Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Quotes By Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Elder Neal A. Maxwell served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1981–2004. Among others, Elder Maxwell’s most prominent books are All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, Not My Will, but Thine and the Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book. Maxwell was known for his great mind and ability to articulate his thoughts elegantly.

“Many in the world hold back from making the ‘leap of faith’ because they have already jumped to some other conclusions — often the conclusions of Korihor, which are: God never was nor ever will be; there is not a redeeming Christ; man cannot know the future; man cannot know of that which he cannot see; whatsoever a man does is no crime; and death is the end. (See Alma 30:13-18.) The number of modern-day adherents to the Korihor conclusions will grow.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | “The Inexhaustible Gospel,” Ensign, April 1993, p. 71

Topics: Faith, Jesus Christ, Knowledge, Secularism (Worldliness)

“We live and teach amid a wide variety of individual personalities, experiences, cultures, languages, interests, and needs. Only the Spirit can compensate fully for such differences.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | That Ye May Believe (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1992), 39.

Topics: Mormon Culture, Spirit

“When the time comes, young men, make your career choices. Know that whether one is a neurosurgeon, forest ranger, mechanic, farmer, or teacher is a matter of preference not of principle. While those career choices are clearly very important, these do not mark your real career path. Instead, brethren, you are sojourning sons of God who have been invited to take the path that leads home. There, morticians will find theirs is not the only occupation to become obsolete. But the capacity to work and work wisely will never become obsolete. And neither will the ability to learn. Meanwhile, my young brethren, I have not seen any perspiration-free shortcuts to the celestial kingdom; there is no easy escalator to take us there.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | “Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel”

Topics: Career

“This is a gospel of great expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us if we remember that there are no instant Christians.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Topics: Christian, Conversion, Gospel, Grace, Patience

“Now may I speak . . . to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. . . This feeling of inadequacy is . . . normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. . . .This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | “Notwithstanding My Weakness,” Ensign, November 1976

Topics: Grace, Jesus Christ

“You and I cannot really expect to glide through life . . . naively petitioning, ‘Lord, give me experience but not grief, a deeper appreciation of happiness but not deeper sorrow, joy in comfort but not in pain, more capacity to overcome but not more opposition; and please do not let me ever feel perplexed while on thy errand. Then let me come quickly and dwell with thee and fully share thy joy.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Topics: Mortality, Trials

“Daily hope is vital, since the ‘Winter Quarters’ of our lives are not immediately adjacent to our promised land either. An arduous trek still awaits, but hope spurs weary disciples on.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | "Brightness of Hope," Ensign, Nov. 1994, 36

Topics: Hope, Trials

“How can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, ‘Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then, let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!’ ”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | "Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds," Ensign, May 1991, 88

Topics: Mortality, Trials

“Those who ‘live without God in the world’ anxiously glean their few and fleeting satisfactions, but they are unable to find real happiness….”Ignorant of the plan of salvation, many simply do not know what the journey of life is all about. Therefore, modern selfishness and skepticism brush aside the significance of the Savior…”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | Ensign, March 1998

Topics: Plan of Salvation, Secularism (Worldliness)

“Those who “live without God in the world” anxiously glean their few and fleeting satisfactions, but they are unable to find real happiness. . . . Ignorant of the plan of salvation, many simply do not know what the journey of life is all about. Therefore, modern selfishness and skepticism brush aside the significance of the Savior. . . .”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell | Ensign, March 1998, p. 9

Topics: Happiness, Mortality, Plan of Salvation, Secularism (Worldliness)