The Oct. 1965 General Conference was truly full of inspiring talks! President David O. McKay opened with an amazing sermon on agency followed by Marion G. Romney speaking of making one’s calling and election sure. Sterling W. Sill then gave a masterful sermon on how “God, angels, spirits, and men are all of the same species in different stages of righteousness and development.” Just a fantastic General Conference!
I hope you enjoy this eleventh 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. 1965 General Conference! Use the page number and the above links to access the full talks. Enjoy!
55+ Inspiring Quotes From My Study of the Oct. 1965 General Conference
“Agency is an eternal principle of progress, and any form of government that curtails or inhibits its free exercise is wrong.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 8
“If all the books in the world were destroyed except the four standard works of the Church, man would have the foundation of principles and moral and spiritual values to reestablish his civilization and rise again to lofty achievements and happiness.”
Delbert L. Stapley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 14
“The theme I have in mind to discuss is “Making One’s Calling and Election Sure.” To do this one must receive a divine witness that he will inherit eternal life. The supreme objective of men who understand God, their relationship to him, and his designs for them is to gain eternal life.”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 20
“The fullness of eternal life is not attainable in mortality, but the peace which is its harbinger and which comes as a result of making one’s calling and election sure is attainable in this life. The Lord has promised that ‘. . . he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come’ (D&C 59:23)”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 20
“After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter (John 14:16-23)”
Joseph Smith as quoted by Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 21
“In conclusion, I give you my own witness. I know that God our Father lives, that we are as Paul said, his offspring (Acts 17:28) I know that we dwelt in his presence in pre-earth life and that we shall continue to live beyond the grave. I know that we may return into his presence, if we meet his terms. I know that while we are here in mortality there is a means of communication between him and us. I know it is possible for men to so live that they may hear his voice and know his words and that to receive ‘the Holy Spirit of promise’ (D&C 132:7) while here in mortality is possible. And so, in the words of the Prophet Joseph, ‘. . . I . . . exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until [by the more sure word of prophecy (D&C 131:5) you make your calling and election sure for yourselves’ (DHC 5:389).”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 23
“If we were to isolate ourselves from those who are not members of the Church, we would be depriving ourselves of opportunities of teaching the gospel to many who are worthy and who are seeking the gospel.”
Eldred G. Smith
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 33
“As parents we had better ask ourselves most searchingly what we are doing toward shaping the lives, the attitudes, the characters of our children”
Richard L. Evans
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 41
“It is in the home that children should first learn love, responsibility, and respect. In the home they should learn the balance of liberty and law”
Richard L. Evans
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 41
“Freedom, liberty, and peace can be enjoyed fully only as the laws of the land and the laws of God are honored and obeyed. Therefore, let us adopt the slogan: “As for me and my house, we will honor, obey, and sustain the law and use our best influence to encourage others to do the same.”
N. Eldon Tanner
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 48-49
“There has hardly been a time, in my experience, when students needed more attention and patient listening to by experienced professors than today. The pity is that so many of us retreat into research, government contracts, and sabbatical travel, leaving counsel and instruction to junior colleagues and graduate assistants. . . . What is needed are fewer books and articles by college professors and more cooperative search by teacher and taught for an authority upon which to base freedom and individuality.”
