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(6/22/00)
"There are two things that enter into the life of every man: Those things which
we plan for ourselves, and those things which enter into our lives in spite of
all our plans. Sometimes, happily, we fare better than we had honestly hoped,
and sometimes, unhappily, we find we fall far short of achieving those things
for which we have striven. But no matter how well we seem to control those
elements which affect our lives, there are always to be considered things
unlooked for. Surely it must be better that way. It would be difficult to
imagine a more unsatisfactory existence than the life of a man into which
nothing unexpected ever came. Furthermore, it is all part of a great plan. The
Lord still chasteneth whom he loveth, and all those things which come into our
lives in spite of our best laid plans, are part of the education and enriching
experience of every child of God who walks the earth. We may think what we would
like for ourselves, and then, in the spirit of that resignation born of faith,
we must reconcile ourselves at one time or another, to say as in the words of
the hymn about to be sung, 'I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord; I'll be
what you want me to be.'" — "Conference
Report," October 1938, p. 90
(6/23/00)
"What a glorious thing faith is! Faith! All of us would like to know a lot
of answers we do not know. All of us shall some day. But it was meant that
men should live in part by faith. It is a glorious thing to have it, to meet
the unanswered questions, to meet the fears of life, to carry us over all
difficulties -- the glorious principle of faith, the first of the first
principles of the gospel." — "Conference
Report," April 1955, p. 113 - 114
(6/24/00)
"Life is a great search for all of us. We all have unanswered questions, and
I am grateful to witness to you this day that in the gospel of Jesus Christ,
as restored to earth in this day and dispensation, I have found, in the
faith of my fathers, the road that leads to the answers to life's compelling
questions -- the road along which the search lies, that gives purpose and
meaning to life, a great sense and assurance of the ultimate objectives and
of the everlasting continuance of truth and intelligence and personality,
and of sweet association with loved ones and all that means the most -- a
gospel which gives freedom: freedom for the search, freedom for the seeking
of truth, freedom for learning, indeed, not only freedom for it but also a
solemn charge to pursue it." —
"Conference Report," April 1960, p. 29 - 30
(6/25/00)
"...I have no fear of learning, of the pursuit of knowledge, for any of our
young people, if they will keep in mind diligence and obedience--obedience
to the commandments of God, diligence in keeping close to the Church, in
keeping active, keeping prayerful, keeping clean, keeping circumspect in
their conduct. It isn't learning or the love of learning, or knowledge, or
the pursuit of any subject that would take from a man his faith, but it is
failure to keep the commandments, the failure of a man to feed all sides of
himself..." — "Conference Report," April
1956, p. 44
(6/26/00)
"An interesting sentence recently read has lodged in my mind: 'What's the
use of running when you're on the wrong road?' We had better do our best to
be sure we are on the right road before we run in any direction."
— "Conference Report," April 1968, p. 87
(6/27/00)
"There isn't any way to cheat nature, to bypass law, to run away from life. The
commandments haven't been repealed; the laws of morality, the spiritual laws,
the laws of life are still in force and effect. Oh, don't let others drag you
down, and don't drag yourself down. No matter what cynical or immoral or even
honestly mistaken people may say, don't let them destroy your faith or your
virtue, or lead you to a lower way of life. And when they try to tell you what
you're missing, you tell them what they're missing: peace and self-respect and a
quiet conscience—happiness—and the assurance of the highest opportunities of
everlasting life." — "Conference Report,"
October 1969, p. 67
(6/28/00)
"But no matter what everybody does, an error is still an error even though it is
multiplied millions of times. So is an evil, and it doesn't matter how popular
or how glamorous or how universal evils become, they are still evils. Some evils
have been made very glamorous, very appealing and very popular, but we must be
aware of the fact that they are still what they are, regardless of who partakes
of them or what they are called, or what appearance they assume. History has
proved many times over that the opinion of one man who knows and who knows that
he knows, the opinion of one man who has the truth and proclaims it, is much
more important than the opinions of many millions who don't know."
