Ensign Quotes & Sayings

I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life. — John Ensign

For the first time in my life, I fully realized that I was not in charge. I knew that I needed to submit to Heavenly Father's will. I couldn't have what I wanted when and how I wanted it just because I was keeping the commandments. The purpose of prayer was not to tell Heavenly Father what to do, rather to find out what He would have me do and learn. I needed to align my will with His ... Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing us. It is about seeking His will and asking for His help to do what we need to do."
June 2013 Ensign, "Improving Your Personal Prayers — Kevin W. Pearson

Ensign Fitzgerald had somehow managed to get himself a jewelled sabre that he was now flashing around like a shilling whore given a guinea fan. — Bernard Cornwell

Ensign Davis thought, Screw this, I want to live, and swerved to avoid the land worms. But then he tripped and one of the land worms ate his face and he died anyway. — John Scalzi

This tottered ensign of my ancestors
Which swept the desert shore of that dead sea
Whereof we got the name of Mortimer,
Will I advance upon these castle-walls.
Drums, strike alarum, raise them from their sport,
And sing aloud the knell of Gaveston! — Christopher Marlowe

No gift bestowed upon us us so precious as children. They are proof that God still loves us. They
are the hope of the future Ensign, May 1987 — James E. Faust

Medical liability reform is not a Republican or Democrat issue or even a doctor versus lawyer issue. It is a patient issue. — John Ensign

The possibility of endangering Nevadans will never happen under my watch. I will do everything I can to protect the safety and welfare of our citizens. — John Ensign

Might his last glance behold the glorious ensign of the Republic still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in all their original lustre. — Noah Webster

Senator Kerry voted to undermine the troops in the field, and that is not only inexcusable, it is reprehensible. — John Ensign

It is irresponsible to set an arbitrary cap on how much therapy a Medicare beneficiary can receive. It ignores the health needs of our senior population - especially the oldest and sickest. — John Ensign

The highest ensign that men ever met and embraced under, the Cross itself, had no meaning save an accidental extrinsic one. — Thomas Carlyle

Kirk: How close will we come to the nearest Klingon outpost if we continue on our present course?
Chekov: Vun parsec, sir. Close enough to smell them.
Spock: That is illogical, ensign. Odors cannot travel through the vacuum of space.
Chekov: I vas making a little joke, sir.
Spock: Extremely little, ensign. — David Gerrold

Commander Huron, I should like to inquire after one of your flight officers."

"Would that be Ensign Kennakris, ma'am?"

"Do you always answer the question like that?"

"Well, ma'am, she does have a way of getting people's attention."

"I've been told she scares the living shit out of people."

"That's one of the ways she gets their attention. — Owen R. O'Neill

As I say, it never ceases to amaze me how gullible some of our Church members are ... "
Admonitions for the Priesthood of God", Ensign, Jan 1973 — Harold B. Lee

Why can't DFW compete like San Francisco does with Oakland, like Miami does with Fort Lauderdale, and like Chicago O'Hare does with Midway? — John Ensign

The False Gods We Worship," Ensign, June 1976, 3. — The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

The more generous the benefit, the easier you make it to stay on unemployment insurance, and the less incentive there is for people to actually go out and do what it takes to get a job. — John Ensign

In 1998 Harry Reid and I had a very close race. It was less than a tenth of a percentage point. We had a reasonable recount. There were a lot of things that I could have pursued at the time, but I just felt that at the time that I should have, you know, conceded the race. — John Ensign

If faith is the first step or principle of the gospel and is eliminated, what happens to the gospel plan? The very foundation will crumble. I submit that there is a divine reason why all things cannot be proven by concrete evidence. ("Faith - The First Step," Ensign, May 1975, 37) — Howard W. Hunter

With God's help, good cheer permits us to rise above the depressing present or difficult circumstances. ... It is sunshine when clouds block the light. Ensign, May 1986 — Marvin J. Ashton

Feeling would not last long. Something would turn up to scare it away. Once, I remember, we came upon a man-of-war anchored off the coast. There wasn't even a shed there, and she was shelling the bush. It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts. Her ensign dropped limp like a rag; the muzzles of the long eight-inch guns stuck out all over the low hull; the greasy, slimy swell swung — Joseph Conrad

