(9/4/00)
"Some seem to think that with the looseness and trends in the world today affecting the thinking of some of our youth and even some of our bishops and stake presidents, we are altogether too strict in the teaching of morals when we see what is going on all around us. In fact, we are accused of being prigs, which to me means narrow-minded persons who assume superior virtue and wisdom. Judged by the ways of the world, probably we are prigs. Are we going to lose faith, deny modern revelation, modernize our way of life to be like the world? Or are we going to be a peculiar people and honor and magnify our priesthood and do our duty?" — "The Priesthood: A Royal Army", President N. Eldon Tanner, General Conference, April 1972

(9/5/00)
"Complete trust in each other is one of the greatest enriching factors in marriage. Nothing devastates the core of mutual trust necessary to maintain a fulfilling relationship like infidelity. There is never a justification for adultery." — "The Enriching Of Marriage", Elder James E. Faust, General Conference, October 1977

(9/6/00)
"The first deviation toward moral breakdown in a man or woman is similar to a spark that ignites a devastating forest fire. On a hot, windy summer day this year in Midway, Utah, embers from a small campground fire were fanned into a raging forest fire that soon swept over the entire mountainside. Before the flames were brought under control, the lives of two outstanding members of the Church were lost. The roaring fire had destroyed the beautiful autumn foliage, plus eighteen homes. We risk similar damage to our moral integrity when we let our guard down for even one brief moment. The spark of an evil thought can enter our mind and could ignite and destroy the moral fiber of our soul." — "The Straight And Narrow Way", Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, October 1990

(9/7/00)
"I have no hesitancy, brothers and sisters, in stating that unless checked, permissiveness, by the end of its journey, will cause humanity to stare in mute disbelief at its awful consequences." — "Becometh As a Child", Elder Neal A. Maxwell, General Conference, April 1996

(9/8/00)
"It is absolutely essential that you set an undeviating course of loyalty and faithfulness to your companion, to whom you have previously made these very commitments and promises. The example of your great love and respect for her, the two of you being as one, will establish a singular guiding strength that your children will desire to follow. Your voices and actions blending together in a united front as you teach and lead your little family will be the trumpet with a certain sound of strength and unity leading to safety. Synonyms of fidelity are allegiance and devotion. They will be critical supports to your foundation of fidelity. 'Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else' (D&C 42:22)." — "An Eternal Key", Elder Durrel A. Woolsey, General Conference, October 1990

(9/9/00)
"You young men are the protectors of your sisters and of the girls with whom you associate. Your duty to them and to yourself is to be morally clean and sexually pure before the Lord. Movies and television scenes often imply moral cleanliness is old-fashioned and not in tune with this modern world, but commandments cut into the stone tablets by the finger of God have not changed. The Lord declared, 'Thou shalt not ... commit adultery,' and later added, 'nor do anything like unto it' (D&C 59:6). The commandments are clear and understandable and uncompromising." — "A Time For Preparation", Elder David B. Haight, General Conference, October 1991

 (9/10/00)
"Our youth seem confused about the definition of moral cleanliness. Some young men and women take a certain definition and then push it to its limits to see how far they can go without being immoral by that definition. I suggest an opposite approach. Several years ago, Elder Hartman Rector, who spent twenty-six years as a navy pilot, gave an interesting analogy. The navy had a rule that said, in effect, 'Thou shalt not fly thy airplane in the trees.' That makes sense. But to ensure that he obeyed this rule, he set his own standard: 'Thou shalt not fly the airplane closer than 5,000 feet to the trees.' He said, 'When you do this you make the navy's commandment of not flying in the trees easy to live' (in Conference Report, Oct. 1972, p. 172; or Ensign, Jan. 1973, p. 131)." — "Purity Precedes Power", Elder M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, October 1990

(8/4/04)
"The code for moral law is found in the scriptures, stated as simply as, 'Wickedness never was happiness.' ( Alma 41:10 .) The   scriptures speak in general terms, leaving us free to apply the principles of the gospel to meet the infinite variety of life. But when they say 'thou shalt not,' we had better pay attention." - Boyd K. Packer, " Our Moral Environment ," Ensign, May 1992, p. 68

8/22/07
"Today many people are obsessed with the Y2K problem and worry about the date coming up right because of the way computers measure time. As someone once said about time: '[It] changes with time: in youth, time marches on; in middle age, time flies; and in old age, time runs out.' (Evan Esar, comp., '20,000 Quips and Quotes' (1995), 812.) We have come to rely on electronics for much of our daily work, and we are naturally concerned about the need to reprogram computers to move into the next century. While some glitches may occur, I am optimistic that no great catastrophic computer breakdown will disrupt society as we move into the next century. I have a far greater fear of the disruption of the traditional values of society.

"Indeed, I am more concerned about the failure of our moral computers of honesty, integrity, decency, civility, and sexual purity. How many people today are truly incorruptible? So many get caught up in waves of popular issues and tides of rhetoric. This breakdown of moral values is happening because we are separating the teachings of God from personal conduct. An honorable man or woman will personally commit to live up to certain self-imposed expectations, with no need of an outside check or control. I would hope that we can load our moral computers with three elements of integrity: dealing justly with oneself, dealing justly with others, and recognizing the law of the harvest." - James E. Faust, "This Is Our Day," Ensign (CR), May 1999, p.17

1/23/09
"Into what depths have we fallen when government officials will announce publicly that morals do not count anymore, and that we should look upon deviations from chastity as the expected thing in this so-called enlightened age. How dark is the public mind which is lulled to sleep with such an evil philosophy when certain clergymen condone it!" - Ezra Taft Benson, "The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson," p.87

8/14/09
“If we had slipped away then, where are we forty years later? In 1947, television and computers were in their infancies. We had no satellite broadcasts or videotapes and no computer fraud. Certainly our moral standards of decency and propriety have slipped from where they were in 1947. The obscenity, nudity, and other forms of pornography that would have made us blush and turn away in shame in 1947 are now thrust at us openly in printed and audiovisual material. They are even paraded through our homes unless we are careful to keep them out. As a people, we are slipping further from our old moorings today because we are not following our prophets.” - Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Patience, a Key to Happiness,” Ensign (CR), May 1987, p. 30