Famous Family Quotations
Quotations to Remember from 2008
Adversity
Every calamity that can come upon mortal beings will be suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them to enjoy the presence of the Lord. . . Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation. ~Brigham Young
“Whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. Alma 36:3
There should also be reservoirs of knowledge to meet the future needs; reservoirs of courage to overcome the floods of fear that put uncertainty in lives; reservoirs of physical strength to help us meet the frequent burdens of work and illness; reservoirs of goodness; reservoirs of stamina; reservoirs of faith. Yes, especially reservoirs of faith so that when the world presses in upon us, we stand firm and strong; when the temptations of a decaying world about us draw on our energies, sap our spiritual vitality, and seek to pull us down, we need a storage of faith that can carry youth and later adults over the dull, the difficult, the terrifying moments, disappointments, disillusionments, and years of adversity, want, confusion, and frustration. … James Faust
The Lord gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.
Richard G. Scott
Communication
A discussion is an exchange of information. An argument is an exchange of ignorance.
Daily Living
Look to God and live. ~Alma 37:47
If we will yield “to the sweet influence and pleadings of the Spirit,” we will be blessed with “protection, power, freedom and joy.” Spencer W. Kimball
Never suppress a generous thought. ~Camilla Kimball
We can choose to live so that which comes to us as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which comes to us as blossom goes to the next as fruit. Gal. 5:22
Definitions
hardness of their hearts— their unwillingness to obey the commandments or feel the Spirit (BKM for LDS families, p.515)
blindness of their minds— their unwillingness to understand things clearly (BKM for LDS families, p.515)
Family
President Hinckley said, “It is imperative that you not neglect your families. Nothing you have is more precious. . . . When all is said and done, it is this family relationship which we will take with us into the life beyond.
The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.~ Spencer W. Kimball
Family meals
When I was growing up, my father often led our family in gospel discussions around the dinner table. Only with the perspective of years do I understand today the contribution those family hours made to my own testimony. [faith] ~Bruce D. Porter
The number of those who report that their "whole family usually eats dinner together" has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the time a family spends together "eating meals at home [is] the strongest predictor of children's academic achievement and psychological adjustment."3 Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children's smoking, drinking, or using drugs.4 There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: What your children really want for dinner is you. ~ Dallin H. Oaks
Surely we must be made to realize that the purchase price of a family hearth free of such evil influences is the keeping of the commandments of God. Spencer W. Kimball
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. ~ Dr. Sidney Simon
Freedom
Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. ~Edmund Burke
Remember: freedom is never free! It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games. We need to teach the children about the true meaning of this day, and remind the adults around us. ~Vince Buss
Morality, law, and reasonable moral limits are valuable, even vital to the success of freedom.
~Steve Farrell
(Isa. 10:24-25)
24 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
Happiness
“Blessedness is defined as being higher than happiness. Happiness comes from without and is dependent on circumstances; blessedness is an inward fountain of joy in the soul itself, which no outward circumstances can seriously affect. Harold B. Lee
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
Idolatry
Look to God and live. Alma 37:47
The more a person watches television, the less likely he is to accept personal responsibility for his actions. (Attributed to Bob Knight, director, Culture and Media Institute)
Integrity
Integrity in a man should bring inner peace, sureness of purpose, and security in action. Lack of it brings the reverse: disunity, fear, sorrow, unsureness. ~ Spencer W. Kimball (p.126)
We’re seeing the effects of educational institutions abandoning their commitment to character development and to values as part of their missions. ~Kim B. Clark
[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. ~Kim B. Clark
Our mission is to educate principled leaders who make a difference in the world. To achieve that, a person must have many skills and qualities, including the highest standards of integrity, sound judgment and a strong moral compass— an intuitive sense of what is right and wrong.
~Kim B. Clark
You can help strengthen people to do the (right thing) when they see that you didn't make the compromise or take the easy decision."~Kim B. Clark
Justice
Forgiveness is a source of power, but it does not relieve us of consequences. Bishop Williams
Mercy cannot rob justice.
