The October 1968 General Conference was an amazing one! So many powerful talks, including the first talk by Russell M. Nelson (Then President of the Bonneville Stake, Click HERE to read the entire talk), and a fundamental talk by Ezra Taft Benson on the source of our rights (Click HERE to read that entire talk)! Overall, it was just an amazing conference!
I hope you enjoy this fifth 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 Oct. 1968 General Conference! Use the page number and the above links to access the full talks. Enjoy!
52+ Impactful Quotes From My Study of the Oct. 1968 General Conference
“I denounce any ideology, any attempt of man or organization to change the fundamental principles of this great American republic.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 3
“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
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 3
“We cannot, we must not, be insensible to the evil forces around us, and especially the communistic conspiracy, the avowed object of which is to destroy faith in God, to sow discord and contention among men with the view of undermining, weakening, if not entirely destroying, our constitutional form of government, and to weaken and subvert the ideals of our younger generation. When acts and schemes are manifestly contrary to the revealed word of the Lord, I feel, as do my associates, justified in warning our people against them.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 6
“A clean man is a national asset. A pure woman is the incarnation of true national glory. A citizen who loves justice and hates evil is better and stronger than a battleship. The strength of any community consists of and exists in the men who are pure, clean, upright, and straightforward, ready for the right, and sensitive to every approach of evil. Let such ideals be the standard of citizenship.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 8
“The home is the best place in the world to teach the highest ideal in the social and political life of man, namely, perfect liberty of action so long as you do not trespass upon the rights and privileges of another. The great need in the American home today is more religion.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 8
“A real Christian is one who shows his love of God by keeping his commandments.”
LeGrand Richards
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 10
“If Americans should ever come to believe that their rights and freedoms are instituted among men by politicians and bureaucrats, then they will no longer carry the proud inheritance of their forefathers, but will grovel before their masters seeking favors and dispensations, a throwback to the feudal system of the Dark Ages.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 18 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
“I support the doctrine of separation of church and state as traditionally interpreted to prohibit the establishment of an official national religion. But this does not mean that we should divorce government from any formal recognition of God. To do so strikes a potentially fatal blow at the concept of the divine origin of our rights and unlocks the door for an easy entry of future tyranny. If Americans should ever come to believe that their rights and freedoms are instituted among men by politicians and bureaucrats, then they will no longer carry the proud inheritance of their forefathers, but will grovel before their masters seeking favors and dispensations, a throwback to the feudal system of the Dark Ages.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 18 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
“We must return to basic concepts and principles, to eternal verities in this choice land. There is no other way. The storm signals are up. They are clear and ominous.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 21 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
“We are building up a generation of lazy, government-dole-consuming weaklings. If this Communist-planned program of deception is not stopped, it will destroy our nation.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 21 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
“As Americans — citizens of the greatest nation under heaven — we face difficult days. Never since the days of the Civil War — 100 years ago — has this choice nation faced such a crisis.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 21 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
‘Let all Americans arouse themselves and stay aroused. We must stop and then reverse the concessions we have made to socialistic Communism at home and abroad. We should oppose these evil forces from our position of strength, for we are not weak.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 22 (For the entire talk see “Ezra Taft Benson: Our God-given Rights“)
“Can one truly say he loves God and then break the commandments which are given for the salvation and glory of his children?”
Delbert L. Stapley
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 27
“Can one truly love the Lord and disregard the teachings and counsel of his anointed prophet, seer, and revelator?”
Delbert L. Stapley
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 27
“To love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength is our first and most important commitment. Without our eternal God, who is the Father of our spirits, we would not exist. With his love for us and our love for him, everything concerning our eternal welfare and happiness will fit into proper perspective to guide us to that eternal kingdom where God and Christ dwell.”
Bishop John H. Vandenberg
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 31
“We can look also to Moses in the plains of Midian, Paul on the road to Damascus, or Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. Each of these men made decisions that not only altered the course of his own life, but also the course of mankind.”
Bishop John H. Vandenberg
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 34
“Each day of our own lives we are faced with similar decisions. Though they may not seem as dramatic as a Gethsemane or a Sacred Grove, they nevertheless determine the ultimate course of our lives. It is the culmination of our day-to-day decisions and actions that determines whether we will reap a harvest of peace in this life and life eternal, or unhappiness.”
