Quotes by Religious Leaders

There are few ways in which good people do more harm to those who take them seriously than to defend the gospel with arguments that won't hold water. Many of the difficulties encountered by young people going to college would be avoided if parents and teachers were more careful to distinguish between what they know to be true and what they think may be true. Impetuous youth, upon finding the authority it trusts crumbling, even on unimportant details, is apt to lump everything together and throw the baby out with the bath.

Henry B. Eyring

One who practices pure religion soon discovers it is more rewarding to lift a man up than to hold him down.

Marvin J. Ashton

We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day.

Richard G. Scott

What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.

Ignatius of Loyola

Rise up and become the person you were meant to be.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

If our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, we are guilty of heresy.

Ignatius of Loyola

Happiness is spiritual, born of truth and love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.

Mary Baker Eddy

Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?

Brigham Young

Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Oh, brothers and sisters, families can be forever! Do not let the lures [or the irritants] of the moment draw you away from them! Divinity, eternity, and family--they go together, hand in hand, and so must we!

Spencer W. Kimball

The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun.

Joseph Smith Jr.

There should be painless progression, attended by life and peace....Mortals will some day assert their freedom in the name of Almighty God....Dropping their present beliefs, they will recognize harmony and as the spiritual reality and discord as the material unreality. Chapter VII pp. 224 and 228 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

Mary Baker Eddy

Would we not do well to have the pleasing of God as our motive rather than to try to elevate ourselves above our brother and outdo another?

Ezra Taft Benson

When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.

Robert D. Hales

His rising from death on the third day crowned the Atonement. Again, in some way incomprehensible to us, the effects of his resurrection pass upon all men so that all shall rise from the grave.

Bruce R. McConkie

Sinners with broken and contrite hearts have but one desire. Filled with thanksgiving, they want to love Him who loved them so much. They are so overwhelmed that He has borne their sins and carried them away. When we receive forgiveness, our hearts are so filled with joy that we cannot help but love Him with a lavish love. We cannot help but give our lives to Him who gave His life for us and set us free from the prison of sin. We cannot stop thanking Him, and so we do everything possible to bring Him joy and to bestow our gifts upon Him, serving Him with all our talents and strength. And this is what heaven is all about: centering upon Jesus and loving Him above all else.

M. Basilea Schlink

doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time

Joseph Smith

Man is a spiritual being, a soul, and at some period of his life everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite. . . . 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 live in a higher and more beautiful world.

David O. McKay

Men will get no more out of life than they put into it.

William J. H. Boetcker

Do not despair. Do not give up. Look for the sunlight through the clouds.

Gordon B. Hinckley

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 the world and not have the approval of my own conscience. A man's own conscience, when he is living as he should live, is the finest monitor and the best judge in all the world. Men can accuse you of wrong-doing, and it has no effect at all if you know they lie and you have done that which is right

Heber J. Grant

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal

Thomas S. Monson

The purpose of the gospel is to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.

David O. McKay

We must not falter nor weary in well-doing. We must lengthen our stride. Not only is our own eternal welfare at stake, but also the eternal welfare of many of our brothers and sisters who are not now members of this, the true Church. I thrill to the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith in a letter that he sent to the Church from Nauvoo on September 6, 1842: 'Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward. … Courage … and on, on to the victory!

Spencer W. Kimball

If we don't have time for masterpiece moments, the very reason we came to earth is being wasted on us.

Chieko N. Okazaki

A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met.

David A. Bednar

Appreciation is a great virtue, and if husbands and wives expressed it more frequently in our homes, wives would be happier, and husbands would probably be more kind" (Gospel Ideals, p. 475).

David O. McKay

A proverb in the Old Testament states: 'He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city'.It is when we become angry that we get into trouble. The road rage that affects our highways is a hateful expression of anger. I dare say that most of the inmates of our prisons are there because they did something when they were angry. In their wrath they swore, they lost control of themselves, and terrible things followed, even murder. There were moments of offense followed by years of regret. . . .So many of us make a great fuss of matters of small consequence. We are so easily offended. Happy is the man who can brush aside the offending remarks of another and go on his way.

Gordon B. Hinckley

The human heart has a way of thinking that it is always in the right and has no need to weep over its sins. By nature, we are self-confident and impenitent. We blame others or even accuse God when we do not understand His ways.

M. Basilea Schlink

To live and let live without clamor for distinction or recognition to wait on divine Love to write truth first on the tablet of one's own heart-this is the sanity and perfection of living and my human ideal.

Mary Baker Eddy

No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse. (Apr 2007 Gen Conf)

Jeffrey R. Holland

Fear that man who fears not God.