Kindness
What a wonderful tribute we pay people when we describe them as being gentle, firm, and calm! Marvin J. Ashton
Marriage
Social historian David Blankenhorn makes a similar argument in his book Fatherless America . 9 In an ideal society, every child would be raised by both a father and a mother.
Parenting
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.
~Boyd K. Packer
Parents need to make the offline world more appealing than the online world. ~Candice Kelsey
“When a teenage girl doesn't have a father around to tell her she's beautiful and special, she usually seeks validation elsewhere."
~Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
We may be bucking a strong tide, but we must teach our children that sin is sin. ~Spencer W. Kimball, p. 130
If you are worried about the future, look to the upbringing of your children. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Prevention
As I study the story of the Redeemer and his temptations, I am certain he spent his energies fortifying himself against temptation rather than battling with it to conquer it.15
It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent. ~Ezra Taft Benson
Priorities
As I have said, many things, in fact most, are interesting, and many are enticing. But some things are important. The limits of time dictate that we must prioritize what we do. The divinely given and heaven-protected gift of agency allows us to determine to what degree we will serve others and allow them to serve us. The depth of involvement in that which is important, rather than just interesting, is our own choice.
As we make these choices, we might consider that the glitter and excitement of festive, fun-filled projects are interesting, but the shut-ins, the lonely, the handicapped, the homeless, the latchkey kids, and the abandoned aged are important.
Worldly magazines, tabloids, and much of the multi-mass media mess of fast-track information we are receiving is interesting and enticing, but the scriptures are important.
The RVs and the TVs and retirement ease make it interesting to wander and play, but people’s needs for selfless deeds are important. There is concern that “wander and play” have replaced “ponder and pray.”
A focus on fashion and getting and spending and the accumulation of things for our enjoyment and comfort is interesting and enticing, but a focus on devoting one’s means and time and one’s very self to the cause of proclaiming the gospel is important.
The meetings and materials and planning are all interesting, but the doing is important.
With the constant exhortation to come unto Christ is the promise that we can be perfected in him. If we do all that we can do by loving and serving God with all of our might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for us. By his grace, after all that we can do, we may become perfect in Christ. Shall we not then strive for the recognition of that Almighty God who is our Father, through our selfless service?
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
“Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34–37).
~William Bradford
Our treasures are whatever we spend our time, money, and thoughts on.
Sabbath
Many of us would have the vigor without the observance of the health laws, prosperity through the opened windows of heaven without the payment of our tithes. We would have the close communion with our Father without fasting and praying; we would have rain in due season and peace in the land without observing the Sabbath and keeping the other commandments of the Lord. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, p. 142
“Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
“Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
“And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
“And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.” (Lev. 26:2–6.)21
Let us not be like the Church member who partakes of the sacrament in the morning, then defiles the Sabbath that afternoon. ~ Spencer W. Kimball (p. 127)
Service
My life is like my shoes— to be worn out in service.” Spencer W. Kimball
Teaching
Teachers and parents should consider themselves as a part of the group of learners, not just as the dispensers of knowledge. ~Richard G. Moore
If there is no discussion or sharing of thoughts and feelings in our. . .homes, we are missing out on many glorious opportunities to learn from each other. ~Richard G. Moore
Time
I am no longer a young man filled with energy and vitality. I am an old man. I’m given to meditation and prayer. I would enjoy sitting in a rocker, swallowing prescriptions, listening to soft music, and contemplating the things of the universe. But such activity offers no challenge and makes no contribution.
I wish to be up and doing. I wish to face each day with resolution and purpose. I wish to use every waking hour to give encouragement, to bless those whose burdens are heavy, to build faith and strength of testimony.
~Gordon B. Hinckley
The greatest use of our life is to spend it on something that outlasts it. William James
Truth
Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie. ~Khaled Hosseini
Virtue
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul — We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
"The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts" (Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), "The Philosophers," The Harvard Classics, Section VI, p. 352).
Women
It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley
Youth
Always remember you can go much further on respect than with popularity.