Quotes from Boyd K. Packer

Our whole social order could self-destruct over the obsession with freedom disconnected from responsibility; where choice is imagined to be somehow independent of consequences.

Happily ever after never happens in the second act.

There is little to be gained by seeking after the mysteries, for there is hardly time in a lifetime to master the plain and precious things.

A testimony is a testimony, and it should be respected, whether it is small or large.

No one of us can survive in the world of today, much less what it will become, without personal inspiration.

Don't live so that your children go unled because of habits that leave you uninspired.

Some are filled with a compelling urge, a temptation that recycles in the mind, perhaps to become a habit, then an addiction. We are prone to some transgression and sin and also a rationalization that we have no guilt because we were born that way. We become trapped, and hence comes the pain and torment that only the Savior can heal. You have the power to stop and to be redeemed.

Those who choose, conduct, present, and accompany the music may influence the spirit of reverence ... more than a speaker does.

Our children were allowed to help when they were little, urged to help when they grew a little older, and sometimes ordered to help when they were teenagers.

The Spirit is a voice that one feels more than hears.

Everyone is tested. One might think it is unfair to be singled out and subjected to a particular temptation, but this is the purpose of mortal life—to be tested. And the answer is the same for everyone: we must, and we can, resist temptations of any kind.

Perhaps the single greatest thing I learned from reading the Book of Mormon is that the voice of the Spirit comes as a feeling rather than a sound. You will learn, as I have learned, to "listen" for that voice that is felt rather than heard.

The flow of revelation depends on your faith. As you test gospel principles by believing without knowing, the Spirit will begin to teach you. Gradually your faith will be replaced with knowledge.

Thoughts, like water, will stay on course if we make a place for them to go. As you learn to control your thoughts, you can gain courage, conquer fear and have a happy life.

The first gift that Adam and Eve received was agency: 'Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee' (Moses 3:17). You have that same agency. Use it wisely to deny acting on any impure impulse or unholy temptation that may come into your mind. Just do not go there, and if you are already there, come back out of it. 'Deny yourselves of all ungodliness' (Moroni 10:32).

Fear is the opposite of faith

Our purpose is to produce students who have that rare and precious combination of a superb secular education, complemented by faith in the Lord, a knowledge of the doctrines He has revealed, and a testimony that they are true.

The story is told that someone stopped Elder J. Golden Kimball on the street on one occasion. There had been a little difficulty in Elder Kimball's family that had become publicly known, and whoever it was who stopped him, no doubt with a mind to injure, said, ' Brother Kimball, I understand you're having some problems with one of your children.' His answer was, ' Yes, and the Lord is having some problems with some of his, too.

With thoughtless and impatient hands We tangle up the plans The Lord hath wrought. And when we cry in pain He saith, "Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot." (Author unknown, in Jack M. Lyon et al., Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People [1996], 304)

The gift of the Holy Ghost operates equally with men, women, and even little children. It is within this wondrous gift and power that the spiritual remedy to any problem can be found." 'And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have wor...ds given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned' (Alma 32:23).

Every soul confined to a concentration camp of sin and guilt has a key to the gate. The adversary cannot hold them if they know how to use it. The key is labeled Repentance.

The word discipline sometimes touches a slightly rebellious chord in our natures. Remember that it comes from the word disciple.

One of the adversary's sharpest tools is to convince us that we are no longer worthy to pray. No matter who you are or what you may have done, you can always pray.

If [we] have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, stand steady and face them. Things will straighten out. There is great purpose in our struggle in life.