Inspirational quotes is another file.  Also note that I am constantly adding more quotes to this page, so check back frequently. 

New ones will be annoted as such -- as of 8/15/05, there are three.
 

Joseph Smith:

God is more merciful and willing to forgive than any of us are willing to believe.

Faith and fear can not be in the same man at the same time.

If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.

God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and, if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the celestial kingdom of God.

Thy mind, O man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity – thou must commune with God.

The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop this work from progressing. Persecutions may rage; mobs may combine; armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till It has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, "The work is done."

The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes.

Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God. A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.

Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life

I am like a huge, rough stone . . . and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force. . . . Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty.

I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.

David O. McKay

If I were asked to name the world’s greatest need, I should say unhesitatingly wise mothers; and the second, exemplary fathers.

Tell me what you think about when you don’t have to think, and I will tell you what you are.

Richard G. Scott

Joseph F. Smith

The ancient prophets speak of 'entering into God's rest'; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. We know of the doctrine that it is of God, and we do not ask any questions of anybody about it; they are welcome to their opinions, to their ideas and to their vagaries. The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into 'God's rest,' and he need not fear the vagaries of men, nor their cunning and craftiness, by which they seek to deceive and mislead him from the truth. I pray that we may all enter into God's rest -- rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world.

Let it not be forgotten that the evil one has great power in the earth, and that by every possible means he seeks to darken the minds of men, and then offers them falsehood and deception in the guise of truth. Satan is a skilful imitator, and as genuine gospel truth is given the world in ever-increasing abundance, so he spreads the counterfeit coin of false doctrine. Beware of his spurious currency, it will purchase for you nothing but disappointment, misery and spiritual death. The "father of lies" he has been called, and such an adept has he become, through the ages of practice in his nefarious work, that were it possible he would deceive the very elect.

It is not the words we use particularly that constitute prayer. Prayer does not consist of words, altogether. True, faithful, earnest prayer consists more in the feeling that rises from the heart and from the inward desire of our spirits to supplicate the Lord in humility and in faith, that we may receive his blessings. It matters not how simple the words may be, if our desires are genuine and we come before the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit to ask him for that which we need.

Of those who speak in the Lord’s name, the Lord requires humility, not ignorance.

James E. Talmage

Obedience is the habit of the free man.

What is man in this boundless setting of divine splendor?  I answer: Man is greater and grander, more precious according to the arithmetic of God than all the planets and suns of space.  For man were they created.  They are the handiwork of God, man is his son.

Are fire and sword the weapons with which truth fights her battles?

Gordon B. Hinckley

Be grateful. How thankful we ought to be. How comfortably we live. How very easy is life compared to what it once was. . . We have it so easy, so pleasant, so delightful. We ride in cars that are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. What a great season in the history of the world this is in which to be alive and in which to be young. Sometimes I wish that I were as young as you are -- and then when I think of what I have been through I am glad I am not. But what a wonderful season to be alive. . . . [We have] the miracles of medicine, the miracles of science, the miracles of communication, transportation, education -- what a wonderful time in which to live. Of all of these wondrous, challenging things with which we live, I hope you regard it a blessing to be alive in this great age of the world. . . . I hope you walk with gratitude in your hearts, really. Grateful people are respectful people. Grateful people are courteous people. Grateful people are kindly people. Be grateful.

May we live worthy of the glorious endowment of light and understanding and eternal truth which has come to us through all the perils of the past. Somehow, among all who have walked the earth, we have been brought forth in this unique and remarkable season. Be grateful, and above all be faithful.

We must do all that is required in moving forward the work of the Lord in building His kingdom in the earth. We can never compromise the doctrine which has come through revelation, but we can live and work with others, respecting their beliefs and admiring their virtues, joining hands in opposition to the sophistries, the quarrels, the hatred--those perils which have been with man from the beginning."

Life is to be enjoyed, not endured.

Neal A. Maxwell

We sometimes find ourselves praying for others when we should be doing things for them. Prayers are not to be a substitute for service, but a spur thereto.

If certain mortal experiences were cut short, it would be like pulling up a flower to see how the roots are doing. Put another way, too many anxious openings of the oven door, and the cake falls instead of rising.... Patient endurance is to be distinguished from merely being 'acted upon.' Endurance is more than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance; it is not only acceptance of the things allotted to us, it is to 'act for ourselves' by magnifying what is allotted to us. (See Alma 29:3, 6.)  If, for instance, we are always taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we will not be. If we are constantly comparing to see if things are fair, we are not only being unrealistic, we are being unfair to ourselves. Therefore, true enduring represents not merely the passage of time, but the passage of the soul -- and not merely from A to B, but sometimes all the way from A to Z. To endure in faith and [doing] God's will (see D&C 63:20; D&C 101:35) therefore involves much more than putting up with a circumstance.... Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance. Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling, we are being carried forward, though battered and bruised.

