2010 Quote Collection
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Adversity
During our mortal sojourn we will be thoroughly tested until the Lord is certain we can be trusted in all things, regardless of the sacrifice involved. ~Newell and Millet, “A Lamp Unto My Feet,” p.241
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart. Deuteronomy 8:2
This life is full of “wilderness experiences” that test our mettle and provide opportunities to soften our hearts. Indeed, our hearts are reveled in the crucibles of suffering. We can become bitter and angry because of tribulations, or we can become stronger, more faithful, and humble. These divine tutorials are preparing us for eternal life hereafter, even as they expand our souls in mortality. We can develop the attributes of godliness in the furnace of affliction. We can prove ourselves worthy of exaltation. In life’s journey, the Lord will not leave us comfortless. If we stay on the path and strive for righteousness with all our hearts despite mistakes and shortcomings, he will not abandon us or forsake us. His promise is sure. ~Lloyd D. Newell]
Constant and determined effort breaks down all resistance and sweeps away all obstacles.
Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.
Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.
There are some persons who in our human eyes seem to have more than their share of trouble, as we measure, but with God's help they are made special. They will not break. They will not yield.
– Marvin J. Ashton, "Adversity and You," Ensign, November 1980, p. 60
Agency
We have our moral agency and the freedom to choose our course in this life. But we also are accountable for that agency. ~Quentin L. Cook
Even though we are free to choose our course of action, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. The consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a natural result of any choice we make.
It’s choice, not chance, that determines destiny.
And it is given unto them [thy children] to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves. ~Moses 5:56
Attitude
The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The secret of life is to love.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.
~James LeVoy Sorenson
I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson
We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. ~Helen Keller
I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. ~Agatha Christie
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
We must look forward to the unknown with optimism and confidence; look to tomorrow with happy expectancy, realizing that with God's help we can do all things. We need to constantly build faith in ourselves and those about us. We need to personally make dark days brighter. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Even in the midst of our commotion, we, too, are to save a starving world, a world hungry for the word of God. ~Maurine Proctor
Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. ~Grace Hansen
Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to.
The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing life is made up of little things.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Success is a journey, not a destination.
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins—not through strength, but through persistence. ~Buddha
B-C
Books
With the abundance of books available today, it is a mark of a truly educated person to know what not to read. . . .In our reading we would do well to follow the counsel of John Wesley’s mother: Avoid “whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, or. . .increases the authority of the body over the mind.”~Ezra Taft Benson
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
Character
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. – Benjamin Franklin
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Running headlong into our imperfections and shortcomings, however, is no reason to despair. It is in fact, one of the most important purposes of mortality and God’s great favor to us. ~Maurine Proctor
Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny. ~David O. McKay
Jacob valued the spiritual, while Esau sought the things of this world. . .Many Esaus have given up something of eternal value in order to satisfy a momentary hunger for the things of this world. ~Dallin H. Oaks
It takes time to grow spiritually. We cannot cram or take shortcuts to the life of righteousness.
~Lloyd D. Newell
And we stand in holy places to the extent that we live lives of holiness—deny ourselves of things alien to the Spirit of God, discern and eschew wicked practices in our day, and cleave tenaciously unto things of righteousness.
The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.
Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.
You won’t realize the distance you’ve walked until you take a look around and realize how far you’ve been.
Little by little, one walks far.
When you help someone up a hill, you get that much closer to the top yourself. ~Anonymous
You must not allow yourselves to focus on the fleeting light of popularity or substitute that attractive glow for the substance of true, but often anonymous labor that brings the attention of God even if it does not get coverage on the six o'clock news.
– Howard W. Hunter
Chastity
That the Church’s stand on morality may be understood, we declare firmly and unalterably it is not an outworn garment, faded, old-fashioned, and threadbare. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and his covenants and doctrines are immutable; and when the sun grows cold and the stars no longer shine, the law of chastity will still be basic in God’s world and in the Lord’s church. Old values are upheld by the Church not because they are old, but rather because they are right. ~Spencer W. Kimball
Children, Teaching of
From the heights of Mount Sinai, Jehovah gave Moses the parameters of a peaceful and stable society in ten concise commandments. Among them we read: “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). From the very beginning, God knew there was great safety in placing a child under the sheltering guidance of parents. The fifth commandment is the Lord’s validation of his confidence in the protective love and self-sacrifice of fathers and mothers. Honor is such a well-chosen word, for it carries so many connotations with it, including respect, obey, trust, revere, bring glory to, and act with integrity. All these terms fit the parent-child relationship. Yet it is the last half of the commandment that causes me to pause and reflect: “That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exodus 20:12).
