeping the commandments of Almighty God and being lowly in heart and desiring to fulfill the commandments of God in our daily walk and conversation. I bear witness to you here today that no man ever will fail in this Church, who is honest in his heart, honest in the payment of his tithes and offerings, who obeys the word of wisdom, who attends to his family prayers and his secret prayers, and who attends to his quorum meetings. No man will fail who is doing his duty in this Church." Heber J. Grant, CR April 1901 p. 64
"I want to advise this people, if the Lord ever does give you an inspiration, for heaven's sake write it down and remember it. If Joseph Smith the prophet had not done that, you would never have had some things contained in the D&C." J. Golden Kimball, LDS General Conference, April 1927
"Men are not converted by eloquence or oratory; they are convinced when they are satisfied that you have the truth and the spirit of God." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine p.357
"It is the privilege of every Elder to speak of the things of God; and could we all come together with one heart and one mind in perfect faith the veil might as well be rent today as next week, or any other time, and if we will but cleanse ourselves and covenant before God, to serve Him, it is our privilege to have an assurance that God will protect us at all times." Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.8
"Those engaged in seeking the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah, cannot fail to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord and have the choicest blessings of Heaven rest upon them in copious effusions. . . He who scattered Israel has promised to gather them; therefore inasmuch as you are to be instrumental in this great work, He will endow you with power, wisdom, might, and intelligence, and every qualification necessary; while your minds will expand wider and wider, until you can circumscribe the earth and the heavens, reach forth into eternity, and contemplate the mighty acts of Jehovah in all their variety and glory." Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4: 128-29
"Say to your soul, 'Let no unclean thing enter here.'" Karl G. Maeser
"We need assistance. We are liable to do that which will lead us into trouble and darkness, and those things which will not tend to our good, but with the assistance of that comforter which the Lord has promised his Saints, if we are careful to listen to its whisperings, and understand the nature of its language, we may avoid much trouble and serious difficulty." Lorenzo Snow, JD 19:343
"The issue, then, becomes quite clear; that it is not what kind of God man can believe in, but what kind of man does the living God reach." N. Eldon Tanner, CR April 1966 p. 137
"Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies. And when you are on the Lord's errand, you are entitled to the Lord's help." Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, June 26, 1999
"Men may labor to make a great display of talent, learning, and knowledge, either in printing or preaching. They may try to preach the mysteries and to present something strange, great, and wonderful, and they may labor for this with all their might, in the spirit and strength of man without the aid of the Holy Spirit of God, and yet the people are not edified, and their preaching will not give much satisfaction. It is the plainest and the most simple things that edify us the most, if taught by the Spirit of God; and there is nothing more important or beneficial unto us." Wilford Woodruff, Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 20
"...it always has been given to the elders of my church from the beginning, and ever shall be, to conduct all meetings as they are directed and guided by the Holy Spirit." D&C 46:2
"And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." D&C 42:14
"And, behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth- And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants." D&C 68:2-5
"Inspiration comes of working every day." Charles Baudelaire
"Angels...minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness." Moroni 7:28-29
"Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me." D&C 9:7-9
"But behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen. They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day." D&C 95:5-6
"For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly." D&C 136:33
"For the natural man is an enemy to God...and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19
"Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." D&C 84:85
"They shall observe the covenants and church articles to do them, and these shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit. And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." D&C 42:13-14
"They shall observe the covenants and church articles to do them, and these shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by the Spirit. And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." D&C 42:13-14
"Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God. Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." D&C 50:17-24
"Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God. Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." D&C 50:17-24
"Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart." D&C 8:2
"One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history." Albert Schweitzer
"I pondered, therefore, on the sad fate of mortals, adrift upon this sea of human opinions, without compass or rudder, and abandoned to their stormy passions with no guide but an inexperienced pilot who does not know whence he comes or whither he is going." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Faith must be enforced by reason. When faith becomes blind it dies." Mahatma Gandhi
"Great men are they who see that the spiritual is stronger than any material force." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"He that loseth wealth, loseth much; he that loseth friends, loseth more; but he that loseth his spirit loseth all." Spanish Proverb
"When I am....completely myself, entirely alone...or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these come I know not nor can I force them...Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them gleich alles zusammen [at the same time all together]." Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."" Albert Einstein
"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty." Albert Einstein
"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own." Benjamin Disraeli
"Don't teach so that you can be understood. Teach so that you can't be misunderstood." David Stewart
"Where much is expected from an individual, he may rise to the level of events and make the dream come true." Elbert Hubbard
