James E. Talmage Quotes & Sayings

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.' - Psalms 25:14. — James E. Talmage

The God I worship is the personification of love, but not that maudlin love that oftimes blinds our eyes to facts and leads us to inconsistent actions — James E. Talmage

Christ proclaimed: "I am the good shepherd." He then further showed, and with eloquent exactness, the difference between a shepherd and a hireling herder. The one has personal interest in and love for his flock, and knows each sheep by name, the other knows them only as a flock, the value of which is gaged by number; to the hireling they are only as so many or so much. While the shepherd is ready to fight in defense of his own, and if necessary even imperil his life for his sheep, the hireling flees when the wolf approaches, leaving the way open for the ravening beast to scatter, rend, and kill. — James E. Talmage

Belief is in a sense passive, an agreement or acceptance only; faith is active and positive, embracing such reliance and confidence as will lead to works. Faith in Christ comprises belief in Him, combined with trust in Him. One cannot have faith without belief; yet he may believe and still lack faith. Faith is vivified, vitalized, living belief. — James E. Talmage

Here they [the Jaredites] became a flourishing nation; but, giving way in time to internal dissensions, they divided into factions, which warred with one another until the people were totally destroyed (p. 15). — James E. Talmage

Can there be nothing but what we are able to understand and explain as to means, mode, and accomplishment? This would be a poverty-stricken world if it knew nothing but what man can explain and expound. Shall it be that because we cannot do a thing, we shall say it cannot be done, even by a higher power? — James E. Talmage

One who really prays that this kingdom will come ... [will make the effort to] keep himself in harmony with the order of the kingdom, to subject the flesh to the spirit, selfishness to altruism, and to learn to love the things that God loves. To make the will of God supreme on earth as it is in heaven is to be allied with God in the affairs of life. — James E. Talmage

Mortal birth is a boon to which only those spirits who kept their first estate are eligible. — James E. Talmage

No one who believes that Jesus died for man can doubt the validity and efficacy of vicarious ministration. — James E. Talmage

No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. — James E. Talmage

Within the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man or yet to be made known. — James E. Talmage

Mere pleasure is at best but fleeting; happiness is abiding, for in the recollection thereof is renewed. — James E. Talmage

The Lord's hand in in our lives; if we will but feel for it, in the darkness, we can grasp it and be lifted thereby. — James E. Talmage

No man will be kept in hell loner than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state. — James E. Talmage

Physical exercise is indispensable to the development of body, and quite as certainly is spiritual activity requisite to the healthful and normal development of the soul. — James E. Talmage

We have been told ... that this life is a necessary part in the course of progression designed by our Father. We have been taught ... to look upon these bodies of ours as gifts from God ... It has been declared in the solemn word of revelation, that the spirit and the body constitute the soul of man; and, therefore, we should look upon this body as something that shall endure in the resurrected state, beyond the grave, something to be kept pure and holy. — James E. Talmage

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms her possession of divine authority for the use of the sacred name, Jesus Christ, as the essential part of her distinctive designation. In view of this exalted claim, it is pertinent to inquire as to what special or particular message the Church has to give to the world concerning the Redeemer and Savior of the race, and as to what she has to say in justification of her solemn affirmation, or in vindication of her exclusive name and title. As we proceed with our study, we shall find that among the specific teachings of the Church respecting ... — James E. Talmage

Prayer is the Lord's great sterilizer against the germs of spiritual disease. — James E. Talmage

Probation. Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah, the God of Adam and of Noah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God at whose instance the prophets of the ages have spoken, the God of all nations, and He who shall yet reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. — James E. Talmage

We talk of independence. No man is independent. We are all interdependent; and we shall only rise as we carry others with us, and as we are assisted by others. — James E. Talmage

Belief, in one of its accepted senses, may consist in a merely intellectual assent, while faith implies such confidence and conviction as will impel to action. — James E. Talmage

We may not know what lies ahead of us in the future years, nor even in the days or hours immediately beyond. But for a few yards, or possibly only a few feet, the track is clear, our duty is plain, our course is illumined. For that short distance, for the next step, lighted by the inspiration of God, go on! — James E. Talmage

The world's greatest champion of woman and womanhood is Jesus the Christ. — James E. Talmage

Our Lord's descent from the holy heights of the Mount of Transfiguration was more than a physical return from greater to lesser altitudes; it was a passing from sunshine into shadow, from the effulgent glory of heaven to the mists of worldly passions and human unbelief; it was the beginning of His rapid descent into the valley of humiliation. — James E. Talmage

No jot, iota, or tittle of the temple rites is otherwise than uplifting and sanctifying. In every detail the endowment ceremony contributes to covenants of morality of life, consecration of person to high ideals, devotion to truth, patriotism to nation, and allegiance to God. — James E. Talmage

No pang that is suffered by man or woman upon the earth will be without its compensating effect ... if it be met with patience. — James E. Talmage

Gratitude is twin sister to humility; Pride is foe to both. — James E. Talmage

The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one sided, but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion and criticism is worth defending. — James E. Talmage

Man cannot measure the bounds nor fathom the depths of divine forgiveness ... — James E. Talmage

We hear much nowadays as to the speculative ideas of men concerning the condition beyond the grave; but the admission that there is an individual existence beyond the grave, is a declaration that there must have been an individual, intelligent creation before we came here in the flesh. Life beyond the grave postulates a pre-existent state. — James E. Talmage