Talks
Quotes
The number of prayers we pray may be important, but the number of prayers we answer may be even more important. – (Dieter Uchtdorf in the RS General Mtg, September 2008)
What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? – George Eliot
Giving is living, the angel said
You give the needy sweet charity’s bread
But must I keep giving again and again
My tired and quarrelsome answer ran
Oh no, said the angel, his eye pierced me through
Just give ‘til the master stops giving to you.
Live simply so that other can simply live. – Mahatma Gandhi
There are so many things in the world today to make God weep -do something to make his day.
Leave people better than you found them. Marvin J. Ashton
As a true Christian, if you were put on trial and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
When it comes to love, you don’t count the cost. – Billy Dean
The opposite of love is not hate – it is apathy. – Amish Tripathi
All of the poor are needy, but not all the needy are poor.
“Our hearts are often stirred with feelings of sympathy. When we meet someone struggling to find employment, we feel that desire to help. We feel it when we go into the home of a widow and see that she has no food. We feel it when we see photographs of crying children sitting in the ruins of their home destroyed by an earthquake or by fire. It is vital that we turn these feelings of sympathy into a decision to act on our covenants.
Love without service, like faith without works, is dead. You can serve without love, I suppose, but I don’t think you can have genuine love without serving – you cannot feel compassion without feeling compelled to help in some way, to do what you can.” (Mary Ellen Edmunds, Love is a Verb)
There is a difference between nice people and compassionate people. Nice people feel badly for others and then go on their merry way. Compassionate people feel badly for others and then do something specific to alleviate their suffering.
H. David Burton said, No matter how many temples we build, no matter how large our membership grows, no matter how positively we are perceived in the eyes of the world—should we fail in this great core commandment to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,” or turn our hearts from those who suffer and mourn, we are under condemnation and cannot please the Lord.
As sons and daughters of God, we cannot inherit the full measure of eternal life without being fully invested in caring for each other while we are here on earth. It is in the benevolent practice of sacrifice and giving of ourselves to others that we learn the celestial principles of sacrifice and consecration.”
God notices us, he watches over us, but it is usually through other people that he meets our needs. – Spencer W. Kimball
What we do or say is not half as important as the fact that we did or said something.
Keep what you need and share the rest.
You can make a difference in places you’ll never go.
When others cry, you should be able to taste the salt in their tears.
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. ― Henry Wadsworth
Selfish people are lonely.
I would rather feed 10 imposters than to let one man go hungry. – Joseph Smith
Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these. – Parade Magazine December 30, 1973
For charity there is no bookkeeping, no deals, interests, bargaining or ulterior motives; charity gives to those who do not deserve, and expects nothing in return; it is the love God has for us, and the love we have for little children, of whom we expect nothing, but for whom we would give everything. – Hugh Nibley
If you truly loved your enemies, they would not longer be enemies.
Serving others is not something we do for extra credit, but rather the very essence of the gospel. If ye are not in the service of your fellow beings ye are not in the service of your God. – Shannon Williams
Charity is not something you give away, it’s something you acquire. Marvin J. Ashton
Once on a railway journey my father unintentionally perpetrated some slight infraction and was unmercifully bawled out by a minor train employee. I was young then and hotly told my father afterward that he should have given the man a piece of his mind. My father smiled, “Oh” he said, “if a man like that can stand himself all his life, surely I can stand him for five minutes.” – Catholic Quote, Reader’s Digest, March 1980
I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I can’t do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. – Everett Hale
“We must seek out those among us with need and, using our God given talents for charity and our means for relieving others, coordinate the two. This has been the charge from the beginning. It is the charge today. We should go personally into each other’s homes, and we should turn our souls to the point that we may find those in need and offer friendship, help as needed, and courage to meet each day’s challenges.” Barbara B. Smith
If you’re not happy with your lot in life, build a service station on it.
What is charity? Some say it is a synonym for love – but charity is more than love. Charity is everlasting love, perfect love, a love for everyone; the pure love of Christ, which endures forever. It is love so centered in righteousness that he who possesses charity has no aim or desire except for the eternal welfare of his own soul and the souls around him.
