David O. McKay quotes:

The rising sun can dispel the darkness of night, but it cannot banish the blackness of malice, hatred, bigotry, and selfishness from the hearts of humanity.

Happiness and peace will come to earth only as the light of love and human compassion enter the souls of men.

As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man's free agency is a God-given gift.

Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.

The peril of this century is spiritual apathy. As the body requires sunlight, good food, proper exercise and rest, so the spirit of man requires the sunlight of the Holy Spirit; proper exercise of the spiritual functions; the avoiding of evils that affect spiritual health, that are more ravaging in their effects than typhoid fever, pneumonia, or other diseases that attack the body.

The home is the first and most effective place to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self control, the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.

Only to the extent that men desire peace and brotherhood can the world be made better. No peace even though temporarily obtained, will be permanent, whether to individuals or nations, unless it is built upon the solid foundation of eternal principles.

Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success!

Friendship is a sacred possession. As air, water and sunshine to flowers, trees and verdure, so smiles, sympathy and love of friends to the daily life of man. To live, laugh, love one's friends, and be loved by them is to bask in the sunshine of life.

Appreciation is a great virtue, and if husbands and wives expressed it more frequently in our homes, wives would be happier, and husbands would probably be more kind" (Gospel Ideals, p. 475).

True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work

Being a parent is the greatest trust that has been given to human beings.

True motherhood is the noblest call of the world, and we look with sorrow upon the practice here in our own United States of limiting families, a tendency creeping into our own Church.

Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.

President David O. McKay (1873-1970) observed that too many couples come to "marriage looking upon the marriage ceremony as the end of courtship instead of the beginning of an eternal courtship. ... Love can be starved to death as literally as the body that receives no sustenance. Love feeds upon kindness and courtesy"

There is a crying need today to have this truth heralded throughout the land that youth especially may appreciate and hold the freedom of the individual as sacred as did our revolutionary fathers.

Men may yearn for peace, cry for peace, and work for peace, but there will be no peace until they follow the path pointed out by the Living Christ. He is the true light of men's lives.

True liberty in individuals consists in the enjoying of every right that will contribute to one's peace and happiness, so long as the exercise of such a privilege does not interfere with the same privilege in others.

Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.

The purpose of the gospel is to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.

True education does not consist merely in the acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature, or art, but in the development of character.

Man is a spiritual being, a soul, and at some period of his life everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite. . . . There is something within him 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.

True education seeks to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men and women with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love.

The first contributing factor to a happy home is the sublime virtue of loyalty, one of the noblest attributes of the human soul.

Let husband and wife never speak to one another in loud tones,unless the house is on fire.

The true purpose of life is the perfection of humanity through individual effort, under the guidance of God's inspiration. 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.

The young man who closes the door behind him, who draws the curtains, and there in silence pleads with God for help, should first pour out his soul in gratitude for health, for friends, for loved ones, for the gospel, for the manifestations of God's existence. He should first count his many blessings and name them one by one.

There are seeds of happiness in every soul. Our mental attitude and dispositions constitute the environment in which these seeds germinate. There is as much need for sunshine in our heart as for sunshine in the world. Today, as perhaps never before, mankind needs encouragement and cheer.

The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul.

Each one of us is the architect of his own fate; and he is unfortunate indeed who will try to build himself without the inspiration of God, without realizing that he grows from within, not from without.

A man's reaction to his appetites and impulses when they are roused gives the measure of that man's character. In these reactions are revealed the man's power to govern or his forced servility to yield.

No other success can compensate for failure in the home. The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and future humanity that any other riches. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles.

The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another.

Adversity itself may lead toward and not away from God and spiritual enlightenment; and privation may prove a source of strength if we can but keep a sweetness of mind and spirit.

Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world.

Music is truly the universal language, and when it is excellently expressed how deeply it moves our souls

There should be no yelling in the home unless there is a fire.

Into the soul of every student I would have instilled the patriotic fervor of Patrick Henry.

Youth need guidance, direction, and proper restraint...Parents, too, have a responsibility in this training not to provoke children to wrath. They should be considerate not to irritate by vexatious commands or place unreasonable blame. Whenever possible they should give encouragement rather than remonstrance or reproof.

I'm going to tell you the most important secret of human life. The most critical need of the human soul is to be kind.

No greater responsibility can rest upon a man, than to be a teacher of God's children

The greatest work we will ever do will be within the walls of our home.

Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by sermons you preach.

True happiness comes only by making others happy.

I think it must be apparent to every thinking mind that the noblest of all professions is that of teaching, and that upon the effectiveness of that teaching hangs the destiny of nations.

There is no success which can compensate for the failure of the family.

