INDIVIDUAL WORTH Quotes
We see possibilities in others, but do we ever dream of the possibilities within ourselves?
What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you.
Decide to like yourself. Then do it!
All the wonders you seek are within yourself. –Sir Thomas Brown
If you want to put the world right, start with yourself.
You’re the first person who needs to like you.
You don’t need to be a carbon copy of anyone.
You did not come to this world to get your self worth. You brought it with you.
–Ardeth Kapp
Your are a somebody, not a nobody.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Each of us came to this earth with a special mission to perform. We may not know what it is, but our Heavenly Father knows.
“You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul’s own doing.” Marie Stopes
Just as a mechanic needs tools to repair a car, we are all tools in the hands of God. Each tool is different. Each tool is necessary. Do we know what tool we are and which parts we were meant to prepare?
Always remember the outside of a person doesn’t usually tell the whole story.
People are like stained glass windows. They glow and sparkle when it’s sunny and bright, but when the sun goes down their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
No woman was ever quite like you. The Lord made only one, without carbons. You are not repeated and not repeatable. No one else can do what the Lord sent you to do. The value of what you have to contribute will come through the expression of your own personality, that particular spark of the divine that make you unique, setting you off from every other living creature. The mark you leave on the world, on the hearts and minds of others is as distinct as your thumb print. ~ Sister Barbara B. Smith
“Like the caterpillars who will one day become butterflies, you have the magnificent potential to develop the powers within you and become greater than most of you dare to dream…You have the power and the capacity to perform so well that you can inherit all that our Father has if you begin the process and continue until you become what you are really meant to be…You can choose to use the powers within you to have a happy life of
continual growth and development that leads to eternal progression.”
-Barbara B. Smith
” Each of us comes into this world separately, one by one. This is not an accident. I think it’s the Lord’s way of reminding us of the infinite worth of each soul.”
Dwan. J. Young (May 1982 Ensign, page 93)
In these days directly ahead of you is the decisive decision. Are you going to yield to the easy urge to follow the crowd, or are you going to raise your head above the crowd and let them follow you? Are you going to slip off into the mediocrity, or are you going to rise to the heights which your Heavenly Father set for you? You could stand above the crowd and become a leader among your people so that some day they would call your name blessed, or you can follow the usual demands and urges and desires and lose yourself in the herd of millions of folks who do not rise to their potential. The decision is yours and yours only. No one else can fashion and order your life. We, your friends, can suggest and encourage and help you, but you are now in these months and this year or two setting the bounds and the limitations on your life.
(The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 147)
PERSONAL RADIATION
There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man’s unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of his personality – the effect of his words and his acts on others. This radiation is tremendous. Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world.
Every man has an atmosphere, which is affecting every other man. He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying that it is an unconscious influence. Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobility, and make them vitally active in his character. And by these qualities he will constantly affect the world.
This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism, or happiness and hope – or any one of a hundred other qualities.
Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate: to exist is to be the recipient of radiation. (Pres. David O. McKay: BYU address, April 27, 1948. Printed in Church News, May 16, 1948)
Jesus knows that His kingdom will triumph, and He wants you to triumph with it. He knows in advance every strategy the enemy will use against you and the kingdom. He knows your weaknesses and He knows your strengths. By personal revelation you may discover some of your strengths through a careful and prayerful study of your patriarchal blessing. In prayer you can ask Him to reveal to you your weaknesses so that you can amend your life. (“In His Steps,” Church Educational System Devotional, Anaheim, California, 8 February 1987.)–Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.214
Certainly what we are is more important than what we have or what is said of us.
Marvin J. Ashton (May 1979 Ensign, page 68)
Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final. ~Thomas S. Monson (May 1987 Ensign, page68)
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you…As we let our Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
— Nelson Mandela
As we mature spiritually under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, our sense of personal worth, of belonging, and of identity increases.
James E. Faust (May 1989 Ensign, page 33)
When you understand your worth as a daughter of God, you will have a greater desire to turn your weaknesses into strengths and radiate the light of Christ.
