God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go.

There is a line from Dante that says, "The arrow seen before cometh less rudely." President John F. Kennedy put one aspect of the same thought into one of his state of the union messages this way: "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." The Boy Scouts say it best of all: "Be prepared." That isn't just cracker-barrel wisdom with us; it is theology. "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30)

Imperfect people are all god has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to him, but he deals with it. So should we.

No one would wish a bad marriage on anyone. But where do we think good marriages come from? They don't spring full blown from the head of Zeus any more than does a good education...Why should a marriage require fewer tears and less toil and shabbier commitment than your job or your clothes or your car?

Nowhere can anyone find a #‎ quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his or her own #‎ soul . We need to turn some things down and turn some things off. We need to be #‎ quiet .

There is no convenient Messiah. Salvation comes only through discipline and sacrifice.

No serious courtship or engagement or marriage is worth the name if we do not fully invest all that we have in it and in so doing trust ourselves totally to the one we love. You cannot succeed in love if you keep one foot out on the bank for safety's sake. The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold on to each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together.