Motherhood is the one thing in all the world which most truly exemplifies the God-given virtues of creating and sacrificing. Though it carries the woman close to the brink of death, motherhood also leads her into the very realm of the fountains of life and makes her co-partner with the Creator in bestowing upon eternal spirits mortal life.

Happiness consists not of having, but of being. It is a warm glow of the heart at peace with itself.

To be ignorant of one's own ignorance is to be in an unprogressive, uninspired state of existence.

Pleasure is not the purpose of man's existence. Joy is.

Seek to share joy with others, or to make somebody else happy, and you will find your own soul radiant with the joy you wished for another.

Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish this desired end.

It is written that he who governs well, leads the blind; But that he who teaches, gives them eyes.

True education is awakening a love for truth...opening the eyes of the soul to the great purpose and end of life.

All good things require effort. That which is worth having will cost part of your physical being, your intellectual power and your soul power. Let us ever keep in mind that life is largely what we make it.

He who harbors hatred and bitterness injures himself far more than the one towards whom he manifests these evil propensities.

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education...is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character.

Do your duty that is best; leave unto the Lord the rest.

Man's earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical instincts and passions, or whether he will make as his life's end and purpose the acquisition of spiritual qualities

The purpose of the church is to make bad men good and good men better.

It is possible to make home a bit of heaven; indeed, I picture heaven to be a continuation of the ideal home

I repeat that no greater immediate responsibility rests upon members of the Church, upon all citizens of this republic and of neighboring republics than to protect the freedom vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States.

Brothers and sisters, I believe that there are few, even temple workers, who comprehend the full meaning and power of the temple endowment. Seen for what it is, it is the step-by-step ascent into the Eternal Presence. If our young people could but glimpse it, it would be the most powerful spiritual motivation of their lives.

It is part of our "Mormon" theology that the Constitution of the United States was divinely inspired; that our Republic came into existence through wise men raised up for that very purpose. We believe it is the duty of the members of the Church to see that this Republic is not subverted either by any sudden or constant erosion of those principles which gave this Nation its birth.

If you would be happy, render a kind service, make somebody else happy.

The united, well-ordered American home is one of the greatest contributing factors to the preservation of the Constitution of the United States.

And what is true education? It is awakening a love for truth; giving a just sense of duty; opening the eyes of the soul to the great purpose and end of life. It is not so much giving words, as thoughts; or mere maxims, as living principles. It is not teaching to be honest, because 'honesty is the best policy'; but because it is right. It is teaching the individual to love the good, for the sake of the good; to be virtuous in action because one is so in heart; to love and serve God supremely, not from fear, but from delight in his perfect character.

Among the immediate obligations and duties resting upon members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, and one of the most urgent and pressing for attention and action of all liberty loving people, is the preservation of individual liberty.

Anger itself does more harm than the condition which aroused anger.

We must not close our eyes to the fact that there are conspiring men who would pollute young boys, and girls of corresponding age, for sake of increasing profits.

The best means of preaching the gospel is by personal contact.

I wish to emphasize the fact that our homes should be more attractive and that more of our amusements should be in the home instead of the streets.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ can make bad men good and good men better, can alter human nature, and can change human lives.

Next to being one in worshipping God there is nothing in this world upon which the Church should be more united that in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States

The first condition of happiness is a clear conscience.

Gossip bespeaks either a vacant mind or one that entertains jealousy or envy.

Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God's greatest gift to man.

In the well-ordered home we may experience a taste of heaven.

A man may act as his conscience dictates so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. That is the spirit of true democracy, and all government by the Priesthood should be actuated by that same high motive.

The greatest need in the world today is faith in God and courage to do His will.

Slander is poison to the soul.

The aim of education is to develop resources in the child that will contribute to his well-being as long as life endures; to develop power of self-mastery that he may never be a slave to indulgence or other weaknesses, to develop [strong] manhood, beautiful womanhood that in every child and every youth may be found at least the promise of a friend, a companion, one who later may be fit for husband or wife, an exemplary father or a loving intelligent mother, one who can face life with courage, meet disaster with fortitude, and face death without fear.

Would you have a strong and virile nation, keep your homes pure; would you reduce delinquency and crime, lessen the number of broken homes. It is time that civilized peoples realized that prevention is more profitable than punishment, and that the home is the incubator either of children of high character or of criminals. Home building, therefore, should be the paramount purpose of parents and of the nation.

Why pray for the Kingdom of God to come unless you have in your heart a desire and a willingness to aid in its establishment? Praying for His will to be done and then not trying to live it, gives you a negative answer at once. You would not grant something to a child who showed that attitude towards a request he is making of you. If we pray for the success of some cause or enterprise, manifestly we are in sympathy with it. It is the height of disloyalty to pray for God's will to be done, and then fail to conform our lives to that will.

