"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother"
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| David O. McKay - Richard Evans Quote Book, 1971, p. 11 |
"Every noble impulse, every unselfish expression of love; every brave suffering for the right; every surrender of self to something higher than self; every loyalty to an ideal; every unselfish devotion to principle; every helpfulness to humanity; every act of self-control; every fine courage of the soul, undefeated by pretense or policy, but by being, doing, and living of good for the very good’s sake—that is spirituality."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"There’s one responsibility which no man can evade, that’s the responsibility of personal influence. It’s what you are, not what you pretend to be, that [matters]."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Three influences in home life awaken reverence in children and contribute to its development in their souls. These are: first, firm but Gentle Guidance; second, Courtesy shown by parents to each other, and to children; and third, Prayer in which children participate."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Inseparable from the acceptance of the existence of God is an attitude of reverence..."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"I submit that where children are brought up in close communion with our Eternal Father that there can not be much sin or much evil in that home."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"children come from the Father pure and undefiled, without inherent taints or weakness. Their souls are as stainless white paper on which are to be written the aspirations or achievements of a lifetime."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"A child has the right to feel that in his home he has a place of refuge, a place of protection from the dangers and evils of the outside world."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Whether a man remains satisfied within what we designate the animal world, satisfied with what the animal world will give him, yielding without effort to the whim of his appetites and passions and slipping farther and farther into the realm of indulgence, or whether, through self-mastery, he rises toward intellectual, moral, and spiritual enjoyments depends upon the kind of choice he makes every day, nay, every hour of his life."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The chief tragedy in the world at the present time is its disbelief in God’s goodness and its lack of faith in the teachings and doctrines of the gospel."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The adversary has no stronger weapon against any group of men or women in this Church than the weapon of thrusting in a wedge of disunity, doubt, and enmity."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Real life is response to the best within us. To be alive only to appetite, pleasure, pride, money-making, and not to goodness and kindness, purity and love, poetry, music, flowers, stars, God and eternal hopes, is to deprive one’s self of the real joy of living."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"There are three great epochs in a man’s earthly life, upon which his happiness here and in eternity may depend, [namely], his birth, his marriage, and his choice of vocation."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The Priesthood is usually simply defined as 'the power of God delegated to man.' " He continues: "This definition, I think, is accurate. But for practical purposes I like to define the Priesthood in terms of service, and I frequently call it 'the perfect plan of service.' . . . It is an instrument of service . . . and the man who fails to use it is apt to lose it, for we are plainly told by revelation that he who neglects it 'shall not be counted worthy to stand.' "
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| David O. McKay - 2005, Apr. Gen. Conf. |
"It is something to supply clothing to the scantily clad, to furnish ample food to those whose table is thinly spread, to give activity to those who are fighting desperately the despair that comes from enforced idleness, but after all is said and done, the greatest blessings that will accrue from the Church Security Plan are spiritual. There is more spirituality expressed in giving than in receiving. The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Not much emphasis has been placed upon the part that women played in the settlement of the Western Empire. In this we are but following the general practice of men throughout the ages. Women bear the burdens of the household, carry most of the responsibility of rearing a family, inspire their husbands and sons to achieve success; and while the latter are being given the applause of public acclaim, the wives and mothers who really merit recognition and commendation remain smilingly content in unheralded achievement."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Pure hearts in a pure home are always in whispering distance of heaven."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are, will largely determine what your acts will be. No person can study this divine personality, can accept his teachings without becoming conscious of an uplifting and refining influence within himself."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Very frequently discords arise in the home because husbands desire to save their own dignity and have their own way, have their own wishes carried out. Wives desire the same. Some exercise their prerogative to have the last word. Husbands are sometimes even more eager to have it than wives. Each really is trying to save himself or herself, and instead of having harmony and peace in the home there arises discord. Instead of saving the life of harmony in the home, you lose it, merely because you are seeking to save your own selfish life, or have your own selfish way. Better to lose that desire. Say nothing, and in losing your desire and that feeling of enmity, of ruling, of governing, you say nothing, and you gain your life in the home."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"If we desire to learn the ideal life to lead among our fellowmen, we can find a perfect example in the life of Jesus."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"No one can preside over this Church without first being in tune with the head of the Church, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our head. This is his Church. Without his divine guidance and constant inspiration, we cannot succeed. With his guidance, with his inspiration, we cannot fail."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the perfect organization of the Church ... we are aiding one another spiritually by taking advantage of the many opportunities for service in the Church. We are fostering brotherhood by activity and association in priesthood quorums, in auxiliary associations and in our social gatherings."