Bishop John H. Vandenberg
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 34
How fortunate is the person who looks forward to the resurrection as an important step in eternal progression and prepares now to meet God!”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 48
“Satan then determined to do all in his power to defeat the work of righteousness, and thus he goes up and down, to and fro, in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men. He does so by deceit and flattery, and by his emissaries who teach false doctrine to all who will listen; and it seems that they are meeting with great success.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 48
“Communists, anti-Christs, and the promoters of the God-is-dead theory, as well as the skeptics and some who style themselves as religious leaders, are actively engaged in teaching false doctrine and in using every hostile means to break down and destroy a belief in God and in the scriptures”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 48
“The truths of the gospel, which are the most important things in our lives, need to be taught in our homes.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 50
“We need not wait, however, for that millennial morning. We can improve today without waiting for tomorrow. We can alter circumstances ourselves, without waiting for others. We can hold back the forces that would debilitate and weaken us. We can strengthen the forces that will improve the world.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 55
“The place to begin to reform the world is not Washington or Paris or Tokyo or London. The place to begin is with oneself… From self, the next step is the family.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 56
“If our society is coming apart at the seams, it is because the tailor and the seamstress in the home are not producing the kind of stitching that will hold under stress. In the name of giving advantages, we have too often bartered away the real opportunities of our children.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 56
“On election day a month hence, we shall have opportunity to test our commitment to these principles of the gospel. This is so because at least one of the issues there to be decided, the one raised by “Liquor Initiative Petition No. A,” is of a vital, moral nature. No amount of sophistry can make it otherwise. The Lord himself and his living mouthpiece have so declared it. Let no man fault his God or his state by failing to vote upon that issue.
If on that day, in the privacy of the voting booth, we so exercise our franchise as to satisfy ourselves and please our God, we shall have made a decision calculated to preserve our free agency and expand the area in which we can exercise it in the future.”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1968, pp 67-68
“Our home is in order when we are always ready for a visit from the Lord, our bishop, or our home teacher, and when there is never a word of disloyalty expressed about our Church leaders.”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 89 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“Our home can never be any better than our selection and care of the one to be the queen in our castle.”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 89-90 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“Each couple must constantly cultivate the art of communication.”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 90 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“In our own busy lives, Sister Nelson and I have found a lot of merit in the regular stroll together, which is good exercise for our bodies as well as for our souls. Exercise has become popular now. It is not uncommon to see a man jogging alone around the neighborhood, as competent medical authorities have suggested that you should “run for your life.” How much better it would be for two hearts and their love affair if we could alter the slogan ‘Run for your life’ to ‘Walk with your wife.’”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 90 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“love and loyalty cannot be commanded — they have to be earned!”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 90 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“We need to show [our children] our patriotism, and then they will be patriots, too.”
Russell M. Nelson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 91 (For the entire talk see Russell M. Nelson: “Placing Our Homes in Order”)
“The welfare plan of this great Church tells us to reenthrone work as a ruling principle in our lives and to abolish the dole, which is a something-for-nothing program. There is no place for it in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 98
“Every girl and woman is a daughter of God. She has within her the spark of true divinity. She has been given one of God’s own creative powers — the ability to bring forth human life.”
Mark E. Petersen
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 101
“Recognizing her as a co-creator with God, will any of us attempt to seduce her, or defile her, or abuse her? Identifying her as a daughter of God, and a co-creator of life with him, do we not see why the Almighty places sex sin next to murder in his category of crime? Is there anything Christlike in any act that would degrade womanhood or cheapen the true concept of motherhood?”
Mark E. Petersen
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 101
“America was founded to fulfill a covenant that God made with the patriarchal ancestors of the house of Israel.”
President Alvin R. Dyer
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 106
“America and its constitution were founded to preserve unto mankind the God-given right of moral agency.”
President Alvin R. Dyer
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 106
“God touched the heart of a mariner by the name of Christopher Columbus, who eventually pioneered a passageway to the promised land in 1492.”
