Spencer W. Kimball Quotes

How long has it been since you took your children, whatever their size, in your arms and told them that you love them and are glad that they can be yours forever?

Sin comes when communication lines are down - it always does, sooner or later.

Success is not measured in achievement of goals, but in the stress and strain of meeting those goals

How could a person possibly become what he is not thinking? Nor is any thought, when persistently entertained, too small to have its effect. The 'divinity that shapes our ends' is indeed ourselves.

Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery.

The more we are guided by eternal considerations in our conduct, the better we will manage our mortality.

God does watch over us and does notice us, but it usually through someone else that he meets our needs.

Mothers have a sacred role. They are partners with God, as well as with their own husbands, first in giving birth to the Lord's spirit children and then rearing those children so they will serve the Lord and keep his commandments. ...Motherhood is a holy calling, a sacred dedication for carrying out the Lord's work, a consecration and devotion to the rearing and fostering, the nurturing of body, mind, and spirit of those who kept their first estate and who came to this earth for their second estate to learn and be tested.

Let us remember, too, that greatness is not always a matter of the scale of one’s life, but of the quality of one’s life. True greatness is not always tied to the scope of our tasks, but to the quality of how we carry out our tasks whatever they are. In that attitude, let us give our time, ourselves, and our talents to the things that really matter now, things which will still matter a thousand years from now.

My life is like my shoes, worn out by service.

By one means or another, the swiftest method of rejection of the holy prophets has been to find a pretext, however false or absurd, to dismiss the man so that his message could also be dismissed.

Impoverished is the life fenced in with few friends

O timid one, awaken, exert yourself, draw back the curtains your training and background have hung over the windows of your soul.

It is not so much what we know that is important, as what we are and what we do.

If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there would be no evil-all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.

Jesus perfected his life and became our Christ. Priceless blood of a god was shed, and he became our Savior; his perfected life was given, and he became our Redeemer; his atonement for us made possible our return to our Heavenly Father, and yet how thoughtless, how unappreciative are most beneficiaries! Ingratitude is a sin of the ages.

If men are really humble, they will realize that they discover, but do not create, truth.

No matter what you read or hear, no matter what the difference of circumstances you observe in the lives of women about you, it is important for you Latter-day Saint women to understand that the Lord holds motherhood and mothers sacred and in the highest esteem. He has entrusted to his daughters the great responsibility of bearing and nurturing children.... There is divinity in each new life.

When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be remember.Because all of you have made covenants-you know what to do and you know how to do it-our greatest need is to remember.

Lengthen your stride/go the extra mile

Wherever you have a plot of land, however small, plant a garden. Staying close to the soil is good for the soul.

Do not pray to marry the one that you love, but to love the one that you marry.

There is no doubt that the life one leads, and the thoughts one thinks are registered plainly in his face.

To be mediocre, when only application and diligence would have netted superiority, is an error akin to sin.

Now we ask you to clean up your homes we urge each of you to dress and keep in a beautiful state the property that is in your hands.

Why is it that some young folks are almost overly conscientious in their school work, even to neglecting their Church responsibilities, when the spiritual should have priority in the study time of every person if preference must be given? However, there is time for fulfilling every need.

We are greatly conscious of the fact that among the Lamanites - as well as among all peoples of other countries - we have a responsibility to see that the gospel touches their hearts and minds and that they understand it.

Among the real heroines in the world who will come into the Church are women who are more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish. These real heroines have true humility, which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility. Remember, it is as wrong to do things just to be seen of women as it is to do things to be seen of men. Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion.

Music can act upon our senses to produce or induce feelings of reverence, humility, fervor, assurance, or other feelings attuned to the spirit of worship.

They who get off on tangents and ride hobby horses to death are they who become fanatic. Let them understand that they must be tolerant of others faults but never accept as justifiable their own.

Speaking the Lord’s name with reverence must simply be part of our lives as members of the Church... we do not use foul language. We do not curse or defame. We do not use the Lord’s name in vain. It is not difficult to become perfect in avoiding a swearing habit, for if one locks his mouth against all words of cursing,... he is en route to perfection in that matter.

Now is the time to set your life's goals. Now is the time to set your standards firmly and then hold to them throughout your life.

Wherever women are true to their feminine natures and magnify their opportunities for loving service, they are learning to become more like God.

We need to help those we seek to serve, to know for themselves that God not only loves them, but He is ever mindful of them and of their needs.

I am convinced that each of us, at some time in our lives, must discover the scriptures for ourselves—and not just discover them once, but rediscover them again and again.

To be sure your life will be full and abundant, you must plan your life.

We want you to be ready with your personal storehouses filled with at least a year's supply. You don't argue why it cannot be done; you just plan to organize and get it done.

In my office...I have a little sign and it says, 'Do it!' I suppose if I have learned anything in life, it is that we are to keep moving, keep trying-as long as we breathe! If we do, we will be surprised at how much more can still be done.

If we live in such a way that the considerations of eternity press upon us, we will make better decisions. Perhaps this is why President Brigham Young once said that if he could do but one thing to bless the Saints, he believed it would be to give them eyes with which to see things as they are.

A mission is not just a casual thing-it is not an alternative program in the Church. Neither is a mission a matter of choice any more than tithing is a choice, any more than sacrament meeting is a choice, any more than the Word of Wisdom is a choice. Of course, we have our free agency, and the Lord has given us choices. We can do as we please. We can go on a mission or we can remain home. But every normal young man is as much obligated to go on a mission as he is to pay his tithing, attend his meetings, keep the Sabbath day holy, and keep his life spotless and clean.

The Lord's way builds individual self esteem and develops and heals the dignity of the individual, whereas the world's way depresses the individual's view of himself and causes deep resentment

No government may remain strong by ignoring the commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

There are two keys to productive missionary work -- (1) family-to-family friendshipping (when a member family shares the gospel with a nonmember family) and (2) cooperation between members and the missionaries to reach people...Every member knows of nonmembers he or she can refer to the missionaries. Every father, mother, and youth in this church should share the gospel by giving a Book of Mormon, telling the account of the Prophet Joseph Smith, or inviting our acquaintances to a special meeting.

Many couples permit their marriages to become stale and their love to grow cold like old bread or worn-out jokes or cold gravy. These people will do well to reevaluate, to renew their courting, to express their affection, to acknowledge kindness, and to increase their consideration so their marriage again can become beautiful, sweet, and growing. While marriage is difficult, and discordant and frustrated marriages are common, yet real, lasting happiness is possible, and marriage can be more an exultant ecstasy than the human mind can conceive.

Language is like music; we rejoice in beauty, range, and quality in both, and we are demeaned by the repetition of a few sour notes.

Goals are good. Laboring with a distant aim sets the mind in a higher key and puts us at our best.

And you fathers, are you so busy making a living, playing golf, bowling, hunting, that you do not have time to talk to your boys and hold them close to you and win their confidence? Or do you brush them off, so that they dare not come and talk about these things with you?

We can make our houses homes and our homes heavens.