Good Works Quotes

Good Works Quotes

“Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.”
(Marion G. Romney, “The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance,” Ensign, Nov. 1982, 93 )
“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose
themselves in the service of others. . . . By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves….. For many years there was a sign on the wall of a shoe repair shop I patronized. It read, ‘I complained because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.’ The most effective medicine for the sickness of self-pity is to lose ourselves in the service of others.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley, “Whosoever Will Save His Life,” Ensign, Aug. 1982, 5.)
Love demands that I learn how to focus my attention on the needs of those I love.
— John Powell
Life is more fun when you don’t keep score.
If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two mouths and one ear.
— Mark Twain
The miracle is this:  The more we share, the more we have.  – Jeonard Nimoy
One of the biggest thrills in life comes from doing a job well.
I did not hear the words you said; instead, I heard the love.
We do not remember days; we remember moments.
Work is love made visible.
When you help someone up a hill, you are that much nearer the top yourself.
Luck may sometimes help; work always helps.
”Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness.  When persons manifest the least kindness and love to, O what tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.
— President Joseph Smith
”Unless the way we live draws us closer to our Heavenly Father and to our fellow men, there will be an enormous emptiness  in our lives.  God does notice us, and watch over us; but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs,  Therefore it is vital that we serve each other.”        — President Spencer W.  Kimball
Good works are the essence of the gospel.  Faith without good works is dead.  In order to truly be dedicated to others we have to learn to serve without any thought of reward or pay.
Good works is a value easy to neglect as we go hurriedly through our busy lives.  We have to put forth special effort to think of others and what we can.
How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!
You may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.
Live to make the world less difficult for each other. –George Eliot
Everyone needs a hand to hold.  Why not donate yours?
The best way to cheer yourself up it to try to cheer someone else up.
— Mark Twain
You can’t give a hug without getting one in return.
You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.                        – Kahlill Gibran
God cares for people through people.
A candle loses nothing of it’s light by lighting another candle.
Bonnie M. Lewis
The best time to do something worthwhile is between yesterday and tomorrow.
If we all were a little more like angels,
Earth would be a little more like heaven.
Good works is a value easy to neglect as we go hurriedly through our busy lives.  We have to put forth special effort to think of others and what we can
Charity
Marvin J. Ashton.  Ensign, May, 1992 p.19
Charity is perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word.  We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate.  But really, true charity is much, much more.    Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself.  And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again.  It makes the thought of being a basher repulsive.  Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefits of the doubt or remain quiet.  Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped.  Charity is reusing
to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting the best of each other.  None of us need one more person bashing or pointing out where we have failed or fallen short.  Most of us are already well aware of the areas in which we are weak.  “What each of us does need is family, friends,
employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we’re trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weaknesses.  What ever happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt?  What ever happened to hoping that another person would succeed or achieve?  What ever happened to rooting for each other (This could be placed at Moroni 7:45-48)
SET APART
author unknown
You have been “set apart” to do a particular part of the work of the Church. This position is now yours.  It doesn’t belong to anyone else.  No one has the right to it while you have it.  If you do not do the job, the job will not be done.  This responsibility is not something to be taken lightly. The church is injured most by those who say, as did the vine dresser’s son, “I go,” and went not.  Had he said, “I go not,” someone else would have done the job and no harm would have resulted.
Never accept a position in the Church with the intention of not doing it. Don’t wait to be reminded or urged.  Once you have accepted an assignment, carry it through as though your life depended upon it, as indeed it does.
President John Taylor said, “If you do not magnify your calling, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.”  Who of us can afford to be responsible for the loss of the eternal life of a human soul?  If great joy is the reward of saving one soul, then how terrible must be the remorse of those whose timid efforts have allowed a child of God to be lost.
Never be one of those who say, “I go” but does not.  There are those who make many promises but falter in every performance.  If they teach a class it will fail.  If their responsibility is to make reports, the reports will be late and inaccurate.  Their enlistment work is never done.  They must be reminded and prepared and coaxed in their simple duties.  Someone described the efforts of one such as, “timid, tardy, torpid and tentative.”  Everything their hands touch will show a loss. Over and over they say, “I go,” but they go not.  The worst blasphemy is not profanity, but lip service.
