Quotes from Ezra Taft Benson

Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves.

Sin pulls a man down into despondency and despair.

Nations cannot endure in sin.

Your most important friendships should be with your own brothers and sisters and with your father and mother. Love your family. Be loyal to them. Have a genuine concern for your brothers and sisters.

Fidelity to one's marriage vows is absolutely essential for love, trust and peace

No other single influence has had so great an impact on this earth as the life of Jesus the Christ.

Yes, one can repent of moral transgression. The miracle of forgiveness is real, and true repentance is accepted of the Lord.

One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others' feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others' weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all - to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high.

Young adults enrolled in universities and colleges or other postsecondary training should avail themselves of the opportunity to take institute of religion courses or, if attending a Church school, should take at least one religion course every term.

A young man who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord.

Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.

Praise your children more than you correct them. Praise them for even their smallest achievement.

Our desires, be they spiritual or temporal, should be rooted in a love of the Lord.

A mother's role is God-ordained. Mothers are to conceive, bear, nourish, love, and train. They are to be helpmates and are to counsel with their husbands.

Fear of men's judgment manifests itself in competition for men's approval.

Bad experience is a school that only fools keep going to.

Young people especially sometimes feel that the standards of the Lord are like fences and chains, blocking them from those activities that seem most enjoyable in life.

A young woman who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord.

Young women, the family unit is forever, and you should do everything in your power to strengthen that unit.

The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni.

Some of the greatest battles will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.

Fathers, yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released.

Youth is the spirit of adventure and awakening. It is a time of physical emerging when the body attains the vigor and good health that may ignore the caution of temperance. Youth is a period of timelessness when the horizons of age seem too distant to be noticed.

The fellowship of true friends who can hear you out, share your joys, help carry your burdens, and correctly counsel you is priceless.