The April 1963 General Conference had some amazing talks! President Hugh B. Brown starts the conference off with a barnburner about the importance of not just listening, but actually following the teachings of the prophets. Spencer W. Kimball delivered one of the most direct testimonies regarding the Book of Mormon and how all true followers of Christ will accept it, and Ezra Taft Benson spoke of the need for us to choose righteousness as a nation (To read his full talk click HERE). To Gordon B. Hinckley talking about the role of prayer in the home. That is not even mentioning the dozens of other amazing talks that I found quotes in to share with you!
I hope you enjoy this sixteenth 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. 1963 General Conference! Use the page number and the above links to access the full talks. Enjoy!
50+ Powerful Quotes From My Study of the Apr. 1963 General Conference
“The effect upon the ‘hearers of the word’ depends upon their being spiritually in tune and open-mindedly responsive.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 6
“As the relish with which one enjoys a meal depends upon the appetite he brings to the table more than upon the quality and variety of food placed before him, so the degree of enjoyment and assimilation of spiritual refreshment will depend upon whether or not we ‘hunger and thirst’ as enjoined by the Savior”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 6
“Both the storms of nature and the storms of life are indiscriminate. As the house built upon the rock survived the storm, so the life whose roots are firmly planted in the soil of faith will endure adversity and be made stronger by the struggle.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 7
“Sometimes defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 7
“The threat of communism is sinister, and its dangers are imminent. Hundreds of millions of our fellow beings are being relentlessly imbued with the satanic ideology that the Fatherhood of God, the Saviorhood of Christ, and the brotherhood of man are stupid myths, that religion is nothing but a tranquilizing opiate. They seek to deprive men of physical, mental, and spiritual freedom while endowing the state with monstrous supremacy. This relentless indoctrination is but a continuation of the war that began when Satan’s plan of force was rejected by the Father. We live in the most dangerous period of all history.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 7
“The Church is the main bulwark against communism. The gospel is the most effective rebuttal to their godless ideologies. It is a spiritual force which can crash and overcome all physical barriers. Surely we must put on the whole armor of God … Because of our faith in a living, personal, and all-powerful God, we do not fear the final outcome in our fight against the emissaries of Satan, though we must ever be alert, united, and on guard.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 PP. 7-8
“Nothing but the gospel of love, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, which we gratefully proclaim, can save the world or the individual from the dangers that threaten us.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 8
“Take courage in the knowledge that Christ, the Prince of Peace, is at the helm. He has declared that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; so great that he gave his only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 8
“The transcendent love of God the Father has its counterpart in Christ, the Son, whose redeeming sacrifice, which was voluntary and love inspired, loosed the bonds of death and assured to all men the blessings of the resurrection.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 8
“The depth, direction, and quality of our religious life depend upon our understanding of the nature, purposes, and methods of God and our relationship and responsibility to him.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 8
“We believe in a living, personal God; that his glory is intelligence, which denotes purpose and plan; that he has the will and the power to realize his purposes. He is our Father, and that fact assures love and inspires trust.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 9
“Young married couples, even middle-aged couples, should not expect to have everything all at once. It has taken many of us many years of hard work before we could have a home or an automobile. We were taught to work hard, to save, and to be thrifty. Yes, we have known poverty.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 11
“Married couples like to feel financially successful. They like a sense of financial well-being. However, it is hardly fair for young couples or middle-aged couples to expect all of the conveniences it has taken a lifetime for many to achieve.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 11
“There is no disgrace in being poor, but by hard work, thrift, and saving you can build an economic future. Yes, many of us have known poverty.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 11
“As individuals we should take a new look at our own financial situation and learn to live within our income and to practice the law of thrift and the principle of saving.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 12
“We should teach [our children] the beauty of thrift and not the drudgery, not the unpleasantness of thrift. Teach them the self-respect and personal satisfaction of paying their own way in life. Let them know there is a reward for thrift and saving, and there is also a penalty for debt and spending.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 12
“Prepare for your own retirement, and do not expect the state or federal governments or Church to take care of you.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 12
“In order that you might live a life filled with joy, that you might be happy now, in the future, and forever, it is necessary that you understand who you are and the course that you must follow in order to attain a fulness of joy in this life and in the world to come.
You are a son of God, literally and actually a child of an Eternal Father in heaven. You are endowed with the spiritual attributes of godliness that if properly cultivated will result eventually in your returning to the presence of that Divine Being and receiving eternal life.”
Milton R. Hunter
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 15
“Man is a child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages of aeons, of evolving into a God.”
The First Presidency: Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund
As quoted by Milton R. Hunter
CR, Apr. 1963, p. 15 see also The Improvement Era 13:81.
“Pray to him for his divine guidance in your schoolwork. He will answer your prayers by enhancing your memory and by giving you strength and wisdom to complete your assignments. He will help you to succeed in your numerous undertakings.”
