The October 1964 General Conference was a fantastic General Conference! There are so many powerful and amazing sermons from David O. McKay preaching about the Peace that comes only from living the gospel (And how that is the ‘peace’ we are to be ‘peacemakers’ of), to Bruce R. McConkie testifying of Christ and his prophets, to Ezra Taft Benson giving an entire talk based on a quote ‘three threatening dangers’ from Joseph F. Smith about what dangers the Church will face in the last days, to countless talks about the importance of following prophetic counsel. Overall, just a fantastic conference!
I hope you enjoy this thirteenth 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. 1964 General Conference! Use the page number and the above links to access the full talks. Enjoy!
65+ Counsel-packed Quotes From My Study of the Oct. 1964 General Conference
“Let us ever remember that peace and progress are attained only at the price of eternal vigilance and constant righteous efforts.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 5
“Only to the extent that men desire peace and brotherhood can the world be made better. No peace, even though temporarily obtained, will be permanent, whether to individuals or nations, unless it is built upon the solid foundation of eternal principles.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 5
“Men may yearn for peace, cry for peace, and work for peace, but there will be no peace until they follow the path pointed out by the Living Christ. He is the true light of men’s lives.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 5
“Civil marriage is an earthly contract, completed in the death of either party. Eternal celestial marriage is a sacred covenant between man and woman, consecrated in the holy temple by servants of God who hold authoritative keys. It bridges death; it includes both time and eternity.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 27
“The marriages then which are made only ‘so long as you both shall live’ or ‘until death do you part’ are sadly terminated when the last mortal breath is gasped … Since we know well that mortal death does not terminate our existence, since we know that we live on and on, how devastating to realize that marriage and family life, so sweet and happy in so many homes, will end with death because we fail to follow God’s instructions or because we reject his word when we understand it.”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 28
“How sad to be separate and single and apart through countless ages when one could, by meeting requirements, have happy marriage for eternity in the temple by proper authority and continue on in ever-increasing joy and happiness, growth and development toward Godhood. (See D&C 132:17)”
Spencer W. Kimball
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 28
“Christ and his prophets go together. They cannot be separated. It is utterly and completely impossible to believe in Christ without also believing in and accepting the divine commission of the prophets sent to reveal him and to carry his saving truths to the world.”
Bruce R. McConkie
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 37
“The late President Joseph F. Smith said if the President of the Church ‘. . . or somebody else gives counsel to some of our brethren, if it does not suit them exactly, they will begin to whine about it, and shed great crocodile tears, perhaps. I have heard of men shedding tears because they had received counsel from their brethren! And what is more, the men that shed tears and mourn over having received a little counsel, are the kind that do not carry it out; or, if they do, they tell why they did it — making somebody else responsible for their acts.’” (CR, April 1899, p. 70.)
John H. Vandenberg
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 40
“Sons born to mortal fathers grow up to be like their fathers in the flesh. This is the way it will be with spirit sons of God. They will grow up to be like their Father in heaven.”
Marion G. Romney
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 50
“This nation under God cannot condone communism in the least degree. There is not such a thing as ‘a little communism.’ It is the greatest threat to America today … We cannot accept or uphold communism in any degree, shape, way, or form.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 54
“Rights of every individual man, woman, and child on the face of the earth come from God, not from the state … the purpose of government is to protect the God-given rights of the human being. Not governments as masters, but governments as servants.”
Thorpe B. Isaacson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 54
“As Latter-day Saints we have been driven, mobbed, misunderstood, and maligned. We have been a peculiar people. Now we are faced with world applause. It has been a welcome change, but can we stand acceptance? Can we meet the danger of applause? In the hour of a man’s success applause can be his greatest danger.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 56
“The time is fast approaching when it will require great courage for Latter-day Saints to stand up for their peculiar standards and doctrine — all of their doctrine, including the more weighty principles”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 56
“We are far removed from the days of our forefathers who were persecuted for their peculiar beliefs. Some of us seem to want to share their reward but are ofttimes afraid to stand up for principles that are controversial in our generation.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 56
“We need not solicit persecution, but neither should we remain silent in the presence of overwhelming evils, for this makes cowards of men. We should not go out of the path of duty to pick up a cross there is no need to bear, but neither should we sidestep a cross that clearly lies within the path of duty.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 56
“We are in the world, and I fear some of us are getting too much like the world”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 56
“Some of us are no longer willing to stand up for all the principles of the gospel. We seek to justify our unrighteousness by claiming that if only we can get title or position, then think of the good we can do. Hence we lose our salvation en route to those honors.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 57
“Some of us are no longer willing to stand up for all the principles of the gospel… We sometimes look among our numbers to find one to whom we can point who agrees with us, so we can have company to justify our apostasy. We rationalize by saying that some day the church doctrine will catch up with our way of thinking.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 57