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Parenthood is next to Godhood."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"true education seeks to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also, honest men, with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love. It seeks to make men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The gospel of Jesus Christ is the crucible in which hate, envy, and greed are consumed, and good will, kindness, and love remain as inner aspirations by which man truly lives and builds."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The human family has suffered from unrestrained expressions and manifestations of selfishness, hatred, envy, greed—animal passions that have led to war, devastation, pestilence, and death. If even the simplest principles of the Savior’s teachings had been observed, history would have been changed."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"To have communion with God, through his Holy Spirit, is one of the noblest aspirations of life."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"If there were more reverence in human hearts, there would be less room for sin and sorrow and more increased capacity for joy and gladness."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The greatest comfort in this life is the assurance of having close relationship with God."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Let us teach youth that the marriage relation is one of the most sacred obligations known to man, or that man can make."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme. Meditation is a form of prayer. …"
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The mission of the Church of Christ is to eliminate sin and wickedness from the hearts of men, and so to transform society that peace and good-will will prevail on this earth."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"There is in man not only an instinct, but also a divinity that strives to push him onward and upward. The sense is universal, and at some time in his life every man is conscious of possessing it."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"I can imagine few, if any, things more objectionable in the home than the absence of unity and harmony."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"I cannot think of any higher and more blessed ideal than so to live in the Spirit that we might commune with the Eternal."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Mormonism, as true Christianity, subdues selfishness, regulates the passions, subordinates the appetites, quickens the intellect, exalts the affections. It promotes industry, honesty, truth, purity, kindness. It humbles the proud, exalts the lowly, upholds the law, favors liberty, is essential to it, and would unite men in one great brotherhood."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are and will largely determine what your acts will be."
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| David O. McKay - Conference Report, April 1951 |
"No man can sincerely resolve to apply in his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his nature."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"In the midst of brilliant concepts of men in this twentieth century, who seek conscientiously for social reforms and who peer blindly into the future to read the destiny of man, the Church shines forth as the sun in the heavens, around which other luminaries revolve as satellites of minor importance."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"What the sun in the heavenly blue is to the earth struggling to get free from winter’s grip, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is to the sorrowing souls yearning for something higher and better than mankind has yet found on earth."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"If you want ... answers to [the] longings of the human soul, you must come to the Church to get it. Only true religion can satisfy the yearning soul."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"There is nothing that can stop the progress of truth excepting only our weaknesses or failure to do our duty."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"When God becomes the center of our being, we become conscious of a new aim in life—spiritual attainment."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Instead of taking men out of the world, [the church] seeks to develop perfect, Godlike men in the midst of society, and through them to solve the problems of society."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"There is something within [man] which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical and live in a higher and more beautiful world."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Reverence ... is one of the signs of strength; irreverence, one of the surest indications of weakness. No man will rise high who jeers at sacred things. The fine loyalties of life must be reverenced or they will be foresworn [or rejected] in the day of trial."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Only in the complete surrender of our inner life may we rise above the selfish, sordid pull of [the natural man]."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"No person, no group, no nation can achieve true success without following [Jesus Christ]."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Spirituality, our true aim, is the consciousness of victory over self and of communion with the Infinite."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The ... purpose of the organization of this great Church, so complete, so perfect, is to bless the individual."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Reverence is profound respect mingled with love. It is a complex emotion made up of mingled feelings of the soul."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The greatest manifestation of spirituality is reverence; indeed, reverence is spirituality."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Inner weakness is more dangerous and more fatal than outward opposition. The Church is little if at all injured by persecution and calumnies [or false charges] from ignorant, misinformed, or malicious enemies; a greater hindrance to its progress comes from faultfinders, shirkers, commandment-breakers, and apostate cliques within."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"The real test of any religion is the kind of man it makes."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"Let us avoid evil speaking; let us avoid slander and gossip. These are poisons to the soul to those who indulge. Evil speaking injures the reviler more than the reviled."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
"What the spirit is to the body, God is to the spirit."
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| David O. McKay - Teachings of the Presidents of the Church |