You are a child of divinity.  You have within you the attributes of deity. Every man is greater, and more powerful than he realizes.  All he needs to do is to call that power forth through faithful activity.  But man is not only great because of what he IS, but also because of what he may become.
It is hoped that for you, to be “set apart” will mean that everyone will be better off because His work was given into your hands.  It is a great thing to be called in the work of the Lord.  We should not only pray to Him to help us do our work, but we should also pray that we may be able to help Him do His work.
“We lose our life by serving and lifting others.  By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness.  Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom.  Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.
“Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another?  Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts.  In that day there will be no need for a commandment because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service.”
(“The Celestial Nature Of Self-Reliance,” General Conference, October 1982)
“The Tongue Can Be A Sharp Sword,”
Charity is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word.  We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate.  But really, true charity is much, much more.
Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself.  And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again…
Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.  Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped.  Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting the best of each other.
Marvin J. Ashton  General Conference, April 1992)
Charles A. Callis, Conference Report, October 1919
“Brethren and sisters, how good it is to be in the service of the Lord. In the Book of Mormon we read that when a man is engaged in the service of his fellow men, he is only engaged in the service of his God. Service is the crown of every good man’s life. The life that is lived for itself is barren; it is no good. The man who lives for himself, shrivels up, he dies, for only by working for others can we hope to survive in everything that is good.
The crown of President Grant’s life is splendid service to God and his fellow men. The crown of the lives of the apostles and all the leaders of the Church, from Joseph Smith down to the present time, is the crown of service. It glows with the light of heaven’s approbation. It is the crown of the life of the Son of God. He died, he served us that we might live, for he descended below all things to bring our redemption from sin and from the grave.”

Spencer W. Kimball on Life’s Challenges
[After quoting Caleb’s story from Joshua 14:7-8, 10, 11, Pres. Spencer W. Kimball said:]
From Caleb’s example we learn very important lessons. Just as Caleb had to struggle and remain true and faithful to gain his inheritance, so we must remember that, while the Lord has promised us a place in his kingdom, we must ever strive constantly and  faithfully so as to be worthy to receive the reward.
Caleb concluded his moving declaration with a request and a challenge with which my heart finds full sympathy. The Anakims, the giants, were still inhabiting the promised land, and they had to be overcome. Said Caleb, now at 85 years, “Give me this mountain” (Joshua 14:12).
This is my feeling for the work at this moment. There are great challenges ahead of us, giant opportunities to be met. I welcome that exciting prospect and feel to say to the Lord, humbly, “Give me this mountain,” give me these challenges.
(Spencer W. Kimball, CR, Oct. 1979, p. 115)
[Pres. Kimball was 84 years old when he spoke these words, and like Caleb, has seen more than his share of struggles and suffering. But his courage and willingness to serve the Lord was a powerful inspiration to the Church which he humbly led…]
“If the adversary can influence us to pick on each other, to find fault, bash, and undermine, to judge or humiliate or taunt, half his battle is won. Why? Because though this sort of conduct may not equate with succumbing to grievous sin, it nevertheless neutralizes us spiritually. The Spirit of the Lord cannot dwell where there is bickering, judging, contention, or any kind of bashing.”
Marvin J. Ashton
God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.  Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other . . . In the Doctrine and Covenants we read about how important it is to ‘succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.’  (D&C 81:5)  So often our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving mundane help with mundane tasks — but what gloriuous consequences can flow from mundane acts and from small but deliverate deeds.
–President Spencer W. Kimball
The Gossiper
A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor.  Within a few days the whole community knew the story.  The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended.  Later, the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue.  She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck it’s feathers and drop them one by one along the road.”  Although she was surprised by this advice, the woman did as she was told.
The next day she went to the wise man and told him that she had done as directed.  He said, “Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them to me.”
The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay the wind had blown all the feathers away.  After searching for hours, she returned with only three. “You see”, said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but it is impossible to get them back.  So it is with gossip.  It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”  Author Unknown
Pray as though everything depended upon God and work as though everything depended upon you.