Happily, the commandment 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart' (Matt. 11:29) is a principle which carries an accompanying and compensating promise from Jesus: 'and ye shall find rest unto your souls.' This is a very special form of rest resulting from the shedding of certain needless burdens: fatiguing insincerity, exhausting hypocrisy, and the strength-sapping quest for recognition, praise, and power. Those of us who fall short, in one way or another, often do so because we carry such unnecessary and heavy baggage. Being overloaded, we sometimes stumble, and then we feel sorry for ourselves.

We should see life, therefore, as being comprised of clusters of soul-stretching experiences, even when these are overlain by seeming ordinariness or are plainly wrapped in routine. Thus some who are chronologically very young can be Methuselahs as to their maturity in spiritual things.  So much of life's curriculum, therefore, consists of efforts by the Lord to get and keep our attention. Ironically, the stimuli He uses are often that which is seen by us as something to endure. Sometimes what we are actually being asked to endure is His "help": help to draw us away from the cares of the world; help to draw us away from self-centeredness; attention-getting help when we have ignored the still, small voice; help in the shaping of our souls; and help to keep promises we made so long ago. In some instances the stimuli can be severe and sharp: "And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him" ("Hel. 12:3).There is clearly no immunity from such stimuli or other afflictions, whether of the self-induced variety or the divine-tutorial type. Either way, however, the Lord can help us so that our afflictions can be "swallowed up in the joy of Christ" ("Alma 31:38). The sour notes are lost amid a symphony of salvational sounds.

We can tell much by what we have already willingly discarded along the pathway of discipleship. It is the only pathway where littering is permissible, even encouraged. In the early stages the debris left behind includes the grosser sins of commission. Later debris differs; the things being discarded are those that have caused the misuse or under use of our time and talent.

The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely, personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then, we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!

The real act of personal sacrifice is not now nor ever has been placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal that is in us upon the altar—then willingly watching it be consumed! Such is the "sacrifice unto [the Lord of] a broken heart and a contrite spirit." (3 Nephi 9:20.)

God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!

God’s ways are higher than man’s ways. We, as his children, barely understand the minutia of the multiplication tables of human existence, let alone the calculus of the cosmos. God could tell us neither how he brought to pass the Creation nor how he made possible the reality of the Resurrection, because, in our present condition, we would not be able to understand it fully.

Someday, when we look back on mortality, we will see that so many of the things that seemed to matter so much at the moment will be seen not to have mattered at all.  And the eternal things will be seen to have mattered even more than the most faithful of the Saints imagined.

NEW No wonder we are told to "bridle all [our] passions, that [we] may be filled with love" (Alma 38:12). Otherwise, oozing passions fill the available soul space, and double occupancy is not possible.

Suffering is the sweat of salvation.

Galileo Galilei

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.

Anonymous -- Written on a wall in a concentration camp

I believe in the sun when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent.

Hugh B. Brown

How rich and radiant is the soul of a man who has a thankful heart. His gratitude increases with his unfolding awareness of himself, the universe and his Creator. Appreciation, like love, enriches both giver and receiver, and, when spontaneously expressed in word or deed, reveals a depth and delicacy of fine-grain character. True gratitude is motivated by a recognition of favors received. Its counterfeit is fawning anticipation of favors to come.  Serious consideration of the mystery of life, its vastness and incalculability, gives depth to appreciation for blessings gratuitously bestowed. They who have eyes to see, ears to hear, understanding hearts, will see the bounteous love of God everywhere manifest and will be inclined to reverently remove their shoes and exclaim:  "For the rock and for the river, The valley's fertile sod, For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God." ['For the Strength of the Hills' Hymns: 35]

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.' The ultimate evil is the closing of the mind or steeling it against truth, resulting in the hardening of intellectual arteries.

Can you have the spirit of God all the time?" Asked one. "And how do you cope with the dark hours?" President Brown looked away for a moment reflectively. "My life experience proves to me one thing. The Lord knows. And the Lord cares. When you are blessed with the communion, or the ‘sunshine’, of the spirit, you bask in it, drink it in, to prepare for the hours when you are left to yourself; to pull you through the darkness.  I have never been able to synchronize my watch to the Lord’s timetable. We are His instruments and His will does not always correspond with ours. But we must go on or we are lost and have no promise.