If you find someone who agrees with you 80 percent of the time that is your friend not your enemy. — John Ensign

[Kirk] paced back toward his command chair, all eyes on him. "He must have a weakness."
"Certainly," Chekov said. "Is he not basically humanoid? He could be poisoned, phasered, stabbed-"
Kirk sneered. "Without killing him, Ensign."
With a shrug, Chekov turned quietly back to his console, pulling his hands from his lap and placing them on the controls. — Dave Galanter

There's too many people that paint with a broad brush that we're all corrupt, we're all amoral. ... And having these kinds of things happen, whether it's a Republican or Democratic senator - we certainly have had plenty of Democratic scandals in the past - we need people who are in office who will hold themselves to a little higher standard. — John Ensign

Our dress affects not only our thoughts and actions but also the thoughts and actions of others. Accordingly, Paul the Apostle counseled "women [to] adorn themselves in modest apparel" (1 Timothy 2:9).
The dress of a woman has a powerful impact upon the minds and passions of men. If it is too low or too high or too tight, it may prompt improper thoughts, even in the mind of a young man who is striving to be pure.
Men and women can look sharp and be fashionable, yet they can also be modest. Women particularly can dress modestly and in the process contribute to their own self-respect and to the moral purity of men. In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for.
[Ensign, Mar. 2014, 47-48] — Tad R. Callister

Trials come to each of us. Living righteously does not mean that our lives will be free of problems or sorrow, but no matter what hardships we face we can always rely on Heavenly Father and His son. They will not forsake us, and They will give each of us the strength to face whatever may come."
June 2013 Ensign, "Our God Will Never Us Forsake — Jennifer Ann Holt

I believe that voting is the first act of building a community as well as building a country. — John Ensign

It is reported that President Brigham Young once said that he who takes offense when no offense was intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense was intended is usually a fool. It was then explained that there are two courses of action to follow when one is bitten by a rattle snake. One may, in anger, fear, or vengefulness, pursue the creature and kill it. Or he may make full haste to get the venom out of his system. If we pursue the latter we will likely survive, but if we attempt to follow the former, we may not be around long enough to finish it." Marion D. Hank s, in Conference Report, Oct. 1973, 16; or "The Ultimate Form of Love," Ensign, Jan. 1974, 20. — Charles R. Hobbs

We don't bolt, Ensign ... We advance cautiously to the front and quickly to the rear. — Evan Currie

... Modern life is always experienced as a struggle: to impose one's individuality on the world, one has to work against the fabric of modern culture itself and uphold ultimate values in the face of purely instrumental and ever more 'rational' forces. — Nicholas Gane

An ideal marriage is a true partnership between two imperfect people, each striving to complement the other, to keep the commandments, and to do the will of the Lord ["Our Sacred Duty to Honor Woman," Ensign, May 1999). — Russel M. Nelson

Think about how much it costs to incarcerate someone. Do we want them just sitting in prison, lifting weights, becoming violent and thinking about the next crime? Or do we want them having a little purpose in life and learning a skill? — John Ensign

Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion.
The Lord has warned and forewarned us against a day of great tribulation and given us counsel, through His servants, on how we can be prepared for these difficult times. Have we heeded His counsel?
[Ensign, Nov. 1980, 34] — Ezra Taft Benson

Flag committee chairman Miles did not agree with that sentiment. He opposed adoption of this design and wrote:"There is no propriety in retaining the ensign of a government which, in the opinion of the States composing this Confederacy, had become so oppressive and injurious to their interests as to require their separation from it.It is idle to talk of 'keeping' the flag of the United States when we have voluntarily seceded from them. — Clint Johnson

For America's economic future to remain prosperous, we must encourage pro-growth policies so that we continue to be the leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. — John Ensign

In this kind of situation, we tend to cling to his convictions, we believe that, by magic, we are going to recover. Then we agree to drive less good cars and we are fatally more exposed. It is what finally happened to me with Ensign. — Jacky Ickx

Logov sat down in the Captain's Chair and allowed himself to sink into the nice padding. He rested his hands on the arms of the chair and gave them a gentle pat of satisfaction. Feeling a set of eyes on him, he turned to see Ensign Markson shaking her head and making a tsk sound. He could tell he went a step too far and immediately removed himself from the chair. — Jason M. Brooks