Man's greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others.

As long as the day lasts, let's give it all we got.

Men and women who live in America...have a responsibility greater than that yet borne by any other people. Theirs the duty, the obligation to preserve not only the Constitution of the land but the Christian principles from which sprang that immortal document.

A girl who sacrifices self-respect for social popularity debases true womanhood. A spotless character, founded upon the ability to say "no" in the presence of those who mock and jeer, wins the respect and love of men and women whose opinion is most worthwhile..

If we would change the world, we must first change people's thoughts.

A man who cannot control his temper is not very likely to control his passions, and no matter what his pretensions in religion, he moves in daily life very close to the animal plane.

The noblest calling in the world is motherhood. True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions. She who can paint a masterpiece, or who can write a book that will influence millions, deserve the plaudits and admiration of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters whose immortal souls will exert influence throughout the ages long after paintings shall have faded, and books and statues shall have decayed or been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God.

When harmony, mutual consideration and trust pass out of the home, hell enters in.

Misrepresentation, false propaganda, innuendoes soon sprout into poisonous weeds, and before long the people find themselves victims of a pollution that has robbed them of their individual liberty and enslaved them to a group of political gangsters.

Teachings and ideologies subversive to the fundamental principles of this great Republic, which are contrary to the Constitution of the United States, or which are detrimental to the progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be condemned, whether advocated by Republicans or Democrats.

The Constitution of this government was written by men who accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind. Let men and women in these United States then continue to keep their eyes centered upon Him who ever shines as a Light to all the world.

The two most important documents affecting the destiny of America are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Both these immortal papers relate primarily to the freedom of the individual.

This is the number one responsibility of the Latter-day Saints - to get in the struggle to preserve freedom. Everywhere that Communism succeeds, missionary work, temple work, everything the Church does, dies. Your number one responsibility is to preserve freedom.

Everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite.

Throughout the ages advanced souls have yearned for a society in which liberty and justice prevail. Men have sought for it, fought for it, have died for it. Ancient freemen prized it; slaves longed for it; the Magna Charta demanded it; the Constitution of the United States declared it.

The world is hungry to hear the truth. ... We have it. Are we equal to the task-to the responsibility God has placed upon us?

The latest I like to be to meeting is 15 minutes early

Among life's sweetest blessings is fellowship with men and women whose ideals and aspirations are high and noble. Next to a sense of kinship with God comes the helpfulness, encouragement, and inspiration of friends.

As individuals, we must think nobler thoughts. We must not encourage vile thoughts or low aspirations. We shall radiate them if we do. If we think noble thoughts, if we encourage and cherish noble aspirations, there will be that radiation when we meet people, especially when we associate with them.

True Christianity is love in action.

As with companions so with books. We may choose those which will make us better, more intelligent, more appreciative of the good and the beautiful in the world, or we may choose the trashy, the vulgar, the obscene, which will make us feel as though we've been 'wallowing in the mire.

To be carnally minded is to be spiritually dead

An essential virtue is humility. ... The principle of humility and prayer leads one to feel a need of divine guidance. Self-reliance is a virtue, but with it should go a consciousness of the need of superior help-a consciousness that as you walk firmly in the pathway of duty, there is a possibility of your making a misstep; and with that consciousness is a prayer, a pleading that God will inspire you to avoid that false step

"We don't take sufficient time to meditate." I get up early in the morning...five o'clock, when my mind and spirit are clear and rested. Then I meditate...

Man is responsible not only for every deed, but also for every idle word and thought.

Thoughts that most frequently occupy the mind determine a man's course of action.

Always remember that a soldier's pack is lighter than a slave's chains.

The home is the basis of a righteous life and no other instrumentality can take its place nor fulfill its essential functions.

The character of a child is formed largely during the first twelve years of his life. He spends 16 times as many waking hours in the home as in the school, and 126 times as many hours in the home as in the church. Each child is, to a great degree, what he is because of the ever-constant influence of home environment and the careful or neglectful training of parents. Home is the best place for the child to learn self-control, to learn that he must submerge himself for the good of another. It is the best place in which to develop obedience, which nature and society will later demand.

No parent can consistently teach faith in Christ who profanes the name of Deity. Profanity is never heard in the well-ordered home. Swearing is a vice that bespeaks a low standard of breeding. Blasphemous exclamations drive out all spirit of reverence.

No man can sincerely resolve to apply to his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his own nature. The phrase, 'born again', has a deeper significance than many people attach to it. This changed feeling may be indescribable, but it is real.