Elder ??? Jenson (to my mission, I did not catch his first name, and there are sure a lot of them)

Satan works with the body as though we had no spirit. The Savior works on the spirit as though we had no body.

There’s going to be some tough times in the old town tonight. In the future, some ominous times. Stay with the good ship Zion. And watch the captain of the ship.

Spencer W. Kimball

If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then  pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity.  But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past, and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.  If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended.  NO MAN WOULD HAVE TO LIVE BY FAITH.  Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood.

One can be bold and meek at the same time. One can be courageous and humble. If the Lord was meek and lowly and humble, then to become humble one must do what he did in boldly denouncing evil, bravely advancing righteous works, courageously meeting every problem, becoming the master of himself and the situations about him and being near oblivious to personal credit.  Humility is not pretentious, presumptuous, nor proud. It is not weak, vacillating, nor servile.  Humble and meek properly suggest virtues, not weaknesses. They suggest a consistent mildness of temper and an absence of wrath and passion. Humility suggests no affectation, no bombastic actions. It is not turgid nor grandiloquent. It is not servile submissiveness. It is not cowed nor frightened. No shadow or the shaking of a leaf terrorizes it.  How does one get humble? To me, one must constantly be reminded of his dependence. On whom dependent? On the Lord. How remind one's self? By real, constant, worshipful, grateful prayer.

Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. The sufferings of our Savior were part of his education. 'Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 'And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him' (Hebrews 5:8-9). . . .  On the other hand, these things can crush us with their mighty impact if we yield to weakness, complaining, and criticism. 'No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven. . . .' (Orson F. Whitney).

Revelation comes to those who will hear. The Lord will not force himself upon people; and if they do not believe, they will receive no visitation. If they are content to depend upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their chosen fate.

The Savior said that the very elect would be deceived by Lucifer if it were possible. He will use his logic to confuse and his rationalizations to destroy. He will shade meanings, open doors an inch at a time, and lead from purest white through all the shades of gray to the darkest black.

We are not measured by the trials we have. We are only measured by the ones we overcome.

From Making the Most of Your Mission by John D. Whetten

You need to realize that you will not always feel the spirit of the Lord. Often you will not feel the spirit even when you are trying very hard to be near the Lord. The Lord is letting you grow in making decisions based only on your knowledge of righteous principles. He is also letting you prove to yourself that you will keep His commandments even when you don’t feel His nearness. If you always felt inspired, you as a son or daughter could not and would not really grow. Spiritual growth comes as you SEEK His inspiration, His closeness, and His peace, then press on and strive to make righteous decisions based on sound principles.

Les Miserables (Broadway Musical Version)

To love another person is to see the face of God.

John Taylor

Good men have had to endure affliction, privations, trials, and  sorrow,  it is true. Abraham had to pass through afflictions that were  harrowing  to his feelings. Men of God have had to wander about in sheep-skins  and  goat-skins, and been considered the scum and offscourings of society,  by men who understood not their relationship to God. They appeared  destitute, but were, in reality, not.  They had a hope that was  buoyant,  and looked for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker  is  God....   If I am doing right, I am preparing for thrones, principalities, and  dominions, resolved by the help of God that no man shall rob me of my  crown. With this view of the subject, all the outward circumstances  of  this life do not trouble me.

Thomas S. Monson

Please do not pray -- I plead with you -- for tasks equal to your  powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of  your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.

James E. Faust

The ultimate offering was that offered by the Savior Himself in giving His very life. It causes each of us to wonder, How many drops of blood were shed for me?

In the closing moments of this conference, I come to this pulpit to speak about gratitude as an expression of faith and as a saving principle. The Lord has said, "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments." (D&C 59:21.) It is clear to me from this scripture that to "thank the Lord thy God in all things" (D&C 59:7) is more than a social courtesy; it is a binding commandment.

Henry B. Eyring

...King Benjamin's teaching had a miraculous effect. Gratitude for what they had led to faith unto repentance. That led to forgiveness. That produced new gratitude. And then King Benjamin taught that, if we can remember and so remain grateful, we will retain a remission of our sins through all the losses and the gains of life.

Ezra Taft Benson

When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims of our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.

...the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ.   It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Nephi 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon is similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God with endow us with power

Love [is] the great motivating factor.

To Latter-day Saints the world over, we say: Let not your hearts be troubled.  Keep the commandments of God.  Follow the counsel of his living prophet, taking care not to exceed the counsel with your own private views.

Brigham Young

Now is the time for labor. Let the fire of the covenant, which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts like a flame unquenchable.