"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemingway
"The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say, 'Me, too!' versus 'So what?'" Jim Rohn
"Everyone hears only what he understands." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Spartans, stoics, heroes, saints and gods use a short and powerful speech." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I am not a teacher but an awakener." Robert Frost
"It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed,
the deeper they burn." Robert Southey
"Essential steps cannot be bypassed or skipped any more than a child can learn to run before learning to walk, or a student can do calculus before understanding algebra." Stephen R. Covey, Ensign, Feburary 1972, p. 36
"A good teacher is one who can understand those not very good at explaining, and explain it to those who are not very good at
understanding." Unattributed, 'After All,' Ensign, November 1971
"In teaching there are three ever-present factors: first, what the teacher is; secondly, what the teacher says; and thirdly, what the teacher does. The least important of these is what the teacher says; the other two are most vital in child training. It is worse folly for a teacher to attempt to teach something which he himself does not believe. There is a sixth sense in most of us, and particularly in children and youth, which instinctively detects the inconsistency between pretension as expressed in words and reality as it exists in thought and feeling. A dishonest teacher cannot effectively teach honesty, nor an athiest teach belief in God, nor an immoral one teach purity of life. True teaching springs from the heart, not from vocal chords." David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life, p. 54
"No greater responsibility can rest upon a man, than to be a teacher of God's children" David O. McKay, LDS General Conference, October 1916
"The teacher who knows her facts wins, the confidence and respect of her pupils." David O. McKay, Secrets of a Happy Life, p. 55
"[If missionaries could really convey the gospel message], at least twice as many people would come into the Church...I hope this improvement will continue until we learn to really speak to the world." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, LDS Church News, Saturday, July 4, 1998
"President Faust said that we must teach the following absolutes: 'First, that Jesus is Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind through the Atonement. Second, that Joseph Smith was the Prophet who restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness and completeness. Third, the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Christ. Fourth, that all the presidents of the Church since Joseph Smith have been successors to the keys of the authority that Joseph Smith restored. Fifth, President Gordon B. Hinckley is the prophet, seer and revelator to the world at this time.'" James E. Faust, cited in LDS Church News, Saturday, June 26, 1999
"The question often arises in the minds of young men who find themselves in the mission field, 'What shall I say?' And another follows closely upon it, 'How shall I say it?'...While no specific rule may be given, experience has taught that the simplest way is the best. Having learned the principles of the gospel, through a prayerful spirit and by careful study, these should be presented to men in humility, in the simplest forms of speach, without presumption or arrogance and in the spirit of the mission of Christ...The gospel is not successfully taught by ostentatious display of words and argument, but rather is expressed by modest and rational statements of its simple truth, uttered in a way that will touch the heart and appeal, as well, to reason and sound sense." Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, pp.358-59
"Who can I preach to, but my friends?" Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:19-20
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." Albert Einstein
"You don't really understand something unless you can communicate it in a simple way." Albert Einstein
"The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-trust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.
" Amos Bronson Alcott
"Before you speak, know your audience." Anonymous, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Confucius
"If names are not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language is not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success...Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately...What the superior man requires, is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect." Confucius
"The royal road to a man's heart is to talk to him about the things he treasures most." Dale Carnegie
"You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it within himself." Galileo, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected." Mahatma Gandhi
"The man who can make hard things easy is the educator." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Jesus never lowered his standards, but he always started where people were." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.56
"People need fewer 'ought-to' sermons and more 'how-to' sermons." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p. 229
"Some pastors actually think they have failed in their preaching if people enjoy a message. I've heard pastors proudly say, 'We're not here to entertain.' Obviously they're doing a good job. A Gallup poll a few years ago stated that, according to the unchurched, the church is the most boring place to be...We should not be afraid to be interesting. A sermon does not have to be dry to be spiritual." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.231
"When God's word is taught in an uninteresting way, people don't just think that the pastor is boring, they think God is boring!" Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p. 231
"Men learn while they teach." Seneca
"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not 'What a lovely sermon' but, 'I will do something!'" St. Francis de Sales
"Let one who wants to move and convince others, first be convinced and moved themselves. If a person speaks with genuine earnestness, the thoughts, the emotion and the actual condition of their own heart, others will listen because we all are knit together by the tie of sympathy." Thomas Carlyle
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward
"Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us." Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, October 1994, p.5
"Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of - and carry - a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it." Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, October 1994, p.5