Be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. – D&C 64:33
Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. – Anne Herbert
Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” asked a distinguished Senator to interest himself in the case of a person who needed help. The Senator answered, “I have become so busy that I can no longer concern myself with individuals.” She replied, “That’s remarkable. Even God hasn’t reached that stage yet.”
The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention. – John Burroughs
We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction, that we may all sit down in heaven together. – Lucy Mack Smith
You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept. – Kahlil Gibran
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) Sometimes we have to “lay down our lives” or set aside time from our busy schedules to help our friends.
It is a serious thing to live in a society with possible Gods and Goddesses. To remember that the most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature, which if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or another of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all love, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal. C. S. Lewis
No great spiritual blessing ever comes to one who gives selfishly and grudgingly. Some years ago a man was complaining to his pastor about the church asking for money. He fumed, “This business of Christianity is just one continuous give, give, give.” The preacher thought for a moment, and then replied, “I want to thank you for one of the best definitions of Christianity I have ever heard.”
People need love most when they deserve it the least. – John Harrigan
You don’t give to get a blessing. You give to be a blessing!
Virginia Pearce once said “You don’t need to withhold your comfort and support because you don’t have the time or capacity to move permanently into the center of someone else’s life. I believe that sometimes I hesitate to open my heart and extend unreserved love because I truly believe I would then be obligated to take in the orphan, adopt and rear him to adulthood…Most of the time, all others usually need from me is simply to be held and encircled with love.”
Every human being deserves to have the basics of life. Henry B. Eyring said, “Our Heavenly Father hears the prayers of His children across the earth pleading for food to eat, for clothes to cover their bodies, and for the dignity that would come from being able to provide for themselves. Those pleas have reached Him since He placed men and women on the earth.”
There was once a speaker who gave an excellent analogy describing the difference between a selfish and an unselfish person. He said, “Do you live in a house of mirrors, or do you live in a house of windows?” The selfish person sees everything that happens in life in terms of how it reflects back on him. “What’s in it for me? How does this affect me personally? I don’t worry about problems if it’s “no skin off my nose.”
If we have windows in our souls, we see out clearly. We see into the lives of others, their needs, joys, struggles and fears. We all have some mirrors; we all have some windows. The difference, I suppose, is in the ratio of one to the other. Hopefully, we’re working to install clear glass if we have found too many mirrors in our house.
J. Richard Clarke said, “How many times have we observed a benevolent act performed by someone and asked ourselves “Why didn’t I think of that?” Those who do the deeds we would have liked to do seem to have mastered the art of awareness. They have formed the habit of being sensitive to the needs of others before they think of themselves.”
“Each time you receive a prompting from the Holy Ghost, I can almost guarantee that three things will immediately happen because of human nature:
- You will question whether it came from the Holy Ghost or if it was just your own thoughts.
- You will be able to quickly think of a reason why you cannot or should not act on it.
- The prompting will almost always be inconvenient. It will rarely say, “Keep going where you’re going; keep doing what you’re doing.” It will more likely say, “Turn around in the opposite direction and do something that doesn’t make any rational sense to you at all.”
Be prepared for this to happen, and then move beyond it. It doesn’t matter if the generous thought came from the Holy Ghost or not. It is generous either way, and should be acted upon. When the reasons why you shouldn’t act on the prompting arise, push them away. And be willing to be inconvenienced. You will rarely, if ever, regret doing so.” – Shannon Williams
President Thomas S. Monson said, “I consider charity—or “the pure love of Christ”—to be the opposite of criticism and judging. I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.
I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.
Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.
In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity. Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out.” (General Conference October 2010)
Stephen R. Covey once said, “When you deeply accept and love people as they are, you actually encourage them to become better. By accepting people you’re not condoning their weakness or agreeing with their opinion; you’re simply affirming their intrinsic worth. You’re acknowledging that they think or feel in a particular way. You’re freeing them of the need to defend, protect, and preserve themselves. So instead of wasting their energy defending themselves, they’re able to focus on interacting with their own conscience and unleashing their growth potential.”
Virginia H. Pearce said, “My friends from India greet each other by bringing their hands together, bowing slightly, and saying the word, “Namaste. It means, roughly translated, “I honor the Deity within you.” That is precisely what we do when we open our hearts to another; we honor the fact that he or she, like us, is a child of the same loving Father, worthy of all respect and careful attention.”
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