What exactly does that promise assure? I long thought it had to do with an extended life and was individual in nature, but it doesn’t take a very robust mind to realize that many do not honor their parents live long, and many do honor their parents but die young. No, I think the promise has to do with the broader society and its ability to endure. We have seen decline and decay in countless civilizations that, in time, removed themselves from the land through self-destructive practices. What brings staying power? How can nations grow, flourish, and remain?
I believe the answer lies in that brief promise sounded through the thunder of Sinai. In the family! In the mutual respect and love of mother and father, parent and child! The child who learns courtesy, consideration, respect, civility, selflessness, control, and industry in a home will take those qualities into his or her wider world. Our culture will survive only if the roots of permanent and lasting human relationships are fostered, nurtured, and refined in the homes of its people.
If we would bless and heal our society, our gaze need reach no farther than our own walls. What kind of people will we send into the broader world from the moral schoolhouse of our homes?
It is the great opportunity of mothers and fathers to help plant those roots and thereby bestow upon their world their most enduring and precious gift—a noble child. ~S. Michael Wilcox, What the Scriptures Teach Us about Raising a Child, p. 1-3
I have never accepted the principle of “spare the rod and spoil the child.”. . . Children don’t need beating. They need love and encouragement.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley
He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. . . .(Proverbs 13:24) The word translated as “rod” in Proverbs 13:24 is translated in other places as “the word of God” (e.g., Micah 6:9; Isaiah 11:4). A better translation of Proverbs 13:24 might be “he who withholds the word of God, hateth his son; he who loveth his son, corrects [or teaches] him early on [when he is young].” ~Newell and Millet, “A Lamp Unto My Feet,” p.248
Much of what the ancients wrote in regard to the importance of having children and rearing a righteous posterity has been lost to our secular and distracted world. ~Lloyd D. Newell
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. ~Genesis 18:19
He [God] knew he could trust his servant[Abraham] implicitly to attend to sacred things, particularly those things that lead to exaltation and eternal life: the teaching and training of his children.
~Lloyd D. Newell
Choices
I wonder what will happen to you in the next 10 years. Where will you be? What will you be doing? That will depend on the choices you make, some of which may seem unimportant at the time but which will have tremendous consequences. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
And Elijah came unto all the people; and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21
In this life we have to make many choices. [They] determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Making perfect choices all the time is not possible. It just doesn’t happen. But it is possible to make good choices we can live with and grow from. ~James E. Faust
Communication
Assertiveness is the only problem-solving method which isn’t manipulative! It doesn’t need to be because assertive people have the power of self-government. Their reaction is about them controlling themselves not them controlling others. They know how to keep their emotions controlled, while still problem-solving situations. They are calm, friendly, loving and understanding while at the same time firm and principled. ~Nicholeen Peck
Courage
Let us recognize that fear comes not of God, but rather that this gnawing, destructive element comes from the adversary of truth and righteousness. Fear is the antithesis of faith.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.
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Dinner
[The home] used to be a place where a family would sit down and have meals together and translate values and teach and train. Now homes are places where, by and large, both parents work and they sort of intersect in the hallway.
~W. Steven Albrecht
Discernment
Today the word discriminate has been co-opted by those who would have us believe that discrimination is a bad thing. But we all discriminate on a daily basis whenever we make a choice. Living righteously in a wicked world requires that we not be afraid to make right choices.