"If you don't want temptation to follow you, don't act as if you are interested." Richard L. Evans
"No one ever fell over a precipice who never went near one." Richard L. Evans
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41
"'Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it." Benjamin Franklin, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"A testimony will grow stronger in the field, and I pray that you will never lose it, as long as you live, and that from this remarkable experience will come strength and faith and power for all the years that follow throughout your life." Gordon B. Hinckley, New Mission Presidents' Seminar, LDS Church News, Saturday, July 3, 1999
"And I wish for each of you the power and capacity to testify of the truth of this work to those whom you can get to listen to you." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church News, Saturday, July 4, 1998
"This thing which we call testimony is the great strength of the Church. It is the wellspring of faith and activity. It is difficult to quantify. It is an elusive and mysterious thing, and yet it is as real and powerful as any force on the earth...Personal testimony is the factor which turns people around in their living as they come into this Church. This is the element which motivates the membership to forsake all in the service of the Lord. This is the quiet, encouraging voice which sustains without pause those who walk in faith down to the last days of their lives." Gordon B. Hinckley
"Testimony isn't something you have today, and you are going to have
always. A testimony is fragile. It is as hard to hold as a moonbeam. It is something you have to recapture every day of your life." Harold B. Lee, July 15, 1972
"I may know that the Gospel is true, and my wife may know it; but I do not imagine for one moment that my children will be born with this knowledge. We receive a testimony of the Gospel by obeying the laws and ordinances thereof; and our children will receive that knowledge exactly the same way; and if we do not teach them, and they do not walk in the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life, they will never receive this knowledge." Heber J. Grant, Collected Discourses, Vol. 4, April 6, 1894
"People should study the gospel. But the greatest testimony we can receive is the voice of revelation -- the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No one can get this without living it." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 41
"As a vital link in the conversion process, we should bear our testimonies that the gospel is true; our testimonies may well be the spark that ignites the conversion process. Consequently, we have a double responsibility: we must testify of the things we know, feel, and have felt, and we must live so the Holy Ghost can be with us and convey our words in power to the heart of the investigator." Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 138
"Testimony bearing is the key to missionary work" Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, Saturday, June 26, 1999
"And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people. For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people." D&C 88:89-91
"Call ye, therefore, upon them with loud proclamation, and with your testimony, fearing them not, for they are as grass, and all their glory as the flower thereof which soon falleth, that they may be left also without excuse." D&C 124:7
"Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you..." D&C 62:3
"Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of the few; and number not the voices, but weigh them." Immanuel Kant
"Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments." Nathaniel Emmons
"Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow and the force of it depends on the strength of the arm from which it was shot. Argument is like a bullet fired from a gun and has equal force even when issued from a child." Samuel Johnson
"It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head." Sally Kempton
"Whatever a man does he must do first in his mind." Albert Szent-Gyorgi
"How rarely it occurs to anyone to use his mind in a new way to make his life a better life. Inquire whether your thinking is true, healthy, necessary, sincere, pleasant. A man who would not eat unhealthy foods not only consumes but welcomes unhealthy thoughts. A good reason for removing errors of thinking is that we will cease to suffer from them. A mind living in a prison of its own making has the ability to become its own key to liberty." Vernon Howard
"The first deviation toward moral breakdown in a man or woman is
similar to a spark that ignites a devastating forest fire...We risk similar damage to our moral integrity when we let our guard down for even one brief moment. The spark of an evil thought can enter our mind and could ignite and destroy the moral fiber of our soul." Joseph Wirthlin, LDS General Conference, October 1990
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." Albert Einstein
"Neither man nor nation can exist without a sublime idea." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Man can live without air for seconds, without water for days, without food for weeks, and without ideas for years." Laurence J. Peter
"If you first gain power to check your words, you will then begin to have power to check your judgment, and at length actually gain power to check your thoughts and reflections." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.267-68
"If you go on a mission to preach the gospel with lightness and frivolity in your hearts, looking for this and that, and to learn what is in the world, and not having your minds riveted - yes, I may say riveted - on the cross of Christ, you will go and return in vain...Let your minds be centered on your missions, and labor earnestly to bring souls to Christ." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 12:33-34
"When we speak, let us speak good words; when we think, think good thoughts; and when we act, perform good acts; until it shall become the delight of every man and woman to do good instead of evil, and to teach righteousness by example, and precept rather than unrighteousness." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 10:360
"I will know what you are if you tell me what you think about when you don't have to think" David O. McKay, True to the Faith, p. 170
"The thought in your mind at this moment is contributing, however infinitesimally, almost imperceptibly, to the shaping of your soul...Even passing and idle thoughts leave their impression." David O. McKay, quoted in The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 105.
"Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny." David O. McKay
"A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 103
"How could a person possibly become what he is not thinking? Nor is any thought, when persistently entertained, too small to have its effect. The 'divinity that shapes our ends' is indeed ourselves." Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 104-105
"To remain clean and worthy, one must stay positively and conclusively away from the devil's territory, avoiding the least approach toward evil. Satan leaves his fingerprints." Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 232
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7
"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith. Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof." 3 Nephi 13:31-34
"I want to know God's thoughts. The rest are details." Albert Einstein
"Do not think that what your thoughts dwell upon is of no matter. Your thoughts are making you." Bishop Steere
"All our dignity consists then in thought. By it we must elevate ourselves, and not by space and time, which we cannot fill. Let us endeavor then to think well; this is the principle of morality." Blaise Pascal, Pascal's Penses, number 347
"To put the world in order we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right." Confucius
"...the whole of our life's experience is but the outer expression of inner thought." Emmet Fox
"The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts." John Locke
"A 'No' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble." Mahatma Gandhi
"The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world." Norman Vincent Peale
"A man's action is only a picture book of his creed." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A man's what he thinks about all day long." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys, which is the idea after which all his facts are classified. He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Today the world is the victim of propaganda because people are not intellectually competent. More than anything the United States needs effective citizens competent to do their own thinking." William Mather Lewis
"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations...The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more." Winston Churchill
"If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage." Brigham Young
"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." Benjamin Franklin
"When prosperity comes, do not use all of it." Confucius
"There are people who can afford the luxury to live in great comfort; it is possible that they have earned the privilege by their efforts. What irritates me is to see that extravagance exists. It irritates me to see some people waste and throw away things that we could use." Mother Teresa
"Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny." Plutarch
"Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless." Thomas A. Edison
"Let me tell thee, time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that it is only given to us moment by moment." Amelia Barr
"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?" Henry David Thoreau
"The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." Henry Ward Beecher
"A speech is a solemn responsibility. The man who makes a bad thirty-minute speech to two hundred people wastes only a half hour of his time. But he wastes one hundred hours of the audience's time - more than four days - which should be a hanging offense." Jenkin Lloyd Jones
"The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your activities. Therefore, it's important for you to concentrate your efforts on the 20% of the activities that will get you 80% of the results. Most people concentrate on the 80% of the activities that will get them only 20% of the results...You can file your product orders and clean out your desk after hours." Jerry Clark
"You can cut down a tree with a hammer, but it takes about 30 days. If you trade the hammer for an ax, you can cut it down in about 30 minutes. The difference between 30 days and 30 minutes is skills." Jim Rohn
"The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse." Jule Renard
"The ability to concentrate and use your time well is everything." Lee Iacocca
"Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still." Lou Erickson
"It is nonsense to say there is not enough time to be fully informed. Time given to thought is the greatest time-saver of all." Norman Cousins
"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend." Theophrastus
"It is asked, how can the laboring man find time for self-culture? I answer that an earnest purpose finds time or makes it. It seizes on spare moments and turns fragments to golden account. A man who follows his calling with industry and spirit, and uses his earnings economically, will always have some portion of the day at his command. And it is astonishing how fruitful of improvement a short season becomes when eagerly seized and faithfully used. It has often been observed that those who have the most time at their disposal profit by it the least. A single hour a day, steadily given to the study of some interesting subject, brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge." William Ellery Channing
"Of the time that is allotted to man here on the earth there is none to lose or waste. After suitable rest and relaxation there is not a day, hour or minute that we should spend in idleness, but every minute of every day of our lives we should strive to improve our minds and to increase the faith of the holy Gospel, in charity, patience, and good works, that we may grow in the knowledge of the truth as it is spoken and prophesied of and written about." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.290
"The riches of a kingdom or nation do not consist so much in the fullness of its treasury as in the fertility of its soil and the industry of its people." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p. 297
"What have we? Our time. Spend it as you will. Time is given to you; and when this is spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth, it is placed to our account, and blessed are you; but when we spend our time in idleness and folly it will be placed against us." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p. 290
"I've come to understand something that happened to me in my early teens. I was in a hurry when I felt, not heard, a voice, an impression, which I knew then was from God. It was close to these words: 'Someday, when you know who you really are, you will be sorry that you didn't use your time better.' I thought then that the impression was odd, since I thought I was using my time pretty well and I thought I knew who I was. Now, years later, I am beginning to know who I am - and who you are - and why we will be so sorry if we do not invest our time well. You will develop your ability to invest your precious time well by gaining three confidences. First, you must gain confidence that God keeps his promises. Second, you must gain God's confidence that you will always keep the promises, not that you choose to make, but that he asks you to make. And third, you must help others gain confidence that God keeps his promises. You can gain confidence that God keeps his promises by trying them. That's why I so appreciate those commandments to which God has attached an explicit promise. I see those commandments as school masters. And I try to put them high on my list of things to do, because I know their value for changing my heart and building my power to invest my time." Henry B. Eyring, New Era, August 1993, p.8