“Truth, if given as much time and emphasis as error, will invariably prove itself. And if our young students could have as much time studying the truth as they and some of their professors have had time studying error, then there would be no question of the outcome.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“The problem arises when under the pressure of a heavy course of study and the necessity of parroting back what certain professors have said, the student does not have the time or take the time to learn the truth. If he does not learn the truth, some day he will suffer the consequences. Many an honest student, after graduation, has had to do some unlearning and then fresh learning of basic principles which never change and which he should have been taught initially.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“False educational ideas are prevalent in the world, and we have not entirely escaped them among teachers in our own system. There are a few teachers within the Church who while courting apostasy still want to remain members in the Church, for being members makes them more effective in misleading the Saints. But their day of judgment is coming, and when it does come, for some of them it would have been better, as the Savior said, that a millstone had been put around their necks and they had drowned in the depths of the sea, than to have led away any of the youth of the Church.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“Parents, stay close to your children; you cannot delegate your responsibility to the educators no matter how competent they may be. Parents have a duty to train their children, to talk over their problems with them, to discuss what they are learning at school. And it is neither wise nor safe, as President Stephen L Richards stated, to leave the determination of our educational system and policies exclusively to the professional educators.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“Students, study the writings of the prophets.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“Students, pray for inspiration and knowledge. Counsel with your parents. Let Sunday be the day to fill up your spiritual batteries for the week by reading good church books, particularly the Book of Mormon. Take time to meditate. Don’t let the philosophies and falsehoods of men throw you. Hold on to the iron rod. Learn to sift. Learn to discern error through the promptings of the Spirit and your study of the truth.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 58
“Sexual immorality is a viper that is striking not only in the world, but in the Church today. Not to admit it is to be dangerously complacent or is like putting one’s head in the sand.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“In the category of crimes, only murder and denying the Holy Ghost come ahead of illicit sexual relations”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“I know the laws of the land do not consider unchastity as serious as God does, nor punish as severely as God does, but that does not change its abominableness. In the eyes of God there is but one moral standard for men and women. In the eyes of God chastity will never be out of date.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“No sin is causing the loss of the Spirit of the Lord among our people more today than sexual promiscuity. It is causing our people to stumble, damning their growth, darkening their spiritual powers, and making them subject to other sins.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“So garbled in values have our morals become that some youth would not dare touch a cigarette but freely engage in petting. Both are wrong, but one is in- finitely more serious than the other.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Parents should give their children specific instructions on chastity at an early age, both for their physical and moral protection.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Avoid late hours; dress modestly; seek good associates; avoid necking and petting; have a good physical outlet; think good thoughts; pray.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 60
“Avoid late hours and weariness. The Lord said retire to your bed early (D&C 88:124), and there are good reasons for that. Some of the worst sins are committed after midnight by tired heads.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Have good associates or don’t associate at all. Be careful in the selection of your friends. If in the presence of certain persons you are lifted to nobler heights, you are in good company. But if your friends or associates encourage base thoughts, then you had best leave them.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Have a good physical outlet of some sport or exercise. Overcome evil with good. You can overcome many evil inclinations through good physical exertion and healthful activities. A healthy soul, free of the body-and-spirit-dulling influences of alcohol and tobacco, is in better condition to overthrow the devil.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Think clean thoughts. Those who think clean thoughts do not do dirty deeds.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“The old adage is still true that you sow thoughts and you reap acts, you sow acts and you reap habits, you sow habits and you reap a character, and your character determines your eternal destiny.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“Pray. There is no temptation placed before you which you cannot shun. Do not allow yourself to get in positions where it is easy to fall. Listen to the promptings of the Spirit. If you are engaged in things where you do not feel you can pray and ask the Lord’s blessings on what you are doing, then you are engaged in the wrong kind of activity.”
Ezra Taft Benson (Click HERE to read his full talk “Three Threatening Dangers”)
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 59
“What if we just believed the Lord and could accept his word as it comes to us from his prophets? There wouldn’t be any argument about ‘how’ or ‘why,’ but it would be, ‘When, oh, Lord, would you have me do the thing that you have commanded through your servants the prophets?’”
Elder LeGrand Richards
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 67
“Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces while another builds hovels.”
George Henry Lewes as quoted by David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 73
“Don’t be too busy to meditate, and when the answer comes have the courage to execute it.”
David O. McKay
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 76
“Anyone can build a palace rather than a hovel if he is willing to work hard enough. If we applied the principles used in making Olympic champions to all phases of our lives, the transformation in society would be just as phenomenal.”
Victor L. Brown
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 76
“I say to you Latter-day Saint mothers and fathers, if you will rise to the responsibility of teaching your children in the home — priesthood quorums preparing the fathers, the Relief Society the mothers — the day will soon be dawning when the whole world will come to our doors and will say, ‘Show us your way that we may walk in your path.’”
Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 87
“Do not let your children out to specialists in these things, but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth. Let our meetings, schools and organizations, instead of being our only or leading teachers, be supplements to our teachings and training in the home. Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”
Joseph F. Smith as quoted by Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 84
“The Lord has said it is our duty to teach our children in their youth, and I prefer to take His word for it rather than the words of those who are not obeying His commandments. It is folly to imagine that our children will grow up with a knowledge of the gospel without teaching.”
