Dallin Oaks Quotes & Sayings

Don't be dumb. (don't get a tattoo) — Dallin H. Oaks

Priesthood power blesses all of us. Priesthood keys direct women as well as men, and priesthood ordinances and priesthood authority pertain to women as well as men. — Dallin H. Oaks

Man unquestionably has impressive powers ... But after all our obedience and good works, we cannot be saved from the effects of our sins without the grace extended by the atonement of Jesus Christ ... Man cannot earn his own salvation. — Dallin H. Oaks

The word sharing affirms that we have something extraordinarily valuable and desire to give it to others for their benefit and blessing. — Dallin H. Oaks

We gain or strengthen a testimony by bearing it. — Dallin H. Oaks

Just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. — Dallin H. Oaks

When we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must have trust in him. We must trust him enough that we are content to accept his will, knowing that he knows what is best for us. — Dallin H. Oaks

If our bodies are sick, we seek to heal them. We do not give up. The same thing should be true of our marriages. — Dallin H. Oaks

Our attitude determines how we evaluate our life's experiences. They determine how we evaluate ourselves. They also govern how we look at other people. Are we inclined to judge an eternal soul by the appearance of an earthly body? Do we see the beautiful soul of a brother or sister or do we only see that person's earthly tabernacle? Bodies can be distorted by handicap, twisted by injury or worn by age. But if we can learn to see the inner man and woman, we will be seeing as God sees and loving as He loves. — Dallin H. Oaks

It is not enough that we are under call or even that we are going in the right direction. The timing must be right. — Dallin H. Oaks

Alcohol is the number one addictive drug in our day. — Dallin H. Oaks

If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow-through our premature death or through His unexpected coming-what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear? If we would do those things then, why not now? — Dallin H. Oaks

From the perspective of the plan of salvation, one of the most serious abuses of children is to deny them birth. This is a worldwide trend. The national birthrate in the United States is the lowest in 25 years,2 and the birthrates in most European and Asian countries have been below replacement levels for many years. This is not just a religious issue. As rising generations diminish in numbers, cultures and even nations are hollowed out and eventually disappear.
One cause of the diminishing birthrate is the practice of abortion. Worldwide, there are estimated to be more than 40 million abortions per year.3 Many laws permit or even promote abortion, but to us this is a great evil. — Dallin H. Oaks

A good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection. — Dallin H. Oaks

Our attitude toward abortion ... is fixed by our knowledge that according to an eternal plan all of the spirit children of God must come to this earth for a glorious purpose, and that individual identity began long before conception and will continue for all the eternities to come. We rely on the prophets of God who have told us that while there may be 'rare' exceptions, 'the practice of elective abortion is fundamentally contrary to the Lord's injunction, 'Thou shalt not ... kill, nor do anything like unto it' — Dallin H. Oaks

The greatest power God has given to His sons cannot be exercised without the companionship of one of his daughters, because only to his daughters has God given the power to be a creator of bodies so that God's design and the great plan might meet fruition. — Dallin H. Oaks

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. — Dallin H. Oaks

Through the lens of spirituality, we see all the commandments of God as invitations to blessings. — Dallin H. Oaks

Service is an imperative for those who worship Jesus Christ and a covenant obligation of those who belong to his Church. — Dallin H. Oaks

To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being. — Dallin H. Oaks

Loving-kindness is required, but a follower of Christ-just like the Master-will be firm in the truth. — Dallin H. Oaks

Materialism, which gives priority to material needs and objects, is obviously the opposite of spirituality — Dallin H. Oaks

Those who enjoy the blessings of liberty under a divinely inspired constitution should promote morality, and they should practice what the Founding Fathers called civic virtue. — Dallin H. Oaks

