Gordon B. Hinckley Quotes

There would be no Christmas if there was no Easter.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is a tendency in all of us to ask for better statistical performance. There is a tendency to impose quotas behind which usually lies imposition of pressure to achieve improved statistics.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Any investigator worthy of baptism becomes a convert worthy of saving.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I have yet to find a faithful tithe payer who cannot testify that in a very literal and wonderful way the windows of Heaven have been opened and blessings have been poured out upon him or her.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Meekness implies a spirit of gratitude as opposed to an attitude of self-sufficiency, an acknowledgement of a greater power beyond oneself, a recognition of God, and an acceptance of his commandments.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

You have to establish in your life some sense of prioritizing things, of giving emphasis to the important things and of laying aside the unimportant things that will lead to nothing.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I do not concern myself much with reading long commentary volumes designed to enlarge at length upon that which is found in the scriptures. Rather, I prefer to dwell with the source, tasting of the unadulterated waters of the fountain of truth - the word of God as he gave it and as it has been recorded in the books we accept as scripture.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If there were more temple work done in the Church, there would be less of selfishness, less of contention, less of demeaning others.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Until I got older, I never dreamed of what a demanding responsibility it is to keep food in the pantry, to keep clothing neat and presentable, to buy all that is needed to keep a home running.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We magnify our priesthood and enlarge our calling when we serve with diligence and enthusiasm in those responsibilities to which we are called by proper authority.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Every convert is a son or daughter of God.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Marriage, in its truest sense, is a partnership of equals, with neither exercising dominion over the other, but, rather, with each encouraging and assisting the other in whatever responsibilities and aspirations he or she might have.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Dishonesty of any kind will create a blemish.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I've been blessed so abundantly that I can never get over it. I just feel so richly blessed that I want to extend that to others wherever I can.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I would enjoy sitting in a rocker... listening to soft music and contemplating the things of the universe. But such activity offers no challenge and makes no contribution.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is dissatisfaction among a great many Christian people. They are not happy with what they have and, therefore, respond readily to the message of the restored gospel.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Every sacrament meeting ought to be a spiritual feast.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I think that the churches do a better job in many respects than the government does in various kinds of things. Extending aid, the helpfulness, and so on, yes.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Some husbands regard it as their prerogative to compel their wives to fit their standards of what they think to be the ideal.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Some of you, unfortunately, will never marry in this life. That turns out to be the case sometimes. If that happens, do not spend your life grieving over it. The world still needs your talents. It needs your contribution.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I submit that in the few minutes that Joseph Smith was with the Father and the Son, he learned more of the nature of God the Eternal Father and the risen Lord than all the learned minds in all their discussions through all centuries of time.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Eternal vigilance is the price of eternal development.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The most persuasive gospel tract is the exemplary life of a faithful Latter-day Saint.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

With all my heart, I plead with the Latter-day Saints to live honestly with the Lord in the payment of tithes and offerings. I plead with youth to establish this habit while you are still young and to resolve to continue with it all the days of your lives.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I cannot understand why any young man - or young woman, for that matter - would wish to undergo the painful process of disfiguring the skin with various multicolored representations of people, animals, and various symbols.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I have two sons. Good sons. They're both businessmen.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I do not fear truth. I welcome it. But I wish all of my facts to be in their proper context.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The Savior of all mankind left the ninety and nine to find the one lost. That one who was lost need not have become lost.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

With small means the Lord accomplishes His marvelous work.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We have come to Earth in this great season in the long history of mankind. It is a marvelous age - the best of all.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

A tattoo is graffiti on the temple of the body.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Do you feel gloomy? Lift your eyes. Stand on your feet. Say a few words of appreciation and love to the Lord. Be positive.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

In the underdeveloped countries, we have young men and women, many of them of capacity but without opportunity to improve themselves. They cannot do so without help.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We live in a world that is filled with filth and sleaze, a world that reeks of evil. You cannot afford that filthy poison to touch you. Stay away from it. Avoid it.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Unfortunately, some women want to remake their husbands after their own design.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Life is precious. Life is sacred. And it ought so to be observed.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Parents have no greater responsibility in this world than the bringing up of their children in the right way, and they will have no greater satisfaction as the years pass than to see those children grow in integrity and honesty and make something of their lives.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

It is not a mark of manhood to carelessly use the name of the Almighty or of His Beloved Son in a vain and flippant way, as many are prone to do.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