"Use your spare time wisely. If we waste thirteen minutes each day, it is the equivalent of two weeks a year without pay." J. Richard Clarke, Ensign, May 1982 p. 78
"Numerous leisure hours have been made available to men. It is noticeable that many use these extra hours for fun and pleasure. Certainly an increased part of it could profitably be used for gaining knowledge and culture through the reading of good books. Numerous people fail to take advantage of these opportunities. Many people spend hours in planes with only cursory glancing at magazines, and in the train or bus, time is spent 'sitting and thinking,' and in many cases, 'just sitting,' when there could be such a constructive program of reading. People in beauty parlors, professional offices, waiting rooms, and elsewhere waste precious hours thumbing through outdated magazines when much valuable reading could be done in these islands of time...Even in the beginning there was the written word, for Adam and Eve were conscious of the need for the development of the mind, 'And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled.' (Moses 6:6.)" Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 383-384
"One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination, an unwillingness to accept personal responsibilities now. Men came to earth consciously to obtain their schooling, their training and development, and to perfect themselves, but many have allowed themselves to be diverted and have become merely 'hewers of wood and drawers of water,' addicts to mental and spiritual indolence and to the pursuit of worldly pleasure. There are even many members of the Church who are lax and careless and who continually procrastinate. They live the gospel casually but not devoutly. They have complied with some requirements but are not valiant. They do no major crime but merely fail to do the things required - things like paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, having family prayers, fasting, attending meetings, serving. Perhaps they do not consider such omissions to be sins, yet these were the kinds of things of which the five foolish virgins of Jesus' parable were probably guilty. The ten virgins belonged to the kingdom and had every right to the blessings - except that five were not valiant and were not ready when the great day came. They were unprepared through not living all the commandments. They were bitterly disappointed at being shut out from the marriage - as likewise their modern counterparts will be. One Church member of my acquaintance said, as she drank her coffee: 'The Lord knows my heart is right and that I have good intentions, and that I will someday get the strength to quit.' But will one receive eternal life on the basis of his good intentions? Can one enter a country, receive a scholastic degree, and so on, on the strength of good intent unsupported by appropriate action? Samuel Johnson remarked that 'hell is paved with good intentions.' The Lord will not translate one's good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself." Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness pp. 7-8
"For this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in the last days." D&C 63:58
"Unless a man undertakes more than he can possibly do, he will never do all that he can."
"Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short." Adam Hochschild
"There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day." Alexander Woollcott
"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." Benjamin Franklin
"Lost time is never found again." Benjamin Franklin
"Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything." Benjamin Franklin
"I was put on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind I will never die." Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes
"You will never 'find' time for anything. If you want time you must make it." Charles Buxton
"Who will catch more fish -- the fisherman who spends ten hours a day preparing his bait and two hours with his line in the water, or the fisherman who gets his bait together in fifteen minutes and spends ten and a half or eleven hours each day fishing?" Charles Creel, President, Russia St. Petersburg Mission 1992-93
"A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life." Charles Darwin
"This moment deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again." Dan Millman
"Never confuse motion with action." Ernest Hemingway
"One today is worth two tomorrows." Francis Quarles
"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." Golda Meir
"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." Henry David Thoreau
"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." Henry David Thoreau
"Unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person's money as his time." Horace Mann
"Don't tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done." James Ling
"Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness." Jean de La Bruysre
"They who know how to employ opportunities will often find that they can create them; and what we can achieve depends less on the amount of time we possess than on the use we make of our time." Jim Rohn
"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time." Jim Rohn
"Lost time is never found again." John H. Aughey
"What a folly it is to dread the thought of throwing away life at once, and yet have no regard to throwing it away by parcels and piecemeal." John Howe
"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom in life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." Lin Yu Tang, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Superior people never make long visits." Marianne Moore
"Time is the ultimate scarce resource we have...One of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
"I could never think well of a man's intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments." Nathaniel Emmons
"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently what should not be done at all." Peter F. Drucker
"We trained hard...but every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing... and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing inefficiency and demoralization." Petronius, 66 AD
"So much of our time is spent in preparation, so much in routine, and so much in retrospect, that the amount of each person's genius is confined to a very few hours." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"What would be the use of eternity to a person who cannot use well one half hour?" Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Never let yesterday use up today." Richard H. Nelson
"Fools look to tomorrow; wise men use tonight." Scottish Proverb
"You can often gauge a man's ambition by whether he hates his alarm clock or considers it his best friend." Thomas A. Edison
"Many do with opportunities as children do at the seashore; they fill their little hands with sand, and then let the grains fall through, one by one, till all are gone." Thomas Jones
"There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back." Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
"Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time." Victor Hugo
"Learn to use ten minutes intelligently. It will pay you huge dividends." William A. Irwin
"It's best to start the discipline of generosity when the amounts are small. It's easy to give ten cents out of a dollar; it's a little harder to give a hundred thousand out of a million." Jim Rohn