Pornographic or erotic stories and pictures are worse than filthy or polluted food. The body has defenses to rid itself of unwholesome food. With a few fatal exceptions, bad food will only make you sick but do no permanent harm. In contrast, a person who feasts upon filthy stories or pornographic or erotic pictures and literature records them in this marvelous retrieval system we call a brain. The brain won't vomit back filth. Once recorded, it will always remain subject to recall, flashing its perverted images across your mind and drawing you away from the wholesome things in life. — Dallin H. Oaks

Revelation comes most often when we are on the move. — Dallin H. Oaks

The most effective missionsries always act out of love — Dallin H. Oaks

judgments in choosing our friends, in choosing how we will spend our time and our money, and, of course, in choosing an eternal companion. Some of these intermediate judgments are surely among those the Savior referenced when he taught that "the weightier matters of the law" include judgment (Matthew 23:23). — Dallin H. Oaks

In the acquisition of Sacred knowledge, scholarship and reason are not alternatives to revelation. They are a means to an end, and the end is revelation from God. — Dallin H. Oaks

When you're involved in the work of the Lord, the power behind you is always greater than the obstacles before you. — Dallin H. Oaks

And so we understand that the atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to overcome spiritual death that results from sin, and, through making and keeping sacred covenants, to have the blessings of eternal life. — Dallin H. Oaks

Testimony is to know and to feel, Conversion is to do and to become. — Dallin H. Oaks

The possession of wealth is not a mark of Heavenly favor and their absence is not evidence of Heavenly disfavor. — Dallin H. Oaks

Service to mankind must ever be the ideal of this great university. It was established in the name of Jesus Christ, who gave his life that all men might live. — Dallin H. Oaks

Having descended beneath it all, He is perfectly positioned to lift us. — Dallin H. Oaks

In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to KNOW something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to BECOME something ... The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of god are supposed to become ... Charity is something one becomes. — Dallin H. Oaks

We should refrain from anything that seems to be a final judgment of any person ... the Lord alone has the capacity to judge ... And, in all of this we must remember the command to forgive. — Dallin H. Oaks

Man's laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral — Dallin H. Oaks

What does it mean to be true to the faith? That word true implies commitment, integrity, endurance, and courage. — Dallin H. Oaks

Even as we seek to be meek and to avoid contention, we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand. We must not surrender our positions or our values. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the covenants we have made inevitably cast us as combatants in the eternal contest between truth and error. there is no middle ground in that contest. — Dallin H. Oaks

The people are the source of governmental power. Along with many religious people, Latter-day Saints affirm that God gave the power to the people, and the people consented to a constitution that delegated certain powers to the government ... The sovereign power is in the people. — Dallin H. Oaks

We should seek after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair our imperfections. — Dallin H. Oaks

Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord's will and in the Lord's timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him in whom we have faith. Remember that when your prayers do not seem to be answered in the way or at the time you desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security and serenity in our lives. — Dallin H. Oaks

If we are practicing our faith and seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit, his presence can be felt in our hearts and in our homes. A family having daily family prayers and seeking to keep the commandments of God and honor his name and speak lovingly to one another will have a spiritual feeling in their home that will be discernible to all who enter it. — Dallin H. Oaks

The consumption of alcohol is increasing among youth. Targeting young audiences, advertisers portray beer and wine as joyful, socially desirable, and harmless. Producers are promoting new types of alcoholic beverages as competitors in the huge soft-drink market. Grocery and convenience stores and gas stations stock alcoholic beverages side by side with soda pop. Can Christians who are involved in this commerce be indifferent to the physical and moral effects of the alcohol from which they are making their profits? — Dallin H. Oaks

Plan specifically so you can implement flexibly. — Dallin H. Oaks

Adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them. — Dallin H. Oaks

My first fundamental premise of our faith is that God is real and so are eternal truths and values not provable by current scientific methods. These ideas are inevitably linked. Like other believers, we proclaim the existence of the ultimate lawgiver, God our Eternal Father, and the existence of moral absolutes. We reject the moral relativism that is becoming the unofficial creed of much of modern culture. — Dallin H. Oaks