It is certain that one who studies the scriptures every day accomplishes far more than one who devotes considerable time one day and then lets days go by before continuing. Not only should we study each day, but there should be a regular time set aside when we can concentrate without interference" ("Reading the Scriptures," Ensign, November 1979, p. 64). — Howard W. Hunter

Human beings crave freedom at their core. — John Ensign

I remember my life's timeline by the books I read, their covers, the way they looked on my bookshelves, the way they smelled, what they spoke to me about. — Josephine Ensign

See yonder thin column of smoke curling up through the woods from some invisible farmhouse, the standard raised over some rural homestead ... It is a hieroglyphic of man's life, and suggests more intimate and important things than the boiling of a pot. Where its fine column rises above the forest, like an ensign, some human life has planted itself,
and such is the beginning of Rome, the establishment of the arts, and the foundation of empires, whether on the prairies of America or the steppes of Asia. — Henry David Thoreau

We can know what the Lord wants us to do - and experience 'the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work' (Alma 26:3). . . .

"To truly be an instrument in the hands of God, in order to fully have that blessing bestowed upon us in 'the day of this life' in which we 'perform [our] labors' (Alma 34:32), we must, as Elder Maxwell says, 'finally submit ourselves' (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 24) to the Lord. — Anne C. Pingree

Set we forward; let
A Roman and a British ensign wave
Friendly together. So through Lud's town march,
And in the temple of the great Jupiter
Our peace we'll ratify, seal it with feasts.
Set on there! Never was a war did cease,
Ere bloody hands were washed, with such a peace. — William Shakespeare

The election in Iraq clearly demonstrates that Iraqi people are like people everywhere. They desire to create a future in an environment that is safe and allows them to reach their full potential as human beings, whatever that potential may be. — John Ensign

I loved being in the Senate. That was a wonderful experience. — John Ensign

Too many members of Congress are too involved in grabbing what they can for their states or districts without enough emphasis on overall fiscal restraint for the sake of the nation as a whole. We need a new era of fiscal sanity. I am not willing to subject my children and grandchildren to the level of debt that Congress has created. — John Ensign

Spencer W. Kimball: No Ordinary Man," Ensign, Mar. 1974, 3. — The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

Seeking of the truth should be not only part of the Justice Department and part of our judicial system, but also should be ... a goal of reporters today. — John Ensign

The Appropriations Committee in the Senate is out of control, out of control on spending. — John Ensign

When in situations of stress, we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capabilities perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked. When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue but with a more determined discipleship. (Ensign, Feb. 1979, 73.) — Neal Maxwell

In Las Vegas, people know that the odds are stacked against them. On Wall Street, they manipulate the odds while you are playing the game. — John Ensign

Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanc'd
Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind. — John Milton

If you double count some votes, that makes other votes disenfranchised. — John Ensign

Finally, in 1888, Cixi approved the Western-style Navy Regulations. It was in endorsing these Regulations that she effectively unveiled China's first national flag. The country had had no national ensign, until its engagement with the West at the beginning of her reign necessitated a triangular-shaped golden yellow flag for the nascent navy. Now she endorsed its change into the internationally standard quadrangular shape. On the flag, named the Yellow Dragon, was a vividly blue, animated dragon, raising its head towards a bright-red globe, the sun. With the birth of this national flag, remarked contemporary Western commentators, 'China proudly took her proper place among the nations. — Jung Chang

You know the bark is worse than the bite in D.C. — John Ensign

Other than that, how was Kyril Island, Ensign Vorkosigan?" inquired the Count. "You didn't vid home much, your mother noticed." "I was busy. Lessee. The climate was ferocious, the terrain was lethal, a third of the population including my immediate superior was dead drunk most of the time. The average IQ equaled the mean temperature in degrees cee, there wasn't a woman for five hundred kilometers in any direction, and the base commander was a homicidal psychotic. Other than that, it was lovely. — Lois McMaster Bujold