With that gift, sisters may view trends in the world and detect those that, however popular, are shallow or even dangerous. ~Russell M. Nelson
Education
It flies in the face of God’s plan of agency that knowledge should be attained by coercion or mandate of government. ~Darla Isackson
Encouragement
When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it, ~F.M. Bareham
Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones, and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake. ~Victor Hugo
We all worry about our performance. We all wish we could do better. But unfortunately we do not realize, we do not often see the results that come of what we do. . .You are doing the best you can, and that best results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a sense of failure. Get on your knees and ask for the blessings of the Lord, then stand on your feet and do what you are asked to do. Then leave the matter in the hands of the Lord. You will discover that you have accomplished something beyond price. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Reverse evil (spell it backwards) and we have "live." We can "look to God and live" (Alma 37:47). We can escape the darkness by looking to the Light. ~Kelly Ogden
“I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. D&C 76:5-7
Experience
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. ~Rita Mae Brown
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Faith
Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. Fur thus saith the Lord god of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail. 1 Kings 17:13-14
Faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe. ~D&C 63:9-10
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Heavenly Father has not left us alone during our mortal probation. He has already given us all the “safety equipment” we will need to successfully return to Him. ~Ann M. Dibb
In the scriptures we learn about another key piece of safety equipment¬—a “rod of iron.” Disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ, are invited to hold on to this rod in order to safely find their way to eternal life. I am speaking of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life found in the Book of Mormon. ~Ann M. Dibb
From Lehi’s vision we learn that we must take hold of this safety railing—this iron rod, found alongside our individual straight and narrow path—and hold tight until we reach our ultimate goal of eternal life with our Heavenly Father. ~Ann M. Dibb
In modern terms we might say we are invited to “get a grip.” We must hold on tight to the iron rod and never let go. ~Ann M. Dibb
Family
Those who want the best for their sons and daughters, want for them meekness and mercy more than money, love and patience more than power, compassion and submissiveness more than status. ~Newell and Millet, “A Lamp Unto My Feet,” p.235
The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love. ~Henry B. Eyring
Fathers
I want my son to have the advantage of faith in the living God, a faith that will carry him through the inevitable storms and strains of life, a faith that will discipline him against the temptations that will seductively beckon him. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Freedom
"It remains to be seen whether or not our nation can tame big government. There is, frankly, no precedent for dismantling, even partially, a welfare state, especially in a peaceful and constitutional way. Such a Goliath will not go quietly to surgery....We are experiencing these symptoms in America. Yet, alas, Thomas Jefferson said our republic's future rested on the assumption that our citizens would remain attentive and informed."
We have a Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. Perhaps we should erect a “Statue of Responsibility”(39) on the West Coast (Viktor Frankl) to remind us, as Joseph Smith taught, that there is no freedom without responsible citizenship. ~Jeffrey Marsh
"Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of GOD and nature." Benjamin Franklin
"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."
Thomas Jefferson.
And then Thomas Jefferson, if you go to his monument here in Washington, you will see on the four quotes of the panels that are there, two of them reference God. This is a nation that's founded on Judeo Christian principles and our rights do come from God and our founders knew it and understood he the and they put it in the declaration and here we're at this time, these rights and I use the word liberty rather than freedom because the left has perverted the word freedom to and do it with your tax dollars. Liberty is a different thing. Liberty is bridled by morality and faith and religion and that's what's made this country so great. ~ Stephen King
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. George Washington
“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” George Washington
“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained” George Washington
“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
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God
Choose you this day whom ye will serve. . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
~Joshua 24:15
There is a God. ~2 Nephi 11:7
God must be revealed by the power of the Spirit, or he remains forever unknown.
Good vs. Evil
Life’s important choice is not “between wealth and poverty. The choice is between good and evil.” ~Boyd K. Packer
Even though we are free to choose our course of action, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. The consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a natural result of any choice we make.
And Elijah came unto all the people; and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21
Choose you this day whom ye will serve. . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
~Joshua 24:15
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f we heed His words and live the commandments, we will survive this time of permissiveness and wickedness. ~Thomas S. Monson
“We have a new land, a new constitution, a new government, and I believe now the fight is going to be to keep it. The fight between good and evil. A shooting war comes and it goes, but the war between the good and the bad—it never ends.” ~Matthew Dunson in A More Perfect Union, p.529
Gospel
The solutions to life's problems are always gospel solutions. Not only are answers found in Christ, but so is the power, the gift, the bestowal, the miracle of giving and receiving those answers. In this matter of love, no doctrine could be more encouraging to us than that.
– Jeffrey R. Holland, How Do I Love Thee?, BYU Devotional, February 15th, 2000
Government
"A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support."
-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1792
Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.
Thomas Jefferson
Whenever there is an interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done and not less readily by a powerful and interested Party, than by a prince. ~James Madison.
“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. . .” ~Thomas Jefferson
The general (federal) government will tend to monarchy, which will fortify itself from day to day, instead of working its own cures. ~Thomas Jefferson
What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time. . . ~Thomas Jefferson
It is the manners and spirit of the people which preserves a republic in vigour. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats the heart of its laws and constitution. ~Thomas Jefferson
Gratitude
If you sleep like a log, you probably have an attitude of gratitude. A study of 161 people published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research found that those who focus on what they have—not what they lack—fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. Grateful people are also less tired and more functional during the day.
Why would being grateful affect your sleep? The researchers found that this was related to the thoughts people had as they drifted off. Being thankful led to faster, deeper sleep.
“People who are feeling more grateful are less tense and anxious, because the two are incompatible,” says Vincent. “A mental state like that at bedtime would be helpful for your sleep.”What Your Sleep Personality Says About Your Waking Life
How personality, sleep and health are intertwined.
By Maia Szalavitz for MSN Health & Fitness
The more grateful we are the less likely to complain.