~Brigham Young
Serving Others
Thomas S. Monson
Time passes.  Circumstances change.  Conditions vary.  Unaltered is the divine command to succor the weak and lift up the hands which hang down and strengthen the feeble knees.  Each of us has the charge to be not a doubter, but a doer; not a leaner, but a lifter.  But our complacency tree has many branches, and each spring more buds come into bloom.  Often we live side by side but do not communicate heart to heart.  There are those within the sphere of our own influence who, with outstretched hands, cry out: “Is there no balm in Gilead…” (Jer. 8:22.) Each of us must answer….
In reality, it was the Redeemer who best taught this principle.  Jesus changed men.  He changed their habits and opinions and ambitions. He changed their tempers, dispositions, and natures.  He changed their hearts. He lifted!  He loved!  He forgave!  He redeemed! Do we have the will to follow?
“With Hand and Heart,”  October 1971
“To serve others willingly and unselfishly should be one of our greatest virtues.  It is not even a matter of choice.  It is an obligation, a sacred command. . . . Therefore, let us serve one another with brotherly love, never tiring of the demands upon us, being patient and persevering and generous”
(Ezra Taft Benson, New Era September 1979 p. 44)
“We must remember that those mortals we meet in the parking lots, offices, elevators, and elsewhere are that portion of mankind God has given us to love and to serve. It will do us little good to speak of the general brotherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us as our brothers and sisters.”
Spencer W. Kimball
August 1979 Ensign,
Spirit of Service
Heber J. Grant
“I have been impressed with the fact that there is a spirit growing in the world today to avoid giving service, an unwillingness to give value received, to try to see how little we can do and how much we can get for doing it.  This is all wrong.  Our spirit and aim should be to do all we possibly can, in a given length of time, for the benefit of those who
employ us and for the benefit of those with whom we are associated.
“The other spirit — to get all we can, and give as little as possible in return — is contrary to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not right to desire something for which we do not give service or value received.  That idea is all wrong, and it is only a question of time when the sheep and the goats will be separated.”
LIVING IN THE NOW……
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, it carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day. What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.  Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.  It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.  Each day it opens a new account for you.  Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back.  There is no drawing against the “tomorrow”. You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!  The clock is running. Make the most of today.
YESTERDAY IS A MEMORY
TOMORROW IS A VISION
ENJOY TODAY
To realize the value of ONE YEAR
ask a student who has failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH
ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK
ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY
ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND
ask a person who has avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND
ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have!  And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to have your time and remember, time waits for no one!
YESTERDAY IS A CANCELED CHECK
TOMORROW IS A PROMISSORY NOTE
TODAY IS CASH ON HAND -SPEND IT WISELY!!!
“Frequently, we busily search for group service projects, which are surely needed and commendable, when quiet, personal service is also urgently needed. Sometimes the completing of an occasional group service project ironically salves our consciences when, in fact, we are constantly surrounded by a multitude of opportunities for individual service. In serving, as in true worship, we need to do some things together and some things personally. Our spiritual symmetry is our own responsibility, and balance is so important.”
–Neal A. Maxwell,  _All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience_, p.55
Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley and the Model T
My father had a horse and buggy when I was a boy. Then one summer day in 1916, a wonderful thing happened. It was an unforgettable thing. When he came home that evening he arrived in a shining black brand-new Model T Ford.
It was a wonderful machine, but by today’s standards it was a crude and temperamental sort of thing. For instance, it did not have a self-starter. It had to be cranked. You learned something very quickly about cranking that car. You retarded the spark, or the crank would kick back and break your hand. When it rained, the coils would get wet, and then it would not start at all. From that car I learned a few simple things about making preparation to save trouble. A little canvas over the cowl would keep the coils dry. A little care in retarding the spark would make it possible to crank without breaking your hand.
But the most interesting thing was the lights. The car had no storage battery. The only electricity came from what was called a magneto. The output of the magneto was determined by the speed of the engine. If the engine was running fast, the lights were bright. If the engine slowed, the lights became a sickly yellow. I learned that if you wanted to see ahead as you were going down the road, you had to keep the engine running at a fast clip.