"The Lord does not need your tithing, as far as He is concerned, but you need it for your growth, spiritually and temporally, that the windows of heaven may be opened and the Spirit of the living God given to you." Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p. 186
"I have never altered my feelings towards individuals, as men or as women, whether they believe as I do or not. Can you live as neighbors with me? I can with you; and it is no particular concern of mine whether you believe with me or not." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.279
"Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." Mahatma Gandhi
"The golden rule of conduct...is mutual toleration, seeing that we will never all think alike and we shall always see Truth in fragment and from different points of vision." Mahatma Gandhi
"Men are respectable only as they respect." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The wrong question: What will make our church grow? The right question: What is keeping our church from growing?...All living things grow -- you don't have to make them grow. It's the natural thing for living organisms to do if they are healthy...Since the church is a living organism, it is natural for it to grow if it is healthy. The Church is a body, not a business. It is alive. If a church is not growing, it is dying...The task of church leadership is to discover and remove growth-restricting diseases and barriers so that natural, normal growth can occur." Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p.16-17
"Freedom is based on truth, and no man is completely free as long as any part of his belief is based on error." N. Eldon Tanner, Ensign May 1978 p. 14
"The apparent conflict, and let me say it is only apparent, between religion and science, arises from two definite causes. An imperfect knowledge of science on the one hand and an imperfect knowledge of religion on the other. True science is knowledge classified and must be true, hence it is a part of true religion which embraces and accepts all truth. How I rejoice in the wonderful development of science and invention, and I hope I may ever have an open mind ready to receive all knowledge let it come from whence it will, for it has but one source; it comes from God who is the fountain of all truth." Rulon S. Wells, CR April 1929 p. 104
"Truth is what stands the test of experience." Albert Einstein
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." Flannery O'Connor
"There is nothing that will not reveal its secrets if you love it enough." George Washington Carver
"Sincerity is not a test of truth. We must not make this mistake: He must be right; he's so sincere. Because, it is possible to be sincerely wrong. We can only judge truth by truth and sincerity by sincerity." Jim Rohn
"Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold." Leo Tolstoy
"A 'No' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble." Mahatma Gandhi
"God offers to every mind a choice between truth and repose. Take which you please -- you can never have both." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"No man can disprove a truth." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:132
"I read the synopsis of a speech delivered by Henry Ward Beecher the day previous...Mr. Beecher said, 'You must not accept the Bible literally. If you did, you would all have to be Mormons.' I turned and read it to Brother Brigham [Jr.], and said, 'Hurrah for Henry! He has told the truth at this time, whether he tells it again or not!'" Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards p.229
"To be good, one must seek after truth, for truth is the ingredient which, when inculcated into our lives, changes us for good." Royden G. Derrick, Ensign, November 1984
"Thus absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestructible, it is eternal. Being eternal, it is self-existent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being infinite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep, it is transcendental and intelligent." Confucius
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." Henry David Thoreau
"Have patience awhile; slanderers are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate thee." Immanuel Kant
"The greatest homage we can pay to truth, is to use it." James Russell Lowell
"It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter liest in the depth, where few are willing to search for it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." Josh Billings
"Truth never damages a cause that is just." Mahatma Gandhi
"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as nothing happened." Winston Churchill
"Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking." Mahatma Gandhi
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." George Bernard Shaw
"God desires that we learn and continue to learn, but this involves some unlearning. As Uncle Zeke said, 'It ain't my ignorance that done me up but what I know'd that wasn't so.'" Hugh B. Brown, Baccalaureate address, Utah State University, 4 June 1965
"It is almost as difficult to make a man unlearn his errors as his knowledge." Charles Caleb Colton
"The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn." Gloria Steinem
"Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value." Jim Rohn
"No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it." Charles Caleb Colton
"The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort." Confucius
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Ether 12:27
"Reality - Dreams = Animal Being
Reality + Dreams = Idealism
Reality + Humor = Realism
Dreams - Humor = Fanaticism
Dreams + Humor = Fantasy
Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom" Lin Yutang
"Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks he is free." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To call women the weaker sex is a libel: it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man would not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with women." Mahatma Gandhi, in Young India, April 10, 1930
"Let me say to you men and women that in my judgment that simple Word of Wisdom will do more for the advancement of the ultimate destiny of a country than any other law that I know of." Stephen L. Richards, CR, October 1919, p. 195
"People who drink to drown their sorrow should be told that sorrow knows how to swim." Ann Landers
"Cease to find fault with one another. Cease to speak evil one of another. These commandments are given to preserve the spiritual well-being of the potential critic, not to protect the person(s) who might be criticized. We will lose the Spirit of the Lord if our attitudes and our actions are fault finding...If we cannot say something good about our fellows, say nothing...Love one another and leave the judging to God." George Q. Cannon
"The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does the reverse." Confucius
"You should succeed in bringing your tongues into subjection, so as never to let them speak evil, so that they will perfectly obey your judgment and the discretion God has given you, and are perfectly obedient to the will of the holy Gospel." Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young p.268
"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot." Abraham Lincoln, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, 'Remarks at the Monogahela House' (February 14, 1861), p. 209.