Milton R. Hunter
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 16
“Fasting is a principle that all are encouraged to live by — the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the widow and the needy.”
John H. Vandenberg
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 28
“The Lord has instituted the fast on a reasonable and intelligent basis, and none of His works are vain and unwise. His law is perfect in this as in other things. Hence, those who can are required to comply thereto; it is a duty from which they cannot escape, but let it be remembered that the observance of the fast by abstaining twenty-four hours from food and drink is not an absolute rule, it is no iron-clad law to us, but is left with the people as a matter of conscience, to exercise wisdom and discretion. Many are subject to weakness, others are in delicate health, and others have nursing babies; of such it should not be required to fast. I have known children to cry for something to eat on fast day. In such cases, going without food will do them no good. Instead, they dread the day to come, and in place of hailing it, dislike it; while the compulsion engenders a spirit of rebellion in them, rather than a love for the Lord and their fellows. Better teach them the principle, and let them observe it when they are old enough to choose intelligently, than to so compel them”
Joseph F. Smith as quoted by John H. Vandenberg
CR, Apr. 1963 pp. 28-29
“When sin is the foundation of the marriage relationship, the chance of a secure and happy companionship is very remote. Surely the Spirit of the Lord, neither God’s laws to man, sanction such behavior, nor can the blessings of the Lord be expected upon such a union.
It is difficult to understand how church members who know these commandments can cast aside such knowledge and yield to the lusts of the flesh. Small violations lead to more serious and devastating sins. Those who play with fire, ultimately, if they persist, will be burned.”
Elder Delbert L. Stapley
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 35
“Next to the human spirit the human body is the most marvelous of God’s creations. If the body was not necessary, God would never have created it in the first place. If it was not necessary for eternity, God would never have instituted the resurrection. If a body was not necessary for God the Father, certainly there would have been no reason why God the Son should have been resurrected.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 43
“We cannot disassociate mortal man from the eternal spirit of man within him. It is, therefore, through obedience to the laws of God that we will find the answer to our questions, whether they be domestic, political, social, economic, or spiritual.”
Henry D. Moyle
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 44
“We enjoy our communion with God here and now in mortality. We do not need to wait for immortality to enjoy the fruits of our spiritual labors. We learn to appreciate the Spirit of God more and more as we draw nearer to the Lord in the keeping of his commandments. The harder we knock, the wider is the door opened.”
Henry D. Moyle
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 45
“It is the word of God. It is a powerful second witness of Christ. And, certainly, all true believers who love the Redeemer will welcome additional evidence of his divinity… The book is not on trial — its readers are.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 67
“What that Statue of Liberty has symbolized to the oppressed and downtrodden of Europe, the gospel of Jesus Christ is to the world.”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 97
“Consider the priesthood of the Church. Picture therein the men and boys organized in working sections or groups, from the father ninety years old, down to the boy twelve years of age. In these groups you find exemplified all that human society seeks in social groups and in societies. There is opportunity in these quorum groups for fellowship, brotherhood, and organized service. No man who is worthy of that fellowship can be kept out from it—not one!”
David O. McKay
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 97
“I love the Stars and Stripes, and the American Way of Life. I have faith in the Constitution of the United States. I believe that only through a truly educated citizenry can the ideals that inspired the Founding Fathers of our Nation be preserved and perpetuated.”
David O. McKay as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 110
“The prophets of a new gospel dispensation have counsel for us today — counsel on matters which concerned the Founding Fathers — freedom, liberty, righteousness which ‘exalteth a nation.’ Do we believe and accept their counsel, or have we drifted away from those basic concepts and principles, without adherence to which, no nation can be exalted.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111
“That which is right does not become wrong merely because it may be deserted by the majority, neither does that which is wrong today become right tomorrow by the chance circumstance that it has won the approval or been adopted by overwhelmingly predominant numbers. Principles cannot be changed by nor accommodate themselves to the vagaries of popular sentiment.”
Albert E. Bowen as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111. See also CR, Apr. 1941, p. 85.
“There always comes a time when unpleasant truths must be retold, even though the retelling disturbs the ease and quiet of a luxurious error. Today seems to be such a time. On such occasions, the criticism, slander, misrepresentation that one gets, are of no consequence.”
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111.
“Our real enemies are communism and its running mate, socialism.”
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111.
“The paths we are following, if we move forward thereon, will inevitably lead us to socialism or communism, and these two are as like as two peas in a pod in their ultimate effect upon our liberties”
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111.
“Communism and socialism—which we shall hereafter group together and dub Statism—cannot live with Christianity, nor with any religion that postulates a Creator such as the Declaration of Independence recognizes. The slaves of Statism must know no power, no authority, no source of blessing, no God, but the State”
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 111.
