“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
Attitude
LDS Quotes on Attitude
“Miracles are extraordinary results flowing from superior means and methods of doing things. When a man wants light he strikes a match, or presses a button, or turns a switch, and lo! there is light. When God wants light, he says: “Let there be light.” It is simply a matter or knowing how to do things in a superior way, and having the power to do them. Man is gradually acquiring this power. It is a far call from the tallow dip to the electric light. But the end is not yet. Improvements will continue to be made, and some day, perhaps men may be able to make light just as the Lord makes it. Paradoxically, it might be said that the time will come when miracles will be so common that there will be none.”
| Conference Report, April 1925, pp. 17-20
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
| Meditations
“Forgiveness is a personal attribute, not just a decision we make from time to time when we feel we should. To have a forgiving heart is to see the world in a different light. It is to forsake the tendency to judge, condemn, exclude, or hate any human soul. A forgiving heart seeks to love and to be patient with imperfection. The forgiving heart understands that we are all in need of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
“A forgiving heart is one of the most Christlike virtues we can possess. If we have a forgiving heart, our very nature will be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable. forgiveness plants and nourishes the seeds of Christlike love in both the giver and the receiver. Indeed, forgiveness, in its fullest expression, is synonymous with charity, the pure love of Christ.”
| Ensign, April 1993, p. 15
“[Amos Tversky] had decided pessimism was stupid. When you are a pessimist and the bad thing happens, you live it twice. Amos liked to say, Once when you worry about it, and the second time when it happens.”
| The Undoing Project, p. 155
“Yes, there is always something imperfect in any situation. Yes, it is easy to find things to complain about. But brethren, we are bearers of the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God! .. I feel a certain sadness for those who do not grasp and appreciate the wonder and privilege of the priesthood. They are like passengers on an airplane who spend their time grumbling about the size of the packet of peanuts while they are soaring through the air, far above the clouds.”
| The Joy of the Priesthood, Conference, October 2012
“People do not seem to realise that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.”
“If our testimonies are strong on this point and if we feel the absolute assurance that God loves us, we will change our questions. We won’t ask, ‘Why did this happen?’ or ‘Why doesn’t God care about me?’ Instead, our questions will become, ‘What can I learn from this experience?’ or ‘How does the Lord want me to handle this?”
| When Times Are Tough: 5 Scriptures That Will Help You Get Through Almost Anything
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”
| Mrs. Warren’s Profession, in Plays by George Bernard Shaw, New York: New American Library, 1960, p. 82.
“A person’s attitude is perhaps the hardest of all personal attributes to change. If your attitude is right, then your life is made right. If your heart is touched, your mind and way of thinking will change and your life will change for the better accordingly. I believe we must become so immersed in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we become physically as well as mentally more and more like the Lord himself. We must yield our whole hearts to him. What we then do is done not because we are asked to, nor because we are forced to, but because we want to. Neither pressure nor force can be exerted upon us from outside, when what we do is done because it is our own choice and desire. It then makes no difference to us what other men may think, or say, or do. Our hearts being committed wholly to God, what we do is done out of our love for and our trust in him. We then serve God in every way we can because we have been converted, our attitude has been changed and we now desire to become like him both spiritually and physically.”
| “The Need for Total Commitment,” Ensign, Jan. 1974, p. 115