The April 1964 General Conference was packed with fantastic talks on various topics. David O. McKay spoke of the home and how Heaven is a projection of the home into eternity, Bruce R. McConkie spoke of the fact there is no middle ground with the bold restoration claims: They are either true or lies, and Robert L. Simpson spoke to the Fathers of Zion charging them emulate the love of our Father in Heaven.
I hope you enjoy this fourteenth installment of quotes from my studies of the General Conference Archives (If you want to read prior installments click HERE). For the first installment and an explanation of the Conference Archives see “55+ Powerful Quotes From My Study of the Oct. 1970 General Conference” To read this conference report PDF from the Church History Catalog (click HERE), for the Archive.org PDF (with speech-to-text, click here) I hope you enjoy these quotes from my studies. But more than enjoy them, I hope they serve as a starting point for your own study of the Apr. 1964 General Conference! Use the page number and the above links to access the full talks. Enjoy!
40+ Relevant Quotes From My Study of the Apr. 1964 General Conference
“A person’s reaction to his appetites and impulses when they are aroused gives the measure of that person’s character. In such reactions are revealed the man’s power to govern, or his forced servility to yield.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 4
“When one puts business or pleasure above his home, he that moment starts on the downgrade to soul-weakness. When the club becomes more attractive to any man than his home, it is time for him to confess in bitter shame that he has failed to measure up to the supreme opportunity of his life and flunked in the final test of true manhood. No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 5
“I know of no other place where happiness abides more securely than in the home. It is possible to make home a bit of heaven. Indeed, I picture heaven as a continuation of the ideal home.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 5
“In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there is no double standard of morality. The young man should approach the marriage altar just as fit for fatherhood as his sweetheart is worthy of motherhood.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 6
“The feelings of fraternity in this Church and the functions of its priesthood quorums bind men together in a bond of brotherhood. It brings warmth of companionship that delights the soul and makes life worthwhile.”
A. Theodore Tuttle
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 9
“Love of fellow men penetrates from heart to heart across national borders. It becomes the only effectual process that erases men’s artificial boundaries and unites them in a cause greater than their own political nationalism.”
A. Theodore Tuttle
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 9
“This Church frees a man from fear and teaches him that life is to learn, that truth is to be sought and accepted from any source — scientific or revealed.”
A. Theodore Tuttle
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 9
“The greatest weapon against all untruth, whether it be in science, so-called, or in the philosophies of the world, or in communism, or what not, the greatest weapon is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which preached in power will be a bulwark against these false ideas in the world today.”
Harold B. Lee
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 23
“Man’s earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul, upon things that will contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical nature, or whether he will make as his life’s pursuit the acquisition of spiritual qualities.”
David O. McKay as quoted by Harold B. Lee
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 24
“In the very nature of things there is no middle ground. Our position is not like that of other organizations or churches.”
Bruce R. McConkie
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 26
“These things are either true or false. Either God has spoken again or the silence of centuries remains unbroken. Either angels have come or they have not. Either the gospel has been restored or the diverse and variant forms of a waning Christianity remain the best hope of the world. Either Joseph Smith was called of God or he was not.”
Bruce R. McConkie
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 27
“Love is as eternal as the spirit of man … if earthly things are typical of heavenly things, in the spirit world we shall recognize our loved ones and know them as we loved them here . . . for each of you husbands will recognize your wife . . . and you will love her there as you love her here. . . . Why should death separate you when love will continue after death?”
David O. McKay as quoted by Elder William J. Critchlow, Jr.
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 29
“Religion, to be effective, must be a vital and timely force in the lives of men. The people today need a prophet as surely as Israel needed a prophet when it groaned in the toils of Egypt, and Moses was called to lead it from bondage.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 37
“There are those who have declared that the canon of scripture is full, that revelation ceased with the ancient Apostles, that the heavens are sealed. Well might we ask such, ‘Why, then, do you pray? If God is unwilling to speak, is unwilling to guide, if there can be no revelation, why seek him?’ The fallacy of this position is evident; yet the world would deny the possibility of modern revelation.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 37
“To the world we give our witness that there is revelation of the word of God as certainly in the atomic age as there was in the age of Jeremiah. It is just that simple and just that true.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 39
“When we have a reliable source of truth we have a security in the end.”
Ronald G. Plumb
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 43
“There is no need of searching out your genealogy if you did not know where your children were last night.”
