“Sincere praying implies that when we ask for any blessing or virtue, we should work for the blessing and cultivate the virtue.”
| Secrets of a Happy Life, 114–15.
Work
LDS Quotes on Work
Man unquestionably has impressive powers … But after all our obedience and good works, we cannot be saved from the effects of our sins without the grace extended by the atonement of Jesus Christ … Man cannot earn his own salvation.
“The Lord gave us power in proportion to the work to be done, and strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs required.”
| History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“[While discussing the debate between faith and works] “It does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.”
“LDS artists must earn inspiration, just as other artists have. . . . It doesn’t come just because artists are members of the LDS church, they still must work for it.”
| “Art Is Uplifting,” 4
“There are two ways of evolving: deliberately and accidentally. You can either decide who you want to become and deliberately work toward that end, or you can just go with the flow and become whatever life makes of you. In that event, you will become whatever the fickle circumstances and forces of life and society will make of you; whatever is currently considered to be popular or in; whatever is easiest. But, whatever you become accidentally it will not be nearly the full measure of our potential. You will become just someone, somewhere in the middle.”
| “The Fourth Missionary”
“Knowledge without labor is profitless. Knowledge with labor is genius.”
| Stand a Little Taller
“One of my favorite newspaper columnists is Jenkin Lloyd Jones. In a recent article published in the News, he commented: ‘There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks, to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and ravishing wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear, the divorce courts are jammed. Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. …Life is like an old-time rail journey — delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.’”
| God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit
When faith springs up in the heart, good works follow, and good works will increase that pure faith within them.
| Journal of Discourses, 3:155
“Willingness to experience difficult thoughts, feelings, and experiences is put in the service of our values. This is what makes willingness different from wallowing”
| S. C., & Walser, R. D. (2007). Learning ACT: An acceptance & commitment therapy skills-training manual for therapists. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.