Dallin H. Oaks Quotes

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.

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

Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.

You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need won't satisfy you.

To avoid all possibility for error is to avoid all possibility for growth.

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

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.

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.

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.

When we face seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the fulfillment of righteous responsibilities, we should remember that when we are involved in the work of the Lord, the obstacles before us are never as great as the power behind us. We should reach out and climb. Handholds will only be found by hands that are outstretched. Footholds are only for feet that are on the move.

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?

The commandment to avoid contention applies to those who are right as well as those who are wrong.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the brightest light and the only hope for this darkened world.

Man's laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral

If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination.

Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places.

Over past years we have seen unrelenting pressure from advocates of homosexuality to accept as normal what is not normal, and to characterize those who disagree as narrow-minded, bigoted and unreasonable. Such advocates are quick to demand freedom of speech and thought for themselves, but equally quick to criticize those with a different view and, if possible, to silence them by applying labels like "homophobic."

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.

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.

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.

God loves all of His children. He has provided a plan for His children to enjoy the choicest blessings that He has to offer in eternity. Those choicest blessings are associated with marriage between a man and a woman by appropriate priesthood authority to bring together a family unit for creation and happiness in this life and in the life to come.

When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act increase enormously.

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

I do not accept the fact that conditions that prevent people from attaining their eternal destiny were born into them without any ability to control. That is contrary to the Plan of Salvation, and it is contrary to the justice and mercy of God. It's contrary to the whole teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which expresses the truth that by or through the power and mercy of Jesus Christ we will have the strength to do all things. That includes resisting temptation. That includes dealing with things that we're born with, including disfigurements, or mental or physical incapacities.

The purpose of the gospel is to transform common creatures into celestial citizens, and that requires change.