— "Conference Report," October 1948, p. 63
(6/29/00)
"So I say to these youth of ours: go forth and live your lives with humility,
with gratitude, with repentance, keeping the commandments of God and having
faith in the future and preparing yourselves for the future, as the Church
itself continues its building. There is nothing to lose by having faith in the
future, but there is much to lose by not preparing for the future."
— "Conference Report," April 1950, p. 105
(3/17/03)
"He has sent us here, from where we were with him before birth, for a brief
period of mortal experience, with our free agency, our right of choice, with
principles and commandments, and with his Spirit to light us through life,
and has assured us everlasting life with the glorious promise of limitless
and eternal progress and possibilities, with all the sweetness of
association of family and friends in the peace and protection of his
presence-if we will. He has assured us that 'men are, that they might have
joy,' (2 Nephi 2:25) and has declared it to be his purpose 'to bring to pass
the immortality and eternal life of man.' (Moses 1:39.)"
— Richard L. Evans, "We Are Not Alone in
Life" "Improvement Era," January, 1955
(1/15/05)
"Why run against the laws of life? Why run headlong into ill health and
unhappiness? Why live contrary to conscience? Think of the heartbreak
and waste and regret that could be prevented by living as we ought to
live. No one can set aside consequences. As Cecil B. DeMille said: 'We
cannot break the... Commandments. We can only break ourselves against
them.' O let us think and live and teach the power of prevention. 'If
it is not right,' said Marcus Aurelius, 'do not do it; if it is not
true, do not say it.'
"But wherein we may have failed in this (and heaven help us not to
fail), then let us turn with all our hearts to the power of
repentance." - Richard L. Evans, "Where Are You Really Going?" Ensign,
June 1971, p. 74
(2/9/05)
"Perhaps I could begin with an interesting question posed recently and an
equally interesting answer. The question was, 'Don't you think the commandments
should be rewritten?' The answer was, 'No, they should be reread.'
"This may be a good point from which to take off for consideration of some
fundamental facts; namely, the commandments of God are there. They come from a
divine source. The experience of the ages has proved the need for them, and has
proved what happens if they are ignored.
"So why spend life in the frustration and unhappiness and sorrow and
tragedy of trying to rationalize and wave them away?" - Richard L. Evans,
"Should
the Commandments Be Rewritten?" Ensign, Dec. 1971, p. 57
(10/30/05)
"No matter how much we may be discouraged or how
often we are set back, we must begin again and again, if necessary, and
earnestly pursue the purposes of life, full of faith for the future. Enduring to
the end is exceedingly important. Pursuing the opportunities and the duties of
every day is exceedingly important, and repenting while there is still time to
repent is also exceedingly important." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report,"
October 1950, Afternoon Meeting, p.141
1/9/06
"'My life is my message,' said Mahatma Gandhi. It is so with each of
us. The impressions of what we are and do and feel and believe and live and
teach are carried over to our children. If we depart from principles, may we
reasonably expect our children not to depart?" - Richard L. Evans, Conference
Report, April 1969, Afternoon Meeting, p.75
9/12/07
"The seasons, the sunshine,
the growing of seeds; heat and cold; the life of a child; the harvest we
have—these are not theory, and the same authority that runs the universe on such
precision also gave us commandments to keep, commandments that are still in
force. And I wouldn't know anywhere to turn for a purposeful way to live life,
except the way prescribed by the Administrator of heaven and earth. After all,
whose little wisdom would we turn to? He has given us no commandment that is not
necessary—and I witness to you that the spiritual and moral laws are as much in
force as are the physical laws, and each person is going to be what he lives
like." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report," October 1970, Afternoon Meeting,
p.88
6/25/08
"Now,
as to faith: Believe me, you can count on all that God has said. More than a
hundred thirty-six years ago, to a young prophet he said simply, '...
tobacco is not... good for man...." (D&C 89:8.) It has taken medical science
more than a century to prove that the Lord knew what he was talking about. When
he tells us something, he expects us to believe it. It doesn't take faith to
believe the Word of Wisdom any more. It just takes a little common sense."
- Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report," October 1969, Afternoon Meeting, p.67 -
68
11/27/08
"May we never let the things we
can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't
have, spoil our enjoyment of the things
we do have and can have. As we value our happiness
let us not forget it, for one of the
greatest lessons in life is learning to
be happy without the things we cannot or should
not have." - Richard L. Evans
(1906-1971), the writer, producer, and announcer of
Music and the Spoken Word for forty-one years
1/19/09
"Of course we know that anyone who
opposes a profitable evil or anyone who opposes a popular fallacy is certain to
be deliberately misunderstood. Nevertheless every generation and every people
have produced those straight-thinking minorities who have seen what they have
seen and who have felt an obligation to say what they have said; and any man who
sees his own generation headed for a precipice at the bottom of which lie
tragedy, destruction, sorrow, and misfortune, cannot honorably remain silent. He
has an obligation to speak, even though he be misunderstood, and even though
false charges be levied against him. This is true at all places in the world at
all times." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference
Report," April 1945, Second Day—Morning
Meeting, p.81
8/30/09
“Have faith. Work, study, prepare. Don't let yourself drift into the kind of
company where the counsels are evil, or be misled by influences that would
downgrade manners and morals. Live so as to have peace and self-respect. Don't
give way to the permissive looseness that leads to the quicksand of life.” -
Richard L. Evans, “Conference Report,” April 1968, Afternoon Meeting, p. 87
2/19/10
“An eminent analyst has
said: ‘I have learned in forecasting economic futures that what is going to
happen is already happening.’ It is so in our lives. It is so everlastingly, and
all of us ought to determine our ultimate objectives as early as possible and
then faithfully pursue them. Life is not limitless here. Time soon passes. Every
man takes himself and what he is with him wherever he goes, and he takes himself
also into eternity.” - Richard L. Evans, “Conference Report,” April 1962,
Third Day—Morning Meeting, p. 98
5/19/10
"Despite all the uncertainties and difficulties, there is a
glorious and worthwhile future for all of these young people of ours,
if they will set their sights on some permanent, worth-while goal, look
a decade or two ahead, pay the price they have to pay to achieve it,
accept the interruptions as they come, and have faith, to work, to
prepare, to pray, to keep the commandments of God, to pursue their
lives with calm, quiet purpose. If they will do this they will be
blessed; they will find great, rich treasures in life, of knowledge,
and of other things also, they will surmount all the difficulties and
discouragements of the day, and all the interruptions, and all else, if
they will continue in faith.
"It is, after all, a wonderful world that our Father has given us, in
which everything is possible on the basis of repentance and obedience,
and on observance of the principles on which the blessings are
predicated." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report," April 1952, Afternoon Meeting, p. 68
6/8/10
"The Lord expected much of those six people who officially
organized the Church in 1830, and I feel sure he was not disappointed.
He expected much of the twenty thousand who made up the population of
Nauvoo and vicinity about a hundred years ago, and, while some
faltered, their total achievement was glorious. I hesitate to think how
much more he expects of us today as we stand at the beginning of the
second century in this valley." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report," April 1947, Afternoon Meeting, p. 94
6/14/10
"Much of my life is lived among those who are not of my faith, men
and women of graciousness and sincerity and goodwill, whom I love and
respect, worldwide. I have never been embarrassed by the standards of
the Church. But I'm sure we would all lose the respect of many men,
indeed of all men, if we were not true to our own faith and
convictions. We disappoint our friends when we depart from our own
principles." - Richard L. Evans, "Conference Report," October 1966, Second Day-Morning Meeting, p. 57
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