It is difficult for me to understand the tragic accounts of troubled marriages that come to me.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Every righteous man or woman is entitled to revelation concerning his own affairs.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Brigham Young had a prophetic vision.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is no substitute for marrying in the temple.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We're all sons and daughters of God, and therefore in a very literal sense, brothers and sisters. And we ought to treat each other that way.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I have many friends of other religions, and I am satisfied that they are very conscientious, good people who are trying to do good. I appreciate that.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Through reading the scriptures, we can gain the assurance of the Spirit that that which we read has come of God for the enlightenment, blessing, and joy of his children.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

People are looking for stability in a shaky world. They want something they can get hold of that's firm and sure and an anchor in the midst of all of this instability in which they're living.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Seek to establish an environment conducive to study in the home.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Determine that there will never be anything that will come between you that will disrupt your marriage. Make it work. Resolve to make it work.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children who have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Sister Hinckley and I are learning that the so-called golden years are laced with lead.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I don't think that the Internet has contributed greatly to immorality.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If you are a good missionary, you will return home with the desire to continue to serve the Lord, to keep His commandments, and to do His will.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I almost stand in awe when I think of Joseph Smith. The angel appeared to him in 1823 - he said to this simple little boy, 'Your name should be known for good and evil throughout the entire world.'

- Gordon B. Hinckley

My heart goes out to a missionary who does not receive regular mail from home. Generally, a letter once a week is a good rule. But on the other hand, too much mail can be damaging to a missionary's morale.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Jesus said, 'Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' There are no exceptions. Baptism is a necessary ordinance.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of the living God.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The smallest gesture can mean to much to those who may need a little lift in their lives.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I hope that if you are employed full-time, you are doing it to ensure that basic needs are met and not simply to indulge a taste for an elaborate home, fancy cars, and other luxuries.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Small aberrations in doctrinal teaching can lead to large and evil falsehoods.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Oh, I don't think religion has failed. It's man who has failed. Christ hasn't failed. The Gospel hasn't failed. The teachings of God have not failed.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

It has been my privilege on various occasions to converse with presidents of the United States and important men in other governments. At the close of each such occasion, I have reflected on the rewarding experience of standing with confidence in the presence of an acknowledged leader.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We are all prone to be a little selfish, a little lazy.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Eligibility for a temple recommend is not based on financial worth. That has nothing whatever to do with it. It is based on consistent personal behavior, on the goodness of one's life. It is not concerned with money matters, but rather with things of eternity.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I am satisfied that every man or woman who goes to the temple in a spirit of sincerity and faith leaves the house of the Lord a better man or woman.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We live in a world of shifting values. The family is falling apart. Parents failing in what they ought to do.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Truth will prevail.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I promise you that the time will come, if you have tattoos, that you will regret your actions. They cannot be washed off. They are permanent. Only by an expensive and painful process can they be removed. If you are tattooed, then probably for the remainder of your life you will carry it with you.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Missionary work has never been easy, and yet the joyful rewards cannot be equaled by any other experience.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

In missionary work, as in all else, preparation precedes power. Encouragement to prepare while still very young can make a tremendous difference.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The biggest challenge facing a missionary today is to forget himself and lose himself in the work.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is need occasionally to leave the noise and the tumult of the world and step within the walls of a sacred house of God, there to feel His Spirit in an environment of holiness and peace.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I've tried to recognize my wife's individuality, her personality, her desires, her background, her ambitions.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I am suggesting that as we go through life, we 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment and endorse virtue and effort.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

To you wives who are constantly complaining and see only the dark side of life, and feel that you are unloved and unwanted, look into your own hearts and minds. If there is something wrong, turn about. Put a smile on your faces. Make yourselves more attractive. Brighten your outlook.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Conflict grows out of ignorance and suspicion.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We do not wonder that there is conflict in the world. There is now, and has been from the time that Cain slew Abel, so much of hatred.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

When the 'Book of Mormon' was first published, some of those who believed in it taught it to others and testified of it.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Let the Latter-day Saints be in their homes, teaching their families, reading the scriptures, doing things that are wholesome and beautiful and communing with the Lord on the Sabbath day.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The Almighty, if necessary, may have to shake the nations to humble them and cause them to listen to the servants of the living God. Whatever is needed will come to pass.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

As we give presents at Christmas, we need to recognize that sharing our time and ourselves is such an important part of giving.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

