Russell M. Nelson Quotes

Rationalization is one of the real obstacles to obedience.

A covenant made with God should be regarded not as restrictive but as protective.

Increase your faith. Proclaim your faith. Let your faith show.

Throughout the world, the family is increasingly under attack. If families fail, many of our political, economic, and social systems will also fail.

The Lord can only teach an inquiring mind.

When priorities are proper, the power to endure is increased. And when internalized, those priorities will help keep you from "going overboard."

Have faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. [You] will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.

Faith is the antidote for fear.

To those who feel defeated and downtrodden, look to the early hours of the day for your rescue...Shadows of yesterday's grief melt in the rays of early morn's opportunity.

Each holy temple stands as a symbol of our membership in the Church, as a sign of our faith in life after death, and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families.

When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we are not. Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families. For these powers, privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God!

The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional-predicated upon our obedience to eternal law. I pray that we may qualify for those blessings and rejoice forever.

Feelings of worth come when a woman follows the example of the Master. Her sense of infinite worth comes from her own Christlike yearning to reach out with love, as He does.

Men are that they might have joy . . . not guilt trips.

Through all of our various Christmas traditions, I hope that we are focused first upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men still adore Him.

Keep studying the scriptures, keep doing the things that build your faith in Jesus Christ and then notice the wise choices you are naturally drawn to make

When priorities are in place, one can more patiently tolerate unfinished business.

How you deal with life’s trials is part of the development of your faith. Strength comes when you remember that you have a divine nature, an inheritance of infinite worth.

The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant…is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house.

Our busy lives force us to focus on things we do from day to day. But the development of character comes only as we focus on who we really are.

From the holy scriptures, heaven-sent lift will be found for heaven-sent duties.

Each day is a day of decision.

The temptation to be popular may prioritize public opinion above the word of God. Political campaigns and marketing strategies widely employ public opinion polls to shape their plans. Results of those polls are informative. But they could hardly be used as grounds to justify disobedience to God’s commandments!

The Lord's way is the only way for us to experience enduring happiness. His way brings sustained comfort to our souls and perennial peace to our homes.

You young men need to know that you can hardly achieve your highest potential without the influence of a good women, particularly you mother, and in a few years, a good wife.

As we go through life, even through very rough waters, a father's instinctive impulse to cling tightly to his wife or to his children may not be the best way to accomplish his objective. Instead, if he will lovingly cling to the Savior and the iron rod of the gospel, his family will want to cling to him and to the Savior.

Every religious group, while perhaps a majority somewhere, is also inevitably a minority somewhere else. Thus, religious organizations should and do show tolerance toward members of other religious denominations.

The surest step toward joy in the morning is virtue in the evening.

The decision to serve a mission will shape the spiritual destiny of the missionary, his or her spouse, and their posterity for generations to come. A desire to serve is a natural outcome of one's conversion, worthiness, and preparation.

A strong human spirit with control over appetites of the flesh is master over emotions and passions and not a slave to them. That kind of freedom is as vital to the spirit as oxygen is to the body! Freedom from self-slavery is true liberation!

When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us.

Truth is truth! It is not divisible, and any part of it cannot be set aside.

Material possessions and honors of the world do not endure. But your union as wife, husband, and family can. No sacrifice is too great to have the blessings of an eternal marriage. By making and keeping sacred temple covenants, we evidence our love for God, for our companion, and our real regard for our posterity-even those yet unborn. Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life; so will it be throughout all eternity.

Love for family and friends, great as it may be, is much more profound when anchored in the love of Jesus Christ. Parental love for children has more meaning here and hereafter because of Him. All loving relationships are elevated in Him. Love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ provides the illumination, inspiration, and motivation to love others in a loftier way.

While we are free to choose, once we have made those choices, we are tied to the consequences of those choices.

With celestial sight, trials impossible to change become possible to endure.

There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both.

It is important for you to know who you are and who you may become. It is more important than what you do, even as vital as your work is and will be.

I honor women who are not mothers. They know that motherhood is but one of the realms of womankind. The virtue and intelligence of women are uniquely applicable to other realms as well, such as compassionate service and teaching.

Even if everyone is doing it, wrong is never right

Be we reminded that the gathering of Israel is not the ultimate endpoint. It is but the beginning. The true endpoint is eternal life. It is that God’s children, in a covenant relationship with Him either by lineage or by adoption, will be able to dwell with Him and their families forever. That is God’s glory-eternal life for His children!

The Savior's way of life is good.

You can experience true delight on the Sabbath from family history work...Finding family members...can bring immense joy.

Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary?

Counting blessings is better than recounting problems

No matter your situation, you can make family history a part of your life right now. Primary children can draw a family tree. Youth can participate in proxy baptisms. They can also help the older generation work with computers. Parents can relate stories of their lives to their posterity. Worthy adult members can hold a temple recommend and perform temple ordinances for their own kin.

A pivotal spiritual attribute is that of self-mastery-th e strength to place reason over appetite. Self-mastery builds a strong conscience. And your conscience determines your moral responses in difficult, tempting, and trying situations.