President Alvin R. Dyer
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 108
“The true destiny of America is religious, not political; it is spiritual, not physical… Its real significance lies in its spiritual purpose, for which it was truly founded.”
President Alvin R. Dyer
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 106
“Not only do we have a spark of divinity within us, but that we are actually spirit children of our Heavenly Father.”
Franklin D. Richards
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 111
“To become perfect requires growth and development, and as we contemplate perfection, we recognize that growth is the greatest phenomenon of this existence.”
Franklin D. Richards
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 111
“This Church teaches the value and necessity of eternal progression. We progressed in the preexistence, and it is our responsibility and opportunity to progress in this estate and throughout all eternity.”
Franklin D. Richards
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 111
“The gospel, as revealed in the Bible, cannot be found in modern Christianity. The ordinances of the gospel are not administered in any church except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Joseph Fielding Smith
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 124
“Knowledge is not merely the equations of algebra, the theorems of geometry, or the miracles of space… Knowledge is that power which raises one into new and higher worlds and elevates him into new spiritual realms.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 129
“The knowledge of the spiritual will not come to an individual without effort any more than will the secular knowledge or college degrees. Spiritual knowledge gives the power to live eternally and to rise and overcome and develop and finally to create.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 129
“The knowledge of things in secular life are of time and are limited; the knowledge of the infinite truths are of time and eternity.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 129
“Of all treasures of knowledge, the most vital is the knowledge of God: his existence, powers, love, and promises.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 129
“One may acquire knowledge of space and in a limited degree conquer it. He may explore the moon and other planets, but no man can ever really find God in a university campus laboratory, in the physical test tubes of workshops, nor on the testing fields at Cape Kennedy. God and his program will be found only in deep pondering, appropriate reading, much kneeling in devout, humble prayer, and in a sincerity born of need and dependence.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 130
“These requirements having been fully met, there is no soul between the poles nor from ocean to ocean who may not positively obtain this knowledge, this hidden treasure of knowledge, this saving and exalting knowledge.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 130
“The ultimate and greatest of all knowledge, then, is to know God and his program for our exaltation. We may know him by sight, by sound, by feeling. While relatively few ever do really know him, everyone may know him, not only prophets — ancient and modem — but, as he said: ‘. . . every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am.’ (D&C 93:1.) If men qualify, they have this unalterable promise from their Redeemer.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 130
“Desirable as is secular knowledge, one is not truly educated unless he has the spiritual with the secular. The secular knowledge is to be desired; the spiritual knowledge is an absolute necessity. We shall need all of the accumulated secular knowledge in order to create worlds and to furnish them, but only through the ‘mysteries of God’ and these hidden treasures of knowledge may we arrive at the place and condition where we may use that knowledge in creation and exaltation.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 131
“‘Man and God are of the same race’ said President Bruce R. McConkie. Man’s destiny is godlike, for he has the opportunity to reach the heights of a glorious exaltation. The restored Church is the most important thing in the universe, for it points the way to eternal salvation and exaltation in God’s kingdom.”
Alma Sonne
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 132
“We might well ask, if a gospel does not have power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and work miracles in this life, why would anyone suppose it had power to cleanse a sin-laden soul or to raise a man to an inheritance of eternal life in the presence of God?”
Bruce R. McConkie
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 135
“A man’s religion is the most important thing about him. That is what he thinks about and believes in and works at and fights for and lives by.”
Thomas Carlyle Quoted by Elder Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 136
“In the latter-day fulfillment of his own promise he has reestablished his Church and has revealed anew a fulness of his original doctrines, including the greatest of all truths, that God lives and that the God of Genesis, the God of Sinai, and the God of Calvary is also the God of the latter days.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 138
“Our greatest latter-day need is not for bigger industries or more oil wells or greater power plants or a more ample gold supply. Our most critical problems are not our population explosions or our projected food shortages. Our primary concern should be centered in getting a sufficient love of God and truth enshrined in our hearts, that we will obey all of his commandments.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 138
“Christ is the Good Shepherd and the Great Teacher, but he is also the Savior of the world. He is the rock of our eternal salvation. He is the Lord of truth, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, and the giver of all good things. We must not forget that he is also the Christ of the latter days”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1968, pp. 138
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