Quotes

Sometimes as I'm considering a subject to write about, something that can, perhaps, do good for a lot of people, I get stuck because I'm either at a loss for an idea or just don't know how to translate it from the amoeba of thought and feeling in my mind and heart to the english language.  Because of this, whenever I see or hear a quote that says exactly what I'm trying to say I latch on to it for dear life and use it every time I want to communicate that thought or feeling again.  Sometimes this drives my wife nuts because she's hears about it for while after I find them, so I try to limit how much I re-iterate those quotes in conversation, but that's I hold on to them, so I don't make as much of a fool or myself or get frustrated when trying to get an idea across.

That being said, I wanted to relax a bit with this post and just share some of the many quotes I have collected over the years that have made the biggest difference to me:

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him."
 -Darryl Scott

"If you find yourself in a place where you have to choose between right and wrong, then you are in the wrong place, Put yourself in a place where you can choose between good and better."
 -Michelle Wu

"Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient.  They are obedient because they know certain expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God... We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see."
-Boyd K Packer

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
-Aldous Huxley

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."
-Bill Cosby

"There's no such thing as spiritual cruise control."
-Jamie Woodring

"The most penetrating of assurances, the one power, even beyond sight, that can burn doubt out of us, and make it, as it were, impossible for us to disbelieve, it the Holy Ghost."
-Truman G. Madsen

"Regarding ones testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he looses."
-Pres. Thomas S. Monson

"We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer."
-J Reuben Clark Jr.

"There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."
-Josh Billings

"The gift of the Holy Ghost comes after one repents and becomes worthy... The Holy Ghost bears witness of the truth and impresses upon the soul the reality of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ so deeply that no earthly power or authority can separate him from that knowledge."
-Pres. James E. Faust

"He who finds pain in virtue and pleasure in vice is still a novice at both."
-Anon.

"The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light.  Each will have to be guided by the light within himself."
-Elder Heber C. Kimball

"If you aren't being persecuted, you'd better repent."
-Elder Russel M. Nelson

"There is no public morality without private virtue"
-Elder Eran A. Call

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”  -Ambrose Redmoon.

"If you want to be average, practice until you get it right.  If you want to be great, practice until you never get it wrong."
-Jon Schmidt [at least he's the first person from whom I ever heard that one]

"There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness―and what a glorious feeling it is to know that you stand in your appointed place clean and with the confidence that you are worthy to do so."
-Pres. Thomas S. Monson

"In the memorable battle of Bunker Hill, the 17th of June 1775, there [my father and grandfather] stood side by side and fought with about 13 Americans against 3000 of the British for about two hours. When the enemy, after firing Charleston and wending around under the smoke, had nearly surrounded that wing of their own army, they saw but a small gap to retreat through, which was then continually plowing ground with balls from the shipping. But while they were going out, my grandfather saw one of our men wounded and crawling away on his hands and knees.  In the meantime a British soldier ran him through with a bayonet. Being filled with indignation at such rank breach of the laws of all civilized nations he immediately stopped, and amid scenes of death and carnage, loaded his gun and shot that man down before he left the ground and then obtained a safe retreat.  I speak of this to let my posterity know that our ancestors were clothed with that steady unshaken determination in time of the most imminent dangers that are incident to human life."
-Zera Pulsipher

"May we have a commitment to our Heavenly Father that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. We should not need to experience difficulties for us to remember Him, and we should not be driven to humility before giving Him our faith and trust."
  -Pres Thomas S Monson

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
  -Vince Lombardi

“...there is more individuality in those who are more holy.”
-Elder Neal A. Maxwell

“[the gospel] burned in my bones like fire pent up. Nothing would satisfy me but to cry abroad in the world what the Lord was doing in the latter-days.”
-President Brigham Young

“To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done.”
-Richard G. Scott

"Ever wonder why the sensual scene so often features flashing but fading lights? Or why all the reinforcing glitz? Or why all the loudness masquerading as music? Because, fearful of the dawn, evil cannot stand the steady scrutiny of bright truth, nor can it endure the quiet reflections of soul-searching!"
-Neal A. Maxwell

“...God does not save us “just as we are,” first, because “just as we are” we are unclean, and “no unclean thing can dwell … in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man [of Holiness].” … God will not act to make us something we do not choose by our actions to become. Truly He loves us, and because He loves us, He neither compels nor abandons us. Rather He helps and guides us. Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments.”
-Elder D. Todd Christofferson

