I think of all the people in the world we should be the happiest. We have the greatest and most joyous message in the world. I think when we get on the other side, someone will meet us with a smile (unless we go to the wrong place and then someone will grin), so let us be happy. But let our happiness be genuine - let it come from within."
…be unafraid to express your thoughts and to insist upon your right to examine every proposition. We are not so much concerned with whether your thoughts are orthodox or heterodox as we are that you shall have thoughts. One may memorize much without learning anything.
I am impressed with the testimony of a man who can stand and say he knows the gospel is true. But what I would like to ask is ‘But, sir, do you know the gospel?’… Mere testimony can be gained with but [superficial] knowledge of the Church and its teachings…But to retain a testimony, to be of service in building the Lord’s kingdom, requires a serious study of the gospel and knowing what it is
The so-called self-made men are endurable as long as they do not worship their alleged creator.
To those who are losing faith in America, to those who criticize her, we issue this challenge: Cast your eyes to the four corners of the earth. Can you see anything to compare with her? Where do you find greater evidence of freedom? In what land do the inhabitants have greater voice in governing themselves? Where do you see a way of life which has produced a greater abundance for its people? In which country do you find greater numbers of children receiving an excellence of education to surpass that which is to be found here? Where is there less want, less misery? Where in all the world do you find men who are given comparable rights to enjoy their freedom to worship as that freedom finds expression in the land of America? Can you really doubt that this land is in very deed a land of promise? Let all men of goodwill offer constructive criticism to assist this great land of freedom in the solving of her problems. There will be problems, to be sure, but let these problems be solved with mature deliberation. Let those who speak out, speak in fairest. Let these problems and their proposed solutions be discussed in honest debate. All too often those who debate her issues distort and magnify all out of proportion the subject of their concern. More than any other people, members of this Church, having the prophecies of God before them, ought to know that America is not going to fail, that the God of heaven will not permit it, if her people will but serve the God of this land (Ether 2:12). She has a great destiny yet to fulfill. Imperfect though she may be, she is, nevertheless, the hope of the world. Men of faint heart and blurred vision may from time to time lose sight of this fact. The fact itself, however, is immutable. America has thus far been preserved because she is built upon a sound foundation, which was ordained of God himself. She is the cradle of freedom prepared by him for the restoration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let all who have permitted discouragement or despair to enter into their hearts take renewed hope and courage. Let all honest men everywhere rally and support the cause of freedom and justice under the law.
Death is not the extinguishing of the light. It is the putting out of the light because the dawn has come
“Let us remember . . . that each of us is being tested, just as the finest cars and planes are tested before they are put into service. They are tested for weaknesses; they are tested for flaws. Can you stand the test? At the bar the Judge will not look us over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars”
Our revealed truth should leave us stricken with the knowledge of how little we really know. It should never lead to an emotional arrogance based upon a false assumption that we somehow have all the answers–that we in fact have a corner on truth, for we do not…[C]ontinue your search for truth. And maintain humility sufficient to be able to revise your hypotheses as new truth comes to you by means of the spirit or the mind. Salvation, like education, is an ongoing process.