There is a great work for the Saints to do. Progress, and improve upon, and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labours you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations [JD 8:83].

Take courage, brethren ... plow your land and sow wheat, plant your potatoes.  The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth.

Jeffrey R. Holland

In answer to the age-old question, "How much did he leave?" be reassured the answer will always be, "All of it." So we would do well to lay up treasures in heaven, where not taxes but doctrines give meaning to words like estate, inheritance, testament, and will.

Mark E. Petersen

We can readily see that observance of the Sabbath is an indication of the depth of our conversion.  Our observance or nonobservance of the Sabbath is an unerring measure of our attitude toward the Lord personally and toward his suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead.  It is a sign of whether we are Christians in very deed, or whether our conversion is so shallow that commemoration of his atoning sacrifice means little or nothing to us.

Robert D. Hales

How we treat our family members, our neighbors, business associates, and all we meet will reveal if we have taken His name upon us and do always remember Him.

Boyd K. Packer

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. . . . That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel.

I knew what agency was and knew how important it was to be individual and to be independent, to be free. I somehow knew there was one thing the Lord would never take from me, and that was my free agency. I would not surrender my agency to any being but to Him! I determined that I would give Him the one thing that He would never take-my agency. I decided, by myself, that from that time on I would do things His way. That was a great trial for me, for I thought I was giving away the most precious thing I possessed. I was not wise enough in my youth to know that because I exercised my agency and decided myself, I was not losing it. It was strengthened! I learned from that experience the meaning of the scripture: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32.)

Melvin J. Ballard

I found myself one evening in the dreams of the night in that sacred building, the temple. After a season of prayer and rejoicing I was informed that I should have the privilege of entering into one of those rooms, to meet a glorious Personage, and, as I entered the door, I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious Being my eyes have ever beheld or that I ever conceived existed in all the eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, he arose and stepped towards me with extended arms, and he smiled as he softly spoke my name. If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never forget that smile. He took me into his arms and kissed me, pressed me to his bosom, and blessed me, until the marrow of my bones seemed to melt! When he had finished, I fell at his feet, and, as I bathed them with my tears and kisses, I saw the prints of the nails in the feet of the Redeemer of the world. The feeling that I had in the presence of him who hath all things in his hands, to have his love, his affection, and his blessing was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I would give all that I am, all that I ever hope to be, to feel what I then felt!

Richard C. Edgley

There are few of us, if any, who don't walk the refiner's fire of adversity and despair, sometimes known to others but for many quietly hidden and privately endured. Most of the heartache, pain, and suffering we would not choose today. But we did choose. We chose when we could see the complete plan. We chose when we had a clear vision of the Savior's rescue of us. And if our faith and understanding were as clear today as it was when we first made that choice, I believe we would choose again.  Therefore, perhaps the challenge is to have the kind of faith during the hard times that we exercised when we first chose. The kind of faith that turns questioning and even anger into acknowledging the power, blessings, and hope that can come only from Him who is the source of all power, blessings, and hope.

Hugh Nibly

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. Though you are amused by my saying this, I'm quite serious about it.

Dallin H. Oakes

The intensity of our desire to share the gospel is a great indicator of the extent of our personal conversion.

The reality of our total dependence upon Jesus Christ for the attainment of our goals of immortality and eternal life should dominate every teaching and every testimony and every action of every soul touched by the light of the restored gospel.  If we teach every other subject and principle with perfection and fall short on this one, we have failed in our most important mission.

The purpose of the personal suffering that must occur as part of the process of repentance is not to punish the transgressor, but to change him.

Gene R. Cook

The Lord's response to us is always filled with love. Should not our response to Him be in kind, with real feelings of love? He gives grace (or goodness) for grace, attribute for attribute. As our obedience increases, we receive more grace (or goodness) for the grace we return to Him. Offer Him the refinement of your attributes, so that when He does appear you will be like Him.

It is part of the gift of charity to be able to recognize the Lord's hand and feel His love in all that surrounds us. At times it will not be easy to discover the Lord's love for us in all that we experience, because He is a perfect, anonymous giver. You will search all your life to uncover His hand and the gifts He has bestowed upon you because of His intimate, modest, humble way of granting such wonderful gifts.

Magnifying that gift from God will bring a new heart, a pure heart, and ever-increasing love and peace. As we increasingly think and act like Him, the attributes of the natural man will slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. We will become like Him and then truly receive Him.

C.S. Lewis

Victor Hugo

President Nelson, California, San Bernadino Mission

I would rather go home in a body bag than send another missionary home without his membership.

Charles Dickens

C. Max Caldwell