Anonymous as quoted by John H. Vandenberg
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 49
“Too many of us, probably some sitting here tonight, would like to change the rules, and would like to serve him in our way, not his way. Some of us wonder why we have to go to church and keep the Sabbath day holy. Some of us wonder about paying a full tithing. Some of us wonder about the Word of Wisdom. Some of us wonder about other things — moral living… I would like to say to you young people tonight that such an attitude is just as far from right as it can possibly be.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 52
“Let us be obedient to the Lord; let us be obedient to the priesthood. Let us magnify our calling so that it can magnify us.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 53
“Belief in Christ is not sufficient, but obedience to his laws is essential to salvation and exaltation, for, as recorded in Matthew 7:21, Christ himself said: ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.’”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 60
“God has always stood ready to lead and direct his people if they would but listen to his word.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 61
“Rev. 14:6-7 was fulfilled and clearly understood when the Angel Moroni did fly in the midst of heaven and appeared to Joseph Smith and told him of the plates which contained the gospel in its fulness.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 62
“May we ever cherish the ideals for which our country stands — freedom of speech, freedom of action within boundaries that do not infringe upon the liberty of others, all of which are man’s inherent rights granted by his creator — divine gifts essential to human dignity and human happiness.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 59
“It will be profitable to all Latter-day Saints to make this Church first in their hearts and affections. Why? Because the Lord has told us to seek first the kingdom of God. We have sought the kingdom and have found it — and now that should have our attention before farming, before merchandising, and before literary pursuits and the like.”
Francis M. Lyman as quoted by Franklin D. Richards
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 65
“Traveling down the modern highway of life calls for strict attention to detail, for a slight deviation of our course can spell disaster in the fraction of a second. Ours is the most volatile age in the history of the world. How important it is that we train well to follow the white line, to hold fast to the iron rod.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 69
“Any red-blooded father would throw back his shoulders and say, ‘I’d give my life for my family,’ but, dads, are we willing to give up our favorite TV show in the meantime?”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 70
“God is a God of justice and love and mercy. Every man is entitled to a just chance to know and accept Jesus Christ or to reject him if he feels the price of acceptance is too high.”
Theodore M. Burton
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 72
“When sins are committed, emotional stress is the result. The inward machinery is thrown out of calibration. There is only one way to get a release from it — and this is through repentance.”
Alvin R. Dyer
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 77
“For ourselves, we reaffirm our conviction that God is real and personal, that Jesus the Christ is his Only Begotten Son. We rejoice to proclaim to the world that he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent… We know that he lives, that he can and does appear to men.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 83-84
“How important it is that every mother be enthroned as a queen in her home, teaching the principles of life and salvation to her little ones.”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 85
“Brethren who hold the priesthood should be the kind of men on whom the Lord knows he can depend.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 51
“Celestial life may be had by every soul who will fulfil the requirements. To know is not enough. One must do. Righteousness is vital and ordinances are necessary.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 94
“Chastity is fundamental to our life and to our civilization. If the race becomes unchaste, it will perish. Immorality has been basic to the destruction of mighty nations of the past; it will bring to dust the mighty nations of the present.”
J. Reuben Clark, Jr as quoted by Joseph Fielding Smith
CR, Apr. 1964, pp. 108
“Each of us could learn to distinguish between men and their ideas, to disagree without being disagreeable.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 112
“True religion as exemplified in the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that every man should be the defender of his brother’s good name. It goes even further by requiring everyone to overlook another’s trespasses”
David O. McKay as quoted by Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 113
“Most men have plenty of trouble anyway. Why should we add to the humiliation, embarrassment, sorrow, and worry of another? Yes, most men are already carrying a heavy load. Why should any one of us wish to add to that already heavy cross? May we put aside bitterness, hate, jealousy, and quit judging the other fellow! If we could have courage to come to the rescue of the man who is being attacked then he is not present to defend himself, we could save the heartbreaks of one another.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 114
“Without revelation, man’s intellect is wholly inadequate for the discovery of the ultimate truth with which the gospel deals.”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 122
“Do you want to repent or rationalize? Repenting means pulling yourself up to a set of standards, and rationalizing means letting your conduct down to your appetites and to a less worthy inclination.”
Hugh B. Brown as quoted by Richard L. Evans
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 128
“‘Have You Tried Prayer?’ This divinely inspired counsel comes to us today as crystal clear water to a parched earth.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 129
“There is no more beautiful sight in all this world than to see a family praying together. The oft-repeated phrase is ever true, ‘The family that prays together stays together’”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 130
“Remember that a man never stands taller than when he is upon his knees [in prayer].”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 130
“Have times really changed? Don’t we today, as always, love our children and want them to live righteously? Don’t we today, as always, need God’s divine, protecting care? Don’t we today, as always, continue to be at his mercy and in his debt for the very life he has given us? Times have not really changed. Prayer continues to provide power—spiritual power. Prayer continues to provide peace—spiritual peace.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 131
“But truth must be sought and understood and lived—otherwise, it is useless. It does not impose itself; it waits to be discovered. It waits to be acted upon by intelligence, wise judgment; but when discovered and utilized, it places one on the road to God—to enjoy a life like unto that of God, which is eternal life. When truth is known in its entirety, it makes one more Godlike.”
Delbert L. Stapley
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 132
“Are we not today determining, not so much whether we shall live forever, as how we shall live forever? Are we not now making for ourselves the heaven to which our hopes climb . . . ?”
Richardson Pack as quoted by Richard L. Evans
CR, Apr. 1964 Page 140
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