“Every part of these buildings, [temples,] and all that goes on inside them reflect the love of the Savior for us and our love for Him.  I felt that one day, high in [the Salt Lake] temple.  I was in one of the towers in a place few people would have been since the building was dedicated in a small room that has rarely, if ever been used. I saw exquisite pioneer era woodwork.  I remember the sense of awe that came over me when I imagined the workmen who had so carefully carved and finished the detailed mouldings.  They toiled away without power tools in a place where, for the most part, only the Lord they loved and heavenly beings would look upon it.  They did it not for man or for recognition but for Him, for His house.  They knew, as I do, that He lives and that He has asked His people to gather and to be worthy to build Him a house that He might direct them, bless them and their families.”
-Elder Henry B. Eyring

“Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the plan of mercy appeases the demands of justice ‘and [brings] about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance’ [Alma 34:15].… But the grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and sins, then salvation―as wonderful as it is―does not fulfill the Father’s aspirations for us. His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him.… Throughout our lives, God’s grace bestows temporal blessings and spiritual gifts that magnify our abilities and enrich our lives. His grace refines us. His grace helps us become our best selves.”
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Casual obedience and lukewarm commitment weaken faith. Enduring to the end requires total commitment to the Savior."
-Elder Kevin Pearson

"The service that counts most is usually recognized by God alone."
 -Elder Michael T. Ringwood

“Personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!”
  -Elder Neal A. Maxwell

"Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest upon reciprocity."
  -Elder Neal A. Maxwell

“Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost.”
  -Kevin W. Pearson

"[The Lord] did not intent either of the sexes to adopt the other's traits but, rather, that men should look and act like men and that women should look and act like women.  When these differences are ignored, an unwholesome relationship develops, which if not checked, can lead to reprehensible, tragic sin of homosexuality.  In other words, we have a responsibility as priesthood bearers to be examples of true manhood."
  -Bishop Victor L. Brown

“As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough.  Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground.”
       -[then] Elder Henry B. Eyring

"[Pornography] will literally destroy the spirit. Be strong. Be clean. Avoid such degrading and destructive types of content at all costs--whatever they may be!" (I cannot adequately emphasize how true I know this one to be)
      -Thomas S. Monson

"Differences between us are meant to be celebrated, not calculated."
       -Steven Sharp Nelson

“Beauty besets [Christ] in every direction.  So it is with the Atonement.  Regardless of our vantage point, it is glorious to behold.  Every principle underlying it, every consequence flowing from it rewards our intellect, animates our emotions, and enlivens our spirit.  It is a doctrine for all seasons.”
       -Tad R. Callister

“He who had created worlds without number was about to enter a quiet secluded garden, a humble plot of ground in his vast cosmic universe.  There was no fanfare, no pressing throng to witness the most profound event his creations would ever know.  This was a moment so sacred, so sublime, that no human eye could fully pierce, no human mind could fully comprehend its transcending importance.”
       -Tad R. Callister

“If there is any imagery upon which I would focus as I close, it is two scriptures from the Book of Mormon.  The one in which we are reminded that Jesus himself is the gatekeeper and that 'he employeth no servant there.' … I will tell you... out of the conviction of my soul … what I think the major reason is [why he 'employeth no servant there'], as contained in another Book of Mormon scripture which says he waits for you 'with open arms.' That imagery is too powerful to brush aside. … It is imagery that should work itself into the very center core of one's mind – a rendezvous impending, a moment in time and space, the likes of which there is none other.  And that rendezvous is a reality.  I certify that to you.  He does wait for us with open arm, because his love is perfect.”
       -Neal A. Maxwell

Lastly one of the few times where I can say pretty much exactly what I mean.

"We need to remember that the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't true because the LDS Church is true, but rather that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS Church] is true because the gospel of Jesus Christ it teaches is true and because He is true.  It is His church.  The church is not the end, it is only a part of the means to an end.  It is the only church in which we can find Christ's teachings in their purity and fullness.  There need be no doubt about that for it is His church and He will not allow the prophets He calls to misdirect it to mislead it's members.  It's not about a bureaucracy or a system of checks and balances.  The Savior dictates how His church works for the benefit of mankind, offering access to His atonement for us, and it is done, period.  The purpose of the church is simply to provide His gospel as the only true guide to the ultimate end goal, which is to be both redeemed and exalted by Jesus Christ, to become like Him."
      -W. Paul Pulsipher