"If there ever could be a proper time for mere catch arguments, that time surely is not now. In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity." Abraham Lincoln, Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862
"I have never been hurt by anything I didn't say." Calvin Coolidge
"True eloquence consists of saying all that should be said, and that only." Francois de La Rochefoucald
"Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall." Oliver Wendell Holmes
"A man cannot utter 2 or 3 sentences without disclosing to intelligent ears precisely where he stands in life and thought." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"After all is said and done, a lot more is usually said than done." Unknown
"We should also build the attitude that there is nothing of a vacation, nothing of a holiday in this great missionary service. It is hard, and at times discouraging, work. Last year our missionaries averaged sixty-seven hours a week in actual proselyting effort. Let those who contemplate missions realize that they will work as they have never worked before, and that they may expect such joy as they have not previously known." Gordon B. Hinckley, CR April 1959 p. 120
"Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you've done what you are expected to do." Jim Rohn
"There is no substitute for hard work." Thomas Edison, Ensign, December 1971, p. 92
"Whatever you are, be a good one." Abraham Lincoln
"Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory." Andrew Carnegie
"No man was ever glorious, who was not laborious." Benjamin Franklin
"I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win -- if you don't you won't." Bruce Jenner
"If a man does only what is required of him, he is a slave. If a man does more than is required of him, he is a free man." Chinese Proverb
"If you pursue evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes away and the evil remains; If you pursue good with labor, the labor passes away but the good remains." Cicero
"Failure can be bought on easy terms; success must be paid for in advance." Cullen Hightower
"The work will teach you how to do it." Estonian Proverb
"In this age, which believes that there is a shortcut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest." Henry Miller
"Disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and wanting more." Jim Rohn
"The soil says, 'Don't bring me your need, bring me your seed.'" Jim Rohn
"You must learn to translate wisdom and strong feelings into labor." Jim Rohn
"Today, life is so much more convenient than when I was young. We didn't have TV. We seldom saw an airplane. A lot has changed, but there is one thing in 62 years that I have not seen. I have not seen anyone find a convenient or asy way to succeed at something or
to win." Lou Holtz
"I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work - and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't." Lucille Ball
"Give the world the best that you have, and the best will come back to you." Madeline Bridges
"The most important thing I have learned over the years is the
difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous." Margaret Fontey
"Never hope more than you work." Rita Mae Brown
"The reason why so little is done is generally because so little is attempted." Samuel Smiles
"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." Thomas Jefferson
"Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success. Genius undoubtedly is little more than the capacity for hard, sustained work." David O. McKay
"The secret to missionary work is work. Work, work, work!" Ezra Taft Benson, Missionaries to Match our Message
"Every one of you is so important to this cause. Without you the Church would not grow; it would just go along in a static way and finally it would fade and dwindle and die here. You are what keeps it alive with a constant infusion of new blood, of converts who come into the Church who bring with them their strengths. You are so very, very, very important. Do not ever think that what you are doing is not important. It is so very, very important. You may not bring very many converts into the Church during your mission. I do not care about that so long as you try, so long as you work hard. If you will work hard, the matter of converts will take care of itself. I am satisfied of that. Give it your very best." Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 357
"There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements. Most of us are inherently lazy. We would rather play than work. We would rather loaf than work...But it is work that spells the difference in the life of a man or woman. It is stretching our minds and utilizing the skills of our hands that lift us from mediocrity." Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, August 1992
"There is only one day that you and I have to live for, and that's today. There is nothing we can do about yesterday except repent, and there may be no tomorrow. The thing for us to do when we arise from our beds as God gives us a new day, is to take whatever comes to our hands, and do it to the best of our ability." Harold B. Lee, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Missionaries should work at least as hard as those who earn salaries" Heber J. Grant, Japanese mission tour
"On the straight and narrow path, there are simply no corners to be cut." Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1988, page 33
"Your faith will perform miracles, especially when you get your hands and feet involved." Spencer W. Kimball
"Once missionaries put their hand to the plough (Luke 9:62), they should not look back, but go forward with the work. And work it is, my brothers and sisters. It is not a vacation...But the work, as the hymn suggests, is sweet. (Hymns, No. 147)" Thomas S. Monson, LDS Church News, July 4, 1998
"Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't." Thomas S. Monson
"And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness." Moroni 9:6
"And the inhabitants of Zion also shall remember their labors, inasmuch as they are appointed to labor, in all faithfulness; for the idler shall be had in remembrance before the Lord. Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness. These things ought not to be, and must be done away from among them..." D&C 68:30-32