J. Glenn Gray as quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 51-52
“I am aware of the ‘publish or perish’ pressure under which teachers work in some of our universities, but I should like to say to these teachers that your learned monographs will yield little satisfaction as the years pass if you discover that while you published, your students perished.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“Nor is it our responsibility as teachers to destroy the faith of those who come to us; it is our opportunity to recognize and build on that faith. If God be the author of all truth, as we believe, then there can be no conflict between true science, true philosophy, and true religion.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“Your students deserve more than your knowledge. They deserve and hunger for your inspiration. They want the warm glow of personal relationships. This always has been the hallmark of a great teacher ‘who is the student’s accomplice in learning, rather than his adversary.’ This is the education worth striving for and the education worth providing.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“A terrible price has been paid by those who have gone before us, this that we might have the blessings of liberty and peace.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“We shall not build love of country by taking away from our youth the principles which made us strong — thrift, initiative, self-reliance, and an overriding sense of duty to God and to man.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“We need to kindle in the hearts of youth an old-fashioned love of country and a reverence for the land of their birth. But we shall not do it with tawdry political maneuvering and enormous handouts for which nothing is given in return.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 52
“Nothing is more clearly written in the scripture than the fact that the life of Christ did not begin at Bethlehem; neither did it end on Calvary. Jesus said, ‘I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.’ (John 16:28.) In his prayer in Gethsemane he said, ‘And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.’ (John 17:5.) Jesus was the first-begotten Son of God in the spirit and the only-begotten Son of God in the flesh. (See Heb. 1:6 and John 1:14.) But God is also our eternal Heavenly Father, and it is just as certain that our lives did not begin when we were born; neither will they end when we die.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 56-57
“Like our Elder Brother, in the spirit we were also begotten in God’s image. We were also endowed with a set of his attributes and made heirs to his glory. And the greatest idea that I know of in the world is God’s promise that through our faithfulness we may become even as he is.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 57
“The universe is God’s handiwork, but man is his son. God placed the gold and silver in the earth, but he endowed his children with his own attributes and made them heirs to his potentialities. And according to his own immutable laws of heredity, the children may hope sometime to become like the parents.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 57
“Someday we will more clearly know who we are. We will understand the great scriptural teaching that God, angels, spirits, and men are all of the same species in different stages of righteousness and development.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 58
“If the parents had accepted their responsibility, the school’s problem would have been infinitely easier. All too often parents look to others to carry out responsibilities that rightfully belong to the parents. They sometimes even use worthwhile activities such as church or civic work as the excuse to absolve themselves of some of their responsibilities in the home. Too many parents blame others for the problems their children experience when in reality the basic responsibility is on their own doorstep. Until we, as parents, accept the full responsibility for training our children to be honest, to be moral, to exercise self-discipline, to have integrity and other basic virtues, we cannot say we have shouldered our full responsibility.”
Victor L. Brown
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 73
“Like the ripples caused by a pebble cast upon a placid pool, the decision you make in regard to where, with whom, and by whom your marriage ordinance is administered will affect not only you, but the lives of many others, especially your children.”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 74
“It is not merely for biological, social, or economic reasons that two people are united in matrimony. The purpose of marriage is far more sacred and more far-reaching than that. We must realize, first of all, that marriage is a holy relationship designed by our Heavenly Father for the divine purpose of perfecting us and those who follow us”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 74-75
“True love is not earthbound. It is as eternal as our spirits, which never die. A continuing association in this life and in the next with those we love should be the great desire of every person.”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 75
“Do you realize that only when you have lived in harmony with all the laws and ordinances of the priesthood, which include those administered in holy temples, that you can expect to find yourselves prepared to dwell in what I sometimes refer to as the ‘Kingdom of Families’?”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 75
“In all kindness may I remind you that this is your earthly life that you are living now — yours. You will live it but once! There will be no rerun. There will be no repeat performance. What you do now in this life determines where you will be in the life to come. It is your future, your destiny, that you are molding.”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 76
“You made good in that pre-earth life…. You must not now ‘fumble the ball’ on the eighteen or twenty year line. When you do take a wrong course, you are undoing the work of your prior existence, for there you struggled for ages to reach mortality where you now are.”
ElRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 76
“We are always touched when we hear a chorus of Primary children sing, ‘I Am a Child of God.’ The last two lines of that inspired song read: ‘Teach me all that I must know, To live with Him some day.’ I understand that future printings will follow a wise suggestion made by Brother Kimball, that the word ‘know’ be changed to ‘do.’ ‘Teach me all that I must do, To live with Him some day.’ Only in the doing can we be assured of a confirmation by the spirit — yes, by good works we do become eligible for personal revelation.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 78
“Speaking of prayer, if prayer were important for Alma (see Alma 5:45-46.), it is important for us, too. It is folly to think in terms of having this highly spiritual information made known to us by the Holy Spirit, without first parting the veil through prayer.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 78
“When we want bus travel information, we go to the bus terminal; when we want financial assistance, we seek out a banker; so why not go directly to God for a confirming testimony of him and his work?”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 78
“The world needs assurance. The world needs some solid rock to replace shifting sand. The world needs men with conviction about things most important. The world needs the added strength of several thousand more clarion voices that teach only truth because they live by the truth.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 79
“The Church has its foundation in the heart, in the home, and in the testimony of every worthy member.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 79
“Men have an old habit of greeting the true prophet with stones. We need not be surprised if an old-fashioned welcome awaits the Prophet of our day.”