When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life. — Dallin H. Oaks

As children of God, knowing of His great love and His ultimate knowledge of what is best for our eternal welfare, we trust in Him. The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and faith means trust. — Dallin H. Oaks

My experiences taught me firsthand that when a person is not performing well, there are many possible reasons, some not of his own choosing. — Dallin H. Oaks

I testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose teachings and example we seek to follow. He invites all of us who are heavy laden to come unto Him, to learn of Him, to follow Him, and thus to find rest to our souls. — Dallin H. Oaks

If you wish to marry well, inquire well. — Dallin H. Oaks

We are all preparing for things to come. That is the purpose of mortal life ... We are all children of a Heavenly Father who has sent us to earth with the invitation to prepare for eternal life. Every choice, every experience, every repentance and reformation prepares us for what is to come. — Dallin H. Oaks

I am unpersuaded that relative poverty and hard work are greater adversities than relative affluence and free time. — Dallin H. Oaks

A man is not required to run faster than he is able but it is a requirement to run. — Dallin H. Oaks

Consider how we use our time. Not everything is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. SOme things are better, and others are best. — Dallin H. Oaks

When we understand our relationship to God, we also understand our relationship to one another. — Dallin H. Oaks

If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination. — Dallin H. Oaks

We need to remember the purpose of our service to one another. If it were only to accomplish some part of His work, God could dispatch 'legions of angels.' ... But that would not achieve the purpose of the service He has prescribed. We serve God and our fellowmen in order to become the kind of children who can return to live with our heavenly parents. — Dallin H. Oaks

As a General Authority, it is my responsibility to preach general principles. When I do, I don't try to define all the exceptions... I only teach the general rules. Whether an exception applies to you is your responsibility. You must work out individually between you and the Lord. — Dallin H. Oaks

Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen. — Dallin H. Oaks

Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties. — Dallin H. Oaks

The ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity. — Dallin H. Oaks

Our Savior gave Himself in unselfish service. He taught that each of us should follow Him by denying ourselves of selfish interests in order to serve others. — Dallin H. Oaks

Well-taught doctrines and principles have a more powerful influence on behavior than rules. — Dallin H. Oaks

Young people, if you honor your fathers, you will love them, respect them, confide in them, be considerate of them, express appreciation for them, and demonstrate all of these things by following their counsel in righteousness and by obeying the commandments of God. — Dallin H. Oaks

We must change all elements of our behavior that are in conflict with gospel ... covenants. — Dallin H. Oaks

We must seek to be firmly rooted and converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. — Dallin H. Oaks

The commandment to honor our parents echoes the sacred spirit of family relationships in which-at their best-we have sublime expressions of heavenly love and care for one another. We sense the importance of these relationships when we realize that our greatest expressions of joy or pain in mortality come from the members of our families — Dallin H. Oaks

All of us should banish hateful communications and practice civility for differences of opinion. — Dallin H. Oaks

We are cast as combatants in the war between truth and error. There is no middle ground. We must stand up for truth, even while we practice tolerance and respect for beliefs and ideas different from our own and for the people who hold them. — Dallin H. Oaks

Hardships can deprive mortals of the power to ACT. But at the same time, hardships can be the means of eternal growth in ATTITUDE and DESIRE. If endured with the right attitude and accompanied by righteous desires, suffering and deprivation can be the agency of great growth in our spirits. — Dallin H. Oaks

There is not a right and a wrong answer to every question. — Dallin H. Oaks

The nature and extent of profanity and vulgarity in our society is a measure of its deterioration. — Dallin H. Oaks

The incomprehensible suffering of Jesus Christ ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood, but it did not end the importance of sacrifice in the gospel plan. Our Savior requires us to continue to offer sacrifices, but the sacrifices He now commands are that we 'offer for a sacrifice unto [Him] a broken heart and a contrite spirit' (3 Nephi 9:20). He also commands each of us to love and serve one another - in effect, to offer a small imitation of His own sacrifice by making sacrifices of our own time and selfish priorities. — Dallin H. Oaks