"Wherefore, be ye not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." D&C 64:33-34
"Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today." D&C 64:25
"Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those how put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%." Andrew Carnegie
"Good luck is a lazy man's estimate of a worker's success." Anonymous
"Rest, rest, shall I have not all eternity to rest?" Antoine Arnauld
"It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top." Arnold Bennett
"Well done is better than well said." Benjamin Franklin
"Any mission president will tell you candidly that 20% of the missionaries do 80% of the work. Those are the 20% of the missionaries who go to preach the gospel. For the other 80%, the mission is the main experience -- gaining a testimony." Bishop James Donaldson, Crestmoor Ward, Denver Colorado Stake
"From its very inaction, idleness ultimately becomes the most active cause of evil; as a palsy is more to be dreaded than a fever. The Turks have a proverb which says that the devil tempts all other men, but that idle men tempt the devil." Charles Caleb Colton
"When you are labouring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself." Confucius
"An idle brain is the devil's workshop." English Proverb
"The shortest answer is doing." English Proverb
"There isn't any luck that enters into anything, unless it's poker or shooting dice, maybe. There is no luck to merchandising. There is no luck in going out and working from early in the morning to long after dinner. That is not luck, it's work." Fred A. Fitch
"To make a man happy, fill his hands with work." Frederick E. Crane
"Work relieves us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and want." French Proverb
"Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood." General George S. Patton
"When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things that I did were failures, so I did ten times more work." George Bernard Shaw
"Give me the ready hand rather than the ready tongue" Giuseppe Garibaldi
"One of the most durable satisfactions in life is to lose one's self in one's work." Henry Emerson Fosdick, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"It's great to have your feet on the ground -- but keep them moving. Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind. Thinking without constructive action becomes a disease." Henry Ford, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"In the ordinary business of life, industry can do anything which genius can do, and very many things that it cannot." Henry Ward Beecher
"A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck." James A. Garfield
"In life you must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or begging in the fall." Jim Rohn
"It is not a time to linger, nor to ponder the possibilities of failure. Foolish is the one who would allow springtime to pass while dwelling upon the memory of the successful crop last fall or the failure to reap last fall in spite of the massive efforts of last spring. It is a natural characteristic of springtime to present itself ever so briefly or to lull us into inactivity with its bounteous beauty. Do not pause too long to soak in the aroma of the blossoming flowers, lest you awaken to find springtime gone, with your seed still in your sack." Jim Rohn
"Energy will do anything that can be done in the world; and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will make a two-legged animal without it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
"The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it." John Ruskin
"A man is a worker. If he is not that he is nothing." Joseph Conrad
"If you have great talents, industry will improve them; if moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiencies. Nothing is denied to well-directed labor; nothing is ever to be attained without it." Joshua Reynolds
"Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame." Mahatma Gandhi
"It is for us to make the effort. The result is always in God's hands." Mahatma Gandhi, cited in The Missionary's Little Quote Book by Dale Jeffrey
"Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible." Mahatma Gandhi
"If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it
wouldn't seem wonderful at all." Michelangelo
"It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand." Michelangelo
"The mode by which the inevitable comes to pass is effort" Oliver Wendell Holmes
"A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them a fortune." Richard Whately
"Every child should be taught that useful work is worship and that intelligent labor is the highest form of prayer." Robert G. Ingersoll
"Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labors of others, no matter if he occupies a throne." Robert Green Ingersoll
"No labor however humble is dishonoring." The Talmud
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Theodore Roosevelt
"I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of strenuous life." Theodore Roosevelt
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort." Theodore Roosevelt
"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering." Theodore Roosevelt
"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Thomas A. Edison
"I am wondering what would have happened to me if some fluent talker had converted me to the theory of the eight-hour day and convinced me that it was not fair to my fellow workers to put forth my best efforts in my work...If my life had been made up of eight-hour days, I do not believe I could have accomplished a great deal." Thomas A. Edison
"I never did a day's work in my life - it was all fun." Thomas A. Edison
"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work." Thomas A. Edison
"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." Thomas Jefferson
"The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary." Vidal Sassoon
"The trouble with opportunity is that it always comes disguised as hard work." Will Rogers
"He who desires much but acts not breeds pestilence." William Blake
"It tastes well, the bread which you earn yourself." William Thackeray, in the novel 'Pendennis,' 1850
"The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul." Ralph Waldo Emerson