Heber J. Grant as quoted by Harold B. Lee
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 84
“You become great by doing things which are hard to do, by overcoming temptations and problems, not by doing what is the easiest or the quickest.”
David O. McKay as quoted by Grant Pace
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 88
“Latter-day Saint who does not have the desire to build and establish a home does not have, perhaps, a full conception of the sacred duties the gospel imposes upon him.”
Joseph F. Smith
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 90
“Now fear and force are tools of the adversary and typify organizations of his making.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 95
“But first and foremost, at the top of the list, second to none, brethren, is that motivation which is love.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 96
“’If ye love me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15.) Obedience will always be the result of love. It is an eternal principle. More love in our hearts increases our capacity for love and, consequently, greater devotion and an even greater degree of obedience. And after we are more obedient, we have greater capacity for love and on it goes like an endless spiral upward, terminating in the presence of our Heavenly Father.”
Robert L. Simpson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 96
“The everlasting Gospel, made known in the last days, is nothing more nor less than the ancient religion restored. It is the commencement of the ‘restitution of all things’ spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world was.”
John Taylor as quoted by Hugh B. Brown
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 102
“It is startling to many in the world to learn that there is a prophet of God on the earth at the present time who speaks to us the will of the Lord, and of this fact I bear witness. There are hundreds of thousands who also so testify, yet today as in Paul’s day there are others who see but do not believe because of old traditions, closed minds, and preconceived ideas. For this reason I invited you to walk with me down Damascus Road. If you are willing to do so with a prayer in your heart for the truth, the Lord will shed his light upon you as he did Paul, and the truth will be made manifest to you.”
Howard W. Hunter
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 110
“Our world is presently conducting an all-out war against God and his purposes.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 110
“So far as all practical purposes are concerned, we have largely excluded God from our lives… Because we seem to keep our creeds and our deeds in separate compartments, one is powerless to help the other.”
Sterling W. Sill
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 111
“We plead with you to live clean, for the unclean life leads only to suffering, misery, and woe physically, — and spiritually it is the path to destruction. How glorious and near to the angels is youth that is clean; this youth has joy unspeakable here and eternal happiness hereafter.”
The First Presidency as quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 118
“With all of your learning, learn of him. With all of your study, seek knowledge of the Master… so, while you read math and physics and chemistry, read also the Gospels of the New Testament And read the testament of the New World, the Book of Mormon”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 118
“To every young man and woman within the sound of my voice I should like to say, take upon yourself the name of the Lord and then with faith go forth to teach with relevance that which will affect the lives of men and bring peace and joy to the world. The need of the world is a generation of men of learning and influence who can and will stand up and in sincerity and without equivocation declare that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 118-119
“My dear young friends, I suggest to you with all earnestness that as you pursue your secular studies you add another dimension to your life, the cultivation of the spirit.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 119
“Just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell me that I don’t know, for I do!”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 128
“Young people, do not apologize or be ashamed because you cannot frame into words that which you know in your heart to be true. Do not repudiate your testimony merely because you have no marvelous manifestations to discuss.”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 128
“We sympathize with you and know how difficult it is to hold to the truth, particularly when professors of worldly knowledge — some of them counterfeit Christians — debunk and scoff.”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 128
“In answer to your question, ‘Can I ever really know for sure?’ we answer, just as certainly as you fill the requirements, that testimony will come. The Lord has never said, nor was it ever pretended, that this testimony yields itself to scientific investigation, to mere curiosity, or to academic inquiry.”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 128
“When one has received that witness, and is called to testify, for him to dilute, to minimize, to withhold would be grossly wrong.”
Boyd K. Packer
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 128
“Now what of today? We have been told by our living prophet that ‘. . . Never before . . . were there so many insidious influences at work among our people as today — . . . never before have dangers been so threatening to our youth. . . . some think the standards of morality have changed. The standard of morals of a Latter-day Saint . . . will never change.’”
EIRay L. Christiansen
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 131
“Are we today serving the God of the land, even the Lord Jesus Christ? Do our lives conform with His teachings? Are we entitled to His divine blessings?”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 140
“Too many Americans have been screaming ever louder for more and more of the things we cannot take with us and paying less and less attention to the real sources of the very happiness we seek.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 141
“The road back to God is not nearly so steep nor is it so difficult as some would have us believe. The gentle invitation of Jesus yet beckons, ‘. . . Come unto me.’”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 141
“If we will but realize that we have been created in the image of God, we will not find Him difficult to approach… You cannot sincerely hold this conviction without experiencing a profound new sense of strength.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 141
“Decision is of little account unless it is followed by action.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 142
“America truly does need you and me to lead out in a mighty crusade of righteousness. We can help when we love the Lord, our God, and with our families serve him, and when we love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Thomas S. Monson
CR, Oct. 1964, pp. 142
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