Dallin H. Oaks Quotes

...A man is not required to run faster than he is able but it is a requirement to run.

I expect celibacy of any person that is not married.

If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination.

I think it's important for you to understand that homosexuality is not a noun that describes a condition. It's an adjective that describes feelings or behavior.

The commandment to avoid contention applies to those who are right as well as those who are wrong.

We should recognize the reality that just because something is good is not sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them.

Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places.

To avoid all possibility for error is to avoid all possibility for growth.

When we face seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the fulfillment of righteous responsibilities, we should remember that when we are involved in the work of the Lord, the obstacles before us are never as great as the power behind us. We should reach out and climb. Handholds will only be found by hands that are outstretched. Footholds are only for feet that are on the move.

The gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to change. “Repent” is its most frequent message, and repenting means giving up all of our practices-perso nal, family, ethnic, and national-that are contrary to the commandments of God. The purpose of the gospel is to transform common creatures into celestial citizens, and that requires change.

If we are practicing our faith and seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit, his presence can be felt in our hearts and in our homes. A family having daily family prayers and seeking to keep the commandments of God and honor his name and speak lovingly to one another will have a spiritual feeling in their home that will be discernible to all who enter it.

We are cast as combatants in the war between truth and error. There is no middle ground. We must stand up for truth, even while we practice tolerance and respect for beliefs and ideas different from our own and for the people who hold them.

It is not enough that we are under call or even that we are going in the right direction. The timing must be right.

Young people, if you honor your fathers, you will love them, respect them, confide in them, be considerate of them, express appreciation for them, and demonstrate all of these things by following their counsel in righteousness and by obeying the commandments of God.

Pornographic or erotic stories and pictures are worse than filthy or polluted food. The body has defenses to rid itself of unwholesome food. With a few fatal exceptions, bad food will only make you sick but do no permanent harm. In contrast, a person who feasts upon filthy stories or pornographic or erotic pictures and literature records them in this marvelous retrieval system we call a brain. The brain won't vomit back filth. Once recorded, it will always remain subject to recall, flashing its perverted images across your mind and drawing you away from the wholesome things in life.

You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need won't satisfy you.

Simple and more frequent dates allow both men and women to ‘shop around’ in a way that allows extensive evaluation of the prospects. The old-fashioned date was a wonderful way to get acquainted with a member of the opposite sex. It encouraged conversation. It allowed you to see how you treat others and how you are treated in a one-on-one situation. It gave opportunities to learn how to initiate and sustain a mature relationship. None of that happens in hanging out

What does it mean to be true to the faith? That word true implies commitment, integrity, endurance, and courage.

Testimony is to know and to feel, Conversion is to do and to become.

The distinction between feelings or inclinations on the one hand, and behavior on the other hand, is very clear. It's no sin to have inclinations that if yielded to would produce behavior that would be a transgression. The sin is in yielding to temptation. Temptation is not unique. Even the Savior was tempted.

Faith is developed in a setting where we cannot see ahead.

Everyone has some challenges they have to struggle with.

My experiences taught me firsthand that when a person is not performing well, there are many possible reasons, some not of his own choosing.

There are people who oppose a federal Constitutional amendment because they think that the law of family should be made by the states. I can see a legitimate argument there. I think it's mistaken, however, because the federal government, through the decisions of life-tenured federal judges, has already taken over that area.

Feelings can be controlled and behavior can be controlled. The line of sin is between the feelings and the behavior. The line of prudence is between the susceptibility and the feelings.

We are all preparing for things to come. That is the purpose of mortal life. ... We are all children of a Heavenly Father who has sent us to earth with the invitation to prepare for eternal life. Every choice, every experience, every repentance and reformation prepares us for what is to come.

Service that is given with little or no thought of personal advantage is an ideal to pursue for a lifetime.

I think it is an accurate statement to say that some people consider feelings of same-gender attraction to be the defining fact of their existence. There are also people who consider the defining fact of their existence that they are from Texas or that they were in the United States Marines. Or they are red-headed, or they are the best basketball player that ever played for such-and-such a high school. People can adopt a characteristic as the defining example of their existence and often those characteristics are physical.

God's love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He knows that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God's anger and His wrath are not a contradiction of His love but an evidence of His love. Every parent knows that you can love a child totally and completely while still being creatively angry and disappointed at that child's self-defeating behavior.

To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being.

Don't be dumb. (don't get a tattoo)

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.

We are overcome by the "cares ... of this life" when we are paralyzed by fear of the future, which hinders our going forward in faith, trusting in God and His promises. It is up to each of us to set the priorities and to do the things that make our soil good and our harvest plentiful.

We should seek after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair our imperfections.

It seems to me that a Latter-day Saint parent has a responsibility in love and gentleness to affirm the teaching of the Lord through His prophets that the course of action he is about to embark upon is sinful.

The principles stated in the proclamation on the family are a beautiful expression of this gospel culture.

A person with homosexual inclinations, where they're kept under control, or, if yielded to are appropriately repented of, is eligible to do anything in the Church that can be done by any member of the Church who is single.

The ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity.

I just didn’t spend enough time with my job.

Though we disagree, we should not be disagreeable.

Plan specifically so you can implement flexibly.

Let's not forget that for thousands of years the institution of marriage has been between a man and a woman. Until quite recently, in a limited number of countries, there has been no such thing as a marriage between persons of the same gender. Suddenly we are faced with the claim that thousands of years of human experience should be set aside because we should not discriminate in relation to the institution of marriage. When that claim is made, the burden of proving that this step will not undo the wisdom and stability of millennia of experience lies on those who would make the change.

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

We gain or strengthen a testimony by bearing it.

When we understand our relationship to God, we also understand our relationship to one another.

I testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose teachings and example we seek to follow. He invites all of us who are heavy laden to come unto Him, to learn of Him, to follow Him, and thus to find rest to our souls.

We must change all elements of our behavior that are in conflict with gospel... covenants.

Let us give thanks for what we are and for the circumstances God has given us for our personal journey through mortality.