“We cannot say that the prophet of the Lord has not warned us. President McKay has emphasized the dangers to our God-given freedom again and again. Will we heed his counsel? Are we in harmony? Do we appreciate his repeated warnings?”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“Will there be some of us who won’t care about saving the Constitution, others who will be blinded by the craftiness of men, and some who will knowingly be working to destroy it? He that has ears to hear and eyes to see can discern by the Spirit and through the words of God’s mouthpiece that our liberties are being taken.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“The enemy is amongst and upon us. Zion must awake and arouse herself. We, the elders of Israel can be and should be, the leaven in the loaf for freedom.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“We all believe that the Lord will fight our battles; but how? Will he do it while we are unconcerned and make no effort whatever for our own safety when the enemy is upon us? . . . it would be quite as reasonable to expect remission of sins without baptism, as to expect the Lord to fight our battles without our taking every precaution to be prepared to defend ourselves. The Lord requires us to be quite as willing to fight our own battles as to have Him fight them for us. If we are not ready for the enemy when he comes upon us, we have not lived up to the requirements of Him who guides the ship of Zion, or who dictates the affairs of His kingdom.”
Brigham Young as quoted by Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“May we as a free people face courageously the challenging responsibility which faces us. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke.) We are not here to sit by complacently while our birthright of freedom is exchanged for a mess of socialist-communist pottage.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“May we be at least as valiant for freedom and righteousness, here and now, as we were when we fought for these principles in the pre-existence.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 113
“In order for man to obtain eternal life and exaltation in God’s kingdom, he must accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is an eternal principle. Thus we recognize that the gospel plan has been and is for all of God’s children.”
Franklin D. Richards
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 122
“To be a Christian, we must follow the Savior. It is easy to hide behind Christianity, but it is not easy to be a Christian.”
Bernard P. Brockbank
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 125
“Every member a missionary. That’s the way to build this Church. Wouldn’t it be great if all two million each brought one soul into the Church. How many of you brought one new member into the Church last year? The prophet asked us to do it under the inspiration of the Lord because the Lord knows how to build his Church. What if it meant your life if you did not bring a soul in this coming year? You’d have him or her, wouldn’t you?”
Bernard P. Brockbank
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 126
“Paul of old declared to Timothy: ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.’ He said nothing of atomic bombs or intercontinental missiles or death-dealing submarines. Rather, they shall be perilous because ‘. . . men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . . blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, . . . Without natural affection, . . . despisers of those that are good, . . .’ (2 Timothy 3:1-3.)
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 126
“A return to family worship, spreading across the land and over the earth, would in a generation largely lift the blight that is destroying us, and it would restore integrity, mutual respect, and a spirit of thankfulness in the hearts of the people.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 129
“Shall I make my child go to Sunday School and Church? Yes! And with no further discussion about the matter. Startled? Why? How do you answer Junior when he comes to breakfast on Monday morning and announces to you that he is not going to school any more? You know! Junior goes.
How do you answer when Junior comes in very much besmudged and says, ‘I’m not going to take a bath.’ Junior bathes, doesn’t he?
Why all this timidity, then, in the realm of his spiritual guidance and growth? Going to let him wait and decide what Church he’ll go to when he’s old enough? Quit your kidding! You didn’t wait until you were old enough. You don’t wait until he is old enough to decide whether he wants to go to school or not to start his education. You don’t wait until he is old enough to decide whether he wants to be clean or dirty do you? Do you wait until he is old enough to decide if he wants to take his medicine when he is sick, do you?
What shall we say when Junior announces he doesn’t like to go to Sunday School and Church? That’s an easy one to answer. Just be consistent. Tell him, ‘Junior, in our house we all go to Church and to Sunday School, and that includes you.’ Your firmness and example will furnish a bridge over which youthful rebellion may travel into rich and satisfying experience in personal religious living. The parents of America can strike a telling blow against the forces that contribute to our juvenile delinquency, if our mothers and fathers will take their children to Sunday School and Church regularly.”
J. Edgar Hoover as quoted by N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 134
“Every day is full of choices. Our choices today determine our future and the future of our children.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 135
“Let us always remember and determine that the things which matter most must not be at the mercy of things which matter least. First, we must choose what we want out of life, and then if we wish to achieve it, we must abide by the rules whether it be to gain a university degree, to become an American citizen or to reach the Celestial Kingdom.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 135
“When we say with a shrug of the shoulder, “Boys will be boys,” maybe we should remember that boys will soon be men and set about to help make them men. There is a point at which sympathy becomes coddling and kindness becomes indulgence and they who are too busy, too lazy, or too softhearted to give children the example and discipline they need are being unfair to everyone and particularly to the children. It is most difficult for parents to discipline their children and expect them to do those things which are not important enough for parents to do themselves.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Apr. 1963 p. 136
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