So, just as I’d discovered, it is with our lives. Industry, enthusiasm, and hard work lead to enlightened progress. You have to stay on your feet and keep moving if you are going to have light in your life. I still have the radiator cap of that old 1916 Model T. Here it is. It is a reminder of lessons I learned seventy-seven years ago.
(“Some Lessons Learned As A Boy,” General Conference, April 1993)
THAT BOOK YOU ARE WRITING
by Winston K. Pendleton
My arms were full of packages as I turned from the counter  in the post office and moved toward the  door. I figured I would lean on it and push it open — no  problem. But instead, Mary Ellen Livingston grabbed it and opened it for me. She is our fourth grade teacher and she was coming for her mail as I was leaving with mine. “Thank you,” I gave her my best smile.
“You’ve got all you can carry,” she said, as she turned and walked across the sidewalk to my car, “Where do you want to put them? In the back?”  “That would be great,” I said. And the rear door swung open. As I was arranging my packages on the back seat, I thanked her again and said, “I’m not used to such service. I don’t know what I would have done if you had not helped me.” I reached to take her hand and said again, “Thank you so much.” “You’re welcome” she replied, “It wasn’t all that much. Just something for my book.”
My ears perked up. “Your book? Are you writing a book?” “Certainly she said, “Mine never will be printed, but I’m writing one. As I tell the children at school, everybody is writing a book. Everything you do goes into it.” With that she gave me a tiny wave of her hand and walked away. Suddenly, she turned and said “Each day is like a fresh, new page of your life. You think about that.”
And I did think about it. As I drove home, I began to understand what she had said. “Each new day is like a fresh, new page of your life.” She is right. Not only that you can put anything on that page that you want. You could do nothing all day long and end the day with a blank page, or you could mess it up and have nothing but an ugly smear. Or you could write a sonnet to show that your day had been filled with love and friendliness and
appreciation for others. You might even use your page as a sign post or a sort of guide for some one who might be following you and looking to you for inspiration and direction.
What makes a worthwhile page in a book? Smiles can brighten a page. They add a color accent to an otherwise drab day. Smiles work on the “domino principle.” You smile at two friends. They will smile — everytime! During the day each of them will smile at two friends. And you have smiling “dominos” falling all over the place.
A kind word makes a good paragraph on your page. Pay a compliment to someone who serves you: In a service station, at the dry cleaners, in a restaurant or in the supermarket, to a teacher. Pick up the phone and call a friend you haven’t seen in several weeks.
What about a thoughtful deed: That would add spice and excitement to your page of life. The size of the deed doesn’t matter, it is not nearly as important as the thoughtfulness behind it. Run an errand for a neighbor, pick a few flowers from the garden for a shut-in, write a note to congratulate someone about something.
Yes, YOU are writing a book. What you put in it  depends on YOU, nobody else. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to leave behind a volume that would hold a place of honor in the permanent library of a friend, to be read and reread and shared long after you have passed this way.
“Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world.”  —Gordon B. Hinckley    Stand A Little Taller, 185
“You don’t have the power to make rainbows or waterfalls, sunsets or roses, but you do have the power to bless people by your words and smiles… You carry within you the power to make the world better…”  —Sharon G. Larsen     Ensign, May 2000
No matter how many stocks and bonds or how much land and other properties we possess, they are not wholly ours. They are the Lord*s. He further says that He owns and gives to us all the blessings we have and that He makes us stewards over them, responsible to Him. He makes it clear that it is His purpose to provide for His Saints, but He requires that it be done in His way, which way, He explains, is for those who have to contribute to those who have not. Having made us stewards, He gives us our agency, however, and then lays down the condition that if we accept these blessings and refuse to contribute our share for the care of the poor, we shall go to – – well, He tells us where we shall go.***- – Marion G. Romney
A girl all wrapped up in herself makes a mighty small package. You start to live when you start to give.
On the streets I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God, *Why did you permit this? Why don*t you do something about it?* For awhile God said nothing. That night He replied, quite suddenly, *I certainly did something about it. I made you.*

RIPPLES ON THE LAKE
Ann Margetson
As I stood at the beginning of the New Year,
A special thought came to me so very strong
That I should plough forward and right every wrong,
That I should make the world much better than before.