With his ship faced with the danger of sinking, the Richard's chief gunner screamed to the Serapis, "Quarter! quarter! for God's sake!" Jones hurled a pistol at the man, felling him. But the cry had been heard by Pearson, the Serapis' commander, who called, "Do you ask for quarter?" Through the clash of battle, gunshot and crackle of fire the famous reply came faintly back to him: "I have not yet begun to fight!" Making good his boast, Jones sprang to a 9-pounder whose gun crew were killed or wounded, loaded and fired it himself, aiming at the Serapis' mainmast, then loaded and fired again. As the mast toppled, Pearson, surrounded by dead, with rigging on fire, hauled down his red ensign in token of surrender. Escorted to Richard's quarterdeck, he handed over his sword to Jones just as the Serapis' mainmast crashed over the side and its sail, nevermore to carry the wind, collapsed in a dying billow into the sea. — Barbara W. Tuchman

Persecution is the heirloom of the church, and the ensign of the elect. — Charles Spurgeon

In 1950, American families sent 1 of 50 of their hard earned dollars to Washington: Today it is 1 in 4. — John Ensign

The act of voting by ordinary Iraqis in the face of extreme danger confirms President Bush's belief that people around the globe, when given a chance, will choose liberty and democracy over enslavement and tyranny. — John Ensign

Once, I remember, we came upon a man-of-war anchored off the coast. There wasn't even a shed there, and she was shelling the bush. It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts. Her ensign dropped limp like a rag; the muzzles of the long six-inch guns stuck out all over the low hull; the greasy, slimy swell swung her up lazily and let her down, swaying her thin masts. In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Pop, would go one of the six-inch guns; a small flame would dart and vanish, a little white smoke would disappear, a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech - and nothing happened. Nothing could happen. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding, a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight; and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives - he called them enemies! - hidden out of sight somewhere. — Joseph Conrad

Ensign Harry Kim stepped out from behind his station at operations, took my hand in a formal and extremely gracious manner, and said, "I'm Garrett Wang, and this is where you will always find me. Unless, of course, I'm promoted. — Kate Mulgrew

I know of no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose ... — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until we can fully grasp the extent of corruption and fraud involved in the administration of the Oil-for-Food program, and until the United Nations decides to cooperate in the investigation, no American taxpayer dollars should go to the United Nations. — John Ensign

Captain," said the squire, "the house is quite invisible from the ship. It must be the flag they are aiming at. Would it not be wiser to take it in?"
"Strike my colours!" cried the captain, "No sir, not I"... — Robert Louis Stevenson

My colleague Senator John Ensign of Nevada told me a story that epitomizes the selfishness of our culture: When I was a teenager, I had a sticker in my car with a picture of a bear scratching himself on the tree, and under it was the saying, 'If it feels good, do it!' That was the motto of the '60s and the '70s, and certainly it is the motto today. The image of the bear scratching himself highlights a view of human beings as animals, and that people should do what pleases them at the moment without a thought to the broader long-term consequences of their actions. — Rick Santorum

Get rid of their mast, knock holes in the hull, then get back on board."
"You want us to sink her?" Gundar asked, and Halt shook his head.
"No. I want her badly damaged but capable of making it back to port. I want the word to go out that the strange ship with the red falcon ensign" - he gestured to Evanlyn's ensign, flying from the mast top - "is manned by dangerous, hairy maniacs with axes and is to be avoided at all costs."
"That sounds like us," Gundar said cheerfully. — John Flanagan

The people of Iraq realize that a stable, successful, democratic Iraq can only come about if average Iraqis are willing to sacrifice to build it. — John Ensign

Often times, the more power and prestige a person achieves, the more arrogant a person can become. — John Ensign

Fling out, fling out, with cheer and shout, To all the winds of Our Country's Banner! Be every bar, and every star, Displayed in full and glorious manner! Blow, zephyrs, blow, keep the dear ensign flying! Blow, zephyrs, sweetly mournful, sighing, sighing, sighing! — Abraham Coles

For my first acting job I played the role of Ensign Pulver in 'Mr. Roberts' at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. — Len Cariou

Sometimes we carry unhappy feelings about past hurts too long. We spend too much energy dwelling on things that have passed and cannot be changed. We struggle to close the door and let go of the hurt. If, after time, we can forgive whatever may have caused the hurt, we will tap 'into a life-giving source of comfort' through the Atonement, and the 'sweet peace' of forgiveness will be ours ("My Journey to Forgiving," Ensign, Feb. 1997. 43). Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that healing comes only with help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life ... You can tap into that higher power and receive precious comfort and sweet peace. — James E. Faust