Reverend James A. Sutherland as quoted by LeGrand Richards
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 85
“It is a prophet, the voice of a prophet, that this world needs today.”
LeGrand Richards
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 87
“There is a divine spark in every man’s soul that never wholly goes out.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 94
“We believe in peace, patriotism, and loyalty, and the fact that America is a chosen land, preserved and discovered under divine inspiration, with a constitution which we believe was inspired and which we must, under all circumstances, maintain.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 108
“Let us always remember that the planting of America in the strain that determined our country’s character was a spiritual planting. The fathers who planted this nation were Christians. They came here as Christians. They came because they were Christians. They came on a specifically Christian venture. Get it fixed in your mind that the planting that determined the genius of America was a Church — not a town, not a colony, not a trading or exploring venture, not a gold rush, but a church, a little Pilgrim church crossed the sea for the sake of its church life. That is the origin of the United States.”
Destiny magazine as quoted by Hugh B. Brown
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 109
“One day the world will come to recognize that the jewel in the crown of America which surpasses all others is the jewel of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 110
“More than any other people, members of this Church, having the prophecies of God before them, ought to know that America is not going to fail, that the God of heaven will not permit it, if her people will but serve the God of this land. She has a great destiny yet to fulfill. Imperfect though she may be, she is, nevertheless, the hope of the world.”
Hugh B. Brown
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 109
“We placed over a cemetery on Okinawa this inscription, and I think it still stands for all to observe who would, ‘We gave our todays in order that you might have your tomorrows.’ I would like to ask … what are we doing with the tomorrows these thousands of men from all nations have given us? It is evident, looking at the condition of the world today, that we are failing to live up to their expectations. Perhaps many of these men would not have been willing to pay this price if they could see the present world situation.”
Paul H. Dunn
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 116
“Here in these United States the Lord has established his base of operations in these last days. He selected America. That is why I love the United States of America in a special manner. Every true Latter-day Saint should love America.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 122
“It was the Lord God who established the foundation of this nation; and woe be unto those — members of the Supreme Court and others — who would weaken this foundation.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 122
“The Lord raised up the Founding Fathers. He it was who established the Constitution of this land — the greatest document of freedom ever written. This God-inspired Constitution is not outmoded. It is not an outdated ‘agrarian document’ as some of our would-be statesmen, socialists, and fellow travelers of the godless conspiracy would have us believe.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 122
“But with this love of our Father’s children, I love America in a special way. The United States is not just another nation — not just one of the family of nations. This nation was intended to be a beacon to liberty-loving people everywhere.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 122
“The Lord himself prepared the way through the centuries. He established his base of operations here in America, and it is the duty of every liberty-loving soul, and especially every Latter-day Saint, to help protect, safeguard, and strengthen the Lord’s base of operations.”
Ezra Taft Benson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 122
“Well might we expect, as in the past dispensations, that our worst enemies will be those within our ranks who will betray us.”
Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 127
“Look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall; for I say unto you there is a test, a test, a TEST coming, and who will be able to stand?”
Heber C. Kimball as quoted by Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 127
“You will see the time when you will have all the trouble, trial and persecution that you can stand, and plenty of opportunities to show that you are true to God and his work. This Church has before it many close places through which it will have to pass before the work of God is crowned with victory.”
Heber C. Kimball as quoted by Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 127
“Beware of those who fight against the Saints! … There are those among us who would set themselves up as critics of the Church, saying that the Church has gone out of the way … the Prophet predicted. He said, ‘That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly that that man is [on the way] to apostasy; and if he does not repent, [he] will apostatize, as God lives.’”
Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 129-130
“Until a person has been willing to sacrifice all he possesses in the world, not even withholding his own life if it were necessary for the upbuilding of the kingdom, then only can he claim kinship to Him who gave his life that men might be.”
Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 131
“Neither wealth nor the material things of the world in and of themselves are evil; it is the love of possessing them above all else that is evil.”
John H. Vandenberg
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 132
“The formula for finding Jesus has always been and ever will be the same — the earnest and sincere prayer of a humble and pure heart.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 132
“Wisdom comes through effort. All good things require effort. That which is worth having will cost part of your physical being, your intellectual power, and your soul power”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 144-145
“Evil seeks you, and it requires effort and fortitude to combat it.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 145
“Let us oppose any subversive influence that would deprive us of our individual freedom or make this government a dictator instead of a servant to the people.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1965, pp. 146
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