I read of mighty men and their wonderful deeds so great,
I bowed my head and thought what difference could I make?
I can not make a ripple even on the smallest lake,
How could someone like me stop hunger, war and hate?
That night I prayed to God, for I knew my thought was good.
How can I right each wrong done? How can I stop hate and war?
How can I with such puny strength an my limited means, sour
To lofty heights to help all my fellow men? Please show me Lord.
That night I had a dream, like small visions in my troubled mind.

GOOD WORKS
I saw a child being bullied by friends, I took him upon my knee.
I saw an old woman who lives all alone, as happy as could be
Because I was in her kitchen, both of us talking and chatting happily.
I saw someone by a grave, with tear stained face and broken heart,
I took him by the hand and let him talk of his sweet wife and his love,
I listened and shed with him some tears, then sweet peace like a dove
Rested on his broken heart, and he thanked me for friendship true.
Next morning walking by the lake, I threw in a tiny stone to see
How many ripples it would make on that water strong and still.
It landed with a gentle touch, but oh, the circles went on till
At last they reached the shore and caused small waves to form.
Then I knew that my dream meant for me to try, within my own realm,
To make some kind of difference to a few of my fellow men.
There will be some small thing I may do, although I don*t know when,
That could make a child feel safe, and a lonely soul feel whole again.
WHO DOES GOD*S WORK WILL GET GOD*S PAY
Who does God*s work will get God*s pay
However long may seem the day
However weary be the way
No mortal hand, God*s hand can stay
He may not pay as others pay
In gold or skills or raiment*s gay
In goods that perish and decay
But His high wisdom knows a way
And this is sure let come what may
Who does God*s work will get God*s pay
DEDICATION
This day I will dedicate my labors
To serve God and keep His commandments.
These things I do with love.
This dedication is an offering to the Lord
And He will strengthen my hand in His work.
For the Lord will judge me by my works,
And by the desires of my heart.
He will judge me by His commandments
And by my obedience and love.
This day I will dedicate my labors
To serve God and keep His commandments.
These things I do with love.
Beverly J. Pond
INTEGRITY
I will have the moral courage to make my actions consistent with my knowledge of right and wrong.

One reason for the decline in moral values is that the world has invented a new, constantly changing and undependable standard of moral conduct referred to as ‘situational ethics.’ Now, individuals define good and evil as being adjustable according to each situation; this is in direct contrast to the proclaimed God-given absolute standard: ‘Thou shalt not!’_as in ‘Thou shalt not steal’ (Ex. 20:15).
David B. Haight
I would say to him, do not lie. Just one lie told and you have committed yourself to remember every facet of the situation to protect that lie. Furthermore, once you lie and are discovered, just once, all the rest of your life that person will not trust you. Every time your name comes up, if he is in a position to give you some position or advantage involving trust, that lie will be remembered, and he will not have confidence. You may have repented long since and have been forgiven, even by him, but in spite of himself, he will wonder if you truly have repented. On the other hand, if you tell the truth always, no matter what, it will someday save your reputation and perhaps your honor.”
S. Dilworth Young

Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of intentions. And the actions which speak louder than words.
It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year after year.
Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things.
It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.
Do Not Despair
Our values, our road signs that keep us on course and on schedule, are not to be tucked away in a drawer for safekeeping but carried daily, used continuously, tested against our performance regularly, and literally worn out as a constant measuring device that keeps us accountable.
The powers and plans of Satan are cunning and subtle and very real. You are not unfamiliar
with the pirates that would attempt to board your ship almost daily, who would rob you of your treasures, your peace of mind, your self-discipline, your clear conscience, your commitment, your integrity, your morality, even your eternal destiny if possible, and leave you shipwrecked, washed up on shore. I believe the most destructive threats of our day are not nuclear war, not famine, not economic disaster, but rather the despair, the discouragement, the despondency, the defeat caused by the discrepancy between what we believe to be right and how we live our lives. We are on a stormy sea. These are threatening times and we may be ignoring or even cutting ourselves loose from the very signals that would save us. – – Ardeth G. Kapp,