Our spirits ... require nourishment. Just as there is food for the body, there is food for the spirit. The consequences of spiritual malnutrition are just as hurtful to our spiritual lives as physical malnutrition is to our physical bodies. — Dallin H. Oaks

Those who are used to a clergy take very lightly those who do not have a formal divinity degree: like Paul and Peter and James and John. — Dallin H. Oaks

It's wrong to criticize leaders of the church, even if the criticism is true. — Dallin H. Oaks

When all other hope is gone, our Father in Heaven provides the Lamb of God, and we are saved by his sacrifice. — Dallin H. Oaks

Religious insights and values are just as important today as they were 50 or 100 years ago. — Dallin H. Oaks

I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism. — Dallin H. Oaks

When a choice will make a real difference in our lives - obvious or not - and when we are living in tune with the Spirit and seeking his guidance, we can be sure we will receive the guidance we need to attain our goal. — Dallin H. Oaks

When we undertake to cover our sins, ... behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man — Dallin H. Oaks

We must not only do what is right. We must act for the right reasons. The modern term is good motive. The scriptures often signify this appropriate mental attitude with the words full purpose of heart or real intent. The scriptures make clear that God understands our motives and will judge our actions accordingly. — Dallin H. Oaks

The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide the opportunity for repentance from sins. The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure 'pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,' because our Savior also took upon Him 'the pains and the sicknesses of his people' (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden. — Dallin H. Oaks

We should recognize the reality that just because something is good is not sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. — Dallin H. Oaks

We may have to struggle to achieve our goals, but our struggles may yield as much growth as our learning. The strengths we develop in overcoming challenges will be with us in the eternities to come. — Dallin H. Oaks

Become what our Heavenly Father desires you to become. — Dallin H. Oaks

Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who has qualified for eternal life. — Dallin H. Oaks

The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ-whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul-is available for every affliction in mortality. — Dallin H. Oaks

Let us give thanks for what we are and for the circumstances God has given us for our personal journey through mortality. — Dallin H. Oaks

When I think of happiness or joy in this life, I begin with some experiences that are simple and basic. I see the expression on the face of a one-year-old taking those first steps. I think of a child loving a puppy or a kitten. If the more mature have not dulled their physical or spiritual sensitivities by excess or disuse, they can also experience joy in what is simple and basic. — Dallin H. Oaks

Let us all improve our personal behavior and redouble our efforts to protect our loved ones and our environment from the onslaught of pornography. — Dallin H. Oaks

Spirituality is not a function of occupation or calling. A scientist may be more spiritual than a theologian; a teacher may be more spiritual than an officer. Spirituality is determined by personal outlook and priorities. It is evident in our words and actions. — Dallin H. Oaks

Citizens ... should be practitioners of civic virtue in their conduct toward government. They should be ever willing to fulfill the duties of citizenship. This includes compulsory duties like military service and the numerous voluntary actions they must take if they are to preserve the principle of limited government through citizen self-reliance. — Dallin H. Oaks

Establish in the mind of a young person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God, and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life. — Dallin H. Oaks

Our society is not held together primarily by law and its enforcement but most importantly by those who voluntarily obey the unenforceable because of their internalized norms of righteous or correct behavior. Religious belief in right and wrong is a vital influence to produce such voluntary compliance by a large number of our citizens. — Dallin H. Oaks

God's love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He knows that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God's anger and His wrath are not a contradiction of His love but an evidence of His love. Every parent knows that you can love a child totally and completely while still being creatively angry and disappointed at that child's self-defeating behavior. — Dallin H. Oaks

The principles stated in the proclamation on the family are a beautiful expression of this gospel culture. — Dallin H. Oaks

Fear not little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail ... Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. — Dallin H. Oaks