A nation will rise no higher than the strength of its homes.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If every man would make his prime concern the comfort and well-being of his wife and every wife make her chief concern the comfort and well-being of her husband, we would have very little divorce in the land.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There is far too much of divorce, wherein hearts are broken, and sometimes lives are destroyed.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Did you ever think that your body is holy? You are a child of God. Your body is His creation.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The whole essence of the Christian religion is based on the atonement of Christ, his death and his resurrection.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Be virtuous in thought and in deed. God has planted in you, for a purpose, a divine urge which may be easily subverted to evil and destructive ends.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Opportunities for sharing the gospel are everywhere.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Keep your families close together, and love and honor your children.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

My wife once said that one of her great ambitions was to walk down the streets of Hong Kong with her children. So we all went to Asia on one occasion. Then she said she'd like to walk down the streets of Jerusalem with her children. So we arranged our family finances and all went to Jerusalem.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The work of the Lord is done by ordinary people who work in an extraordinary way.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

At the end of our lives, we step across the threshold or death and enter into a new and better world. I believe that. It's just that simple.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I spent one night in the hospital in my life. I was past 75 when that occurred.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Every individual in the church is free to think as he pleases.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I thank the Lord for the great principle of repentance and forgiveness.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The gospel is not a philosophy of repression, as so many regard it. It is a plan of freedom that gives discipline to appetite and direction to behavior.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

You dear women, I say thanks to you. Thank you for being the kind of people you are and doing the things you do.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Anything so precious as the gospel of Jesus Christ is worthy of all the effort and sacrifice of time and means employed to teach it.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

You will find peace and happiness if you will live the gospel.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Criticism and pessimism destroy families, undermine institutions of all kinds, defeat nearly everyone, and spread a shroud of gloom over entire nations.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

My children are now all grown. Some are in their 60s. But when they call and I answer the phone, they say, 'How are you?' And before I can answer, they ask, 'Is Mother there?'

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Fear comes not from God but from the evil one.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Our lives are the only meaningful expression of what we believe and in Whom we believe. And the only real wealth, for any of us, lies in our faith.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

When all is said and done, the greatest satisfaction you'll have in this life as you grow old will be seeing your children grow in righteousness and faith and goodness as citizens of the society of which they are a part.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Study a foreign language if you have opportunity to do so. You may never be called to a land where that language is spoken, but the study will have given you a better understanding of your own tongue or of another tongue you may be asked to acquire.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

My heart reaches out to you missionaries. You simply cannot do it alone and do it well. You must have the help of others. That power to help lies within each of us.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

God gave us our agency. He taught us a way. He showed us what to do. But he gave us our agency and left us free to act as we choose to do.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

There are widows who long for friendly voices and that spirit of anxious concern which speaks of love.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

When you are young, do not get involved in steady dating. When you reach an age where you think of marriage, then is the time to become so involved.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The problem is, I think, that so many of us pray as if we are ordering groceries. We pick up the telephone and say, 'Is this the right place to place my order?' and we proceed right to dictating our order. When we have then ended that list, we hang up.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Where ever the spirit of Christ is known, there is much of good will, of mutual respect, of love and appreciation and kindness.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I think the world would be much poorer without religion, speaking generally.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We all exercise agency in the choices we make.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Teach your daughters to walk in virtue.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Some of our finest work comes through service to others.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

I've never been a believer in the physical punishment of children. I don't think it is necessary.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If you are too busy in your church activities to take care of your family, then perhaps we had better find something else for you to do.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

You don't need coffee. Nobody needs coffee. You can get along without it.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Respect for self is the beginning of cultivating virtue in men and women.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If you have a temper, now is the time to learn to control it. The more you do so while you are young, the more easily it will happen.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The Lord is forgiving, but sometimes life is not forgiving.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Encourage your children to read more and watch television less.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Choose your friends carefully. It is they who will lead you in one direction or the other.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Every good citizen adds to the strength of a nation.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

If there were no immortality there would be no need for temples. There would be no need for eternal marriage if there were no eternity.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

You can't build a great building on a weak foundation. You must have a solid foundation if you're going to have a strong superstructure.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Knowledge, learning, is an eternal thing.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Our bodies... are the tabernacles of our spirits.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

People seem to be looking for discipline in a topsy-turvy world.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

When you touch the life of a man of this generation, that influence is felt through generations yet to come.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Children can be disciplined with love.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We cannot be unclean and expect the help of the Almighty.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

The world is starved for spiritual food.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Pray in faith.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

We all know that education unlocks the door of opportunity for the young.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

How grateful I am for the law of tithing. It is the Lord's law of finance.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Nothing's too good for the Lord.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Today is a part of eternity.

- Gordon B. Hinckley