Abd-el-Kader

If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we willalmost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by theloving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joythan sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God'sgoodness. Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in thenext life. It is our privilege now, this very day. We must never allowour burdens to obscure our blessings. There will always be moreblessings than burdens--even if some days it doesn't seem so. Jesussaid, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have itmore abundantly." Enjoy those blessings right now. They are yours andalways will be.

Jeffrey R. Holland

Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. And I have learned to conclude all my prayers with ‘Thy will be done’ (Matthew 6:10; see also Luke 11:2; 3 Nephi 13:10).

Boyd K. Packer

A man may be absolutely poor and dispossessed of everything, and yet be wordly. Another man may be very wealthy and yet severed. Severance means that one's heart must not be attached to the things of this world. It does not mean that a man must dispossess himself of them, or that he must not work and earn or practice his profession, whatever it may be, in the world. It does not mean that he must not put on what he has. If he has a silk garb, let him wear that; and if he has not, but has a suit of cotton goods, let him wear that clean. He must feel the same in both.

Abdu'l-Bahá

Here they [the Jaredites] became a flourishing nation; but, giving way in time to internal dissensions, they divided into factions, which warred with one another until the people were totally destroyed (p. 15).

James E. Talmage

Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. That is part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. Peace comes through hope.

James E. Faust

Sorrow has its reward. It never leaves us where it found us.

Mary Baker Eddy

A life without an objective is much like a ship at sea with no port in mind. It drifts with the waves or storms, or with the whim of the captain. They are tempted to ask, amidst the battles of life, "Is the struggle worth-while?" That attitude lessens the joy of living. They who say that there is no purpose in life are not unhappy, but become dangerous to themselves and others, for they have no safe guide for their actions. Indeed, life has not objective save physical satisfactions, it is empty and valueless.

John A. Widtsoe

The power to lead is the power to mislead, and the power to mislead is the power to destroy.

Thomas S. Monson

Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.

Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

The individual activity of one man with backbone will do more than a thousand men with a mere wishbone.

William J. H. Boetcker

Peace, sweet peace finally comes to men when they humbly yield to the gentle pressure of the Spirit.

Spencer W. Kimball

Those who suffer great adversity and sorrow and go on to serve their fellowmen develop a great capacity to understand others. Like the prophets, they have acquired a higher understanding of the mind and will of Christ.

CARLOS H. AMADO

There are rules and laws to help ensure our physical safety. Likewise, the Lord has provided guidelines and commandments to help ensure our spiritual safety so that we might successfully navigate this often-treacherous mortal existence and return eventually to our Heavenly Father" ("Obedience Brings Blessings," April 2013 General Conference).

Thomas S. Monson

The real Muslim is the one who prefers speaking the truth even when it is ruinous to him over lying even when it benefits him, and who finds inner peace in doing so.

Ali ibn Abi Talib

Surely silence can sometimes be the most eloquent reply.

Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

We can follow a steady upward course in a world of change without fear, welcoming opportunities

Henry B. Eyring

Do not wait for ideal circumstances nor for the best opportunities they will never come.

Janet Erskine Stuart

Love is an illness which doesn't have good nor recompense.

Ali ibn Abi Talib

I am amazed at the heart of man: It possesses the substance of wisdom as well as the opposites contrary to it ... for if hope arises in it, it is brought low by covetousness: and if covetousness is aroused in it, greed destroys it. If despair possesses it, self piety kills it: and if it is seized by anger, this is intensified by rage. If it is blessed with contentment, then it forgets to be careful; and if it is filled with fear, then it becomes preoccupied with being cautious. If it feels secure , then it is overcome by vain hopes; and if it is given wealth, then its independence makes it extravagant. If want strikes it, then it is smitten by anxiety. If it is weakened by hunger, then it gives way to exhaustion; and if it goes too far in satisfying its appetites, then its inner becomes clogged up. So all its shortcomings are harmful to it, and all its excesses corrupt it.

Ali ibn Abi Talib

Be the one who nurtures and builds. Be the one who has an understanding and a forgiving heart one who looks for the best in people. Leave people better than you found them.

Marvin J. Ashton

This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love, and then speak it again.

Howard W. Hunter

Thoughts, like water, will stay on course if we make a place for them to go. As you learn to control your thoughts, you can gain courage, conquer fear and have a happy life.

Boyd K. Packer

Teach us to give and not to count the cost.

Ignatius Loyola

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.

Ali ibn Abi Talib

I believe in study. I believe that men learn much through study. As a matter of fact, it has been my observationthat they learn little concerning things as they are, as they were, or as they are to come without study. I alsobelieve, however, and know, that learning by study is greatly accelerated by faith.

Marion G. Romney

If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees—alone or with loved ones—give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments. He will take you by the hand and His promises will be kept.

Howard W. Hunter

Honesty will guide you to goodness, and goodness will invite you to heaven.

Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

All sorts of spiritual gifts come through privations if they are accepted.

Janet Erskine Stuart

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