“I testify that the Lord loves women. He watches over us and loves our womanhood-the duties and the responsibilities of our gender-and he can speak to us directly with spiritual messages that are necessary for our personal welfare and for the callings in which we are engaged…”~Jaroldeen Edwards
“It is my fervent and humble testimony that the heavens are very much open to women today. They are not closed unless we ourselves, by our choices, close them. And this reality can be just as evident as in any time in the past. As I read of the great spirituality of women of the past and realize how the Lord communicated with them, I thrill with the spiritual manifestations that have accompanied their missions in life, literally a power evidencing the will of God made known through their instrumentality. I think of Eliza R. Snow, of whom Joseph F. Smith said, ‘She walked not in the borrowed light of others, but faced the morning unafraid and invincible.’ The spirit whispers to me that there are Eliza R. Snows among us even today, and there can be many, many more. We can pull down the blessings of heaven through obedience to law. These divine and sacred blessings are not reserved for others alone. Visions and revelations come by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Lord has said, ‘On my servants and on my hand-maidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy.'” ~Ardeth G. Kapp
“If we as Latter-day Saints really understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and all that it portends for women, we will realize that no blessing can be withheld from us if we are prepared and worthy to receive it. The Lord expects us to be exemplars and teachers. I pray that we may catch the understanding and vision of who we really are-and so be.” ~Ida Smith
“You are now placed in situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms…If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.” ~Joseph Smith
“The Spirit of the gospel teaches every man who lives in the line of his duty that he is in the path of right, and so it does every women. By it she knows she is walking in the path of truth and life. It is this Spirit which teaches the sisters as well as the brethren the right from wrong; and she has a perfect right to know the truth of religion-to have knowledge for herself that the principles of her profession are divine. Is there anything wrong or mysterious in this? No. It is because she is a child of God, and therefore she is capacitated to know as he knows-to comprehend the principles of her religion, its divine origin, and its tendency onward and upward.” ~Lorenzo Snow
A story LeGrande Richards, of the Quorum of the Twelve, used to tell. He said: When I was eight my father, who had just recently been ordained a patriarch, gave me my blessing. Among other things, he said that I had not come here upon earth by chance, but in fulfillment of the decrees of the Almighty to accomplish a great work, and then he defined that. All my life, I have prayed that if I didn’t come by chance, that the Lord would help me to accomplish what He sent me to do, so that when my mission here on earth was completed, he wouldn’t have to say to me: “This is what we sent you to do, but you failed and we had to raise up someone else to do your work for you.” True success to me is to accomplish the purpose for which the Lord sent me upon the earth.
Each one of us is concerned in finding the same information about ourselves. We all want to find what our individual worth is in this life. Finding and recognizing our Individual Worth is like putting together a puzzle. It is difficult at times to realize that the pieces are in front of us, and then it may be difficult to understand how they fit together.
We are very hard on ourselves when it comes to recognizing our own worth and value. We could all come up with a long list of the things we don’t like about ourselves, but are hard pressed to come up with a list of talents and assets. Every day we are faced with our own and others’ traits and attributes. Often we judge ourselves against those we see. Unfortunately we usually think only of their strengths and OUR WEAKNESSES. We wish we were as tall, as thin, as smart, as well dressed as spiritual as… The list goes on! Each time we compare in such limiting unrealistic ways, we damage our own self esteem.
Elder L. Tom Perry has said: One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth.
Elder James E. Faust has said: A shallow self-image is not improved by always letting others establish our standards and by habitually succumbing to peer pressure. Young people too often depend upon someone else’s image rather than their own.
The Savior doesn’t just speak to the masses. He ministered and showed love to the one. They weren’t all beautiful and perfect. He looked at their heart. He does with you also.
Your Eternal Worth
“The world would have you believe that you are of worth only if you have money, a certain physical appearance, stylish clothes, or social position. The gospel assures you that your value is not dependent on your looks or material possessions… Part of what it means to be a Latter-day Saint is to know within your soul your eternal worth, who you really are, and why you are here on earth” ~ Elaine L. Jack Ensign, November 1989
Shared with person by author Elizabeth A. Schurg
I’m Special
In all the world there is nobody like me.
Since the beginning of time, there has never been another person like me.
Nobody has my smile. Nobody has my eyes. Nobody has my hair, my hands, my voice. I’m unique. No one can be found who has my handwriting. Nobody anywhere has my tastes – for food or music or art. No one sees things just as I do. In all of time there has been no one who laughs like me: and no one cries like me. What makes me laugh and cry
will never provoke identical laughter and tears from anybody else, ever… No one reacts to any situation just as I would react.
I’m Special
I’m the only one in all of creation who has my set of abilities. Oh, there will always be somebody who is better at one of the things I’m good at, but no one in the universe can reach the quality of my combination of talents, ideas, abilities, and feelings. Like a room full of musical instruments, some may excel alone, but none can make the symphony sound when all are played together.
I’m a symphony.
Through all of eternity no one will ever look, talk, walk, think, or do like me.
I’m special . . . I’m rare . . .and, as in all rarity, there is great value. Because of my great rare value, I need not attempt to imitate others. I will accept – yes, celebrate – my differences. I’m unique. I’m beginning to see that God made me special for a very special purpose. He must have a job for me that no one else can do as well as I can.Out of all the billions of applicants, ONLY ONE is qualifies, ONLY ONE has the right combination of what it takes. That one is ME, because . . .
I’m Special.
By Elizabeth A. Schurg
Believe you are the most valuable possession you have and you*ll protect yourself from intruders. Aren*t you valuable enough to own?
BE YOURSELF
Ever since I was a little kid, I didn*t want to be me. I wanted to be BILLIE WIDDLEDON and Bill Widdledon didn*t even like me. I walked like he walked; I talked like he talked; and I signed up for the same high school he signed up for. Which was when Billie changed. He began to hang around HERBIE VANDERMAN. He walked like Herbie Vanderman; and he talked like Herbie Vanderman. He mixed me up! I began to walk like Billie Widdledon, talking llike Herbie Vanderman.
INDIVIDUAL WORTH
And then it dawned on me that Herbie Vandeman walked and talked like JOEY HAVERLIN. And Joey Haverlin walked and talked like CORKY SABINSON. So here I am walking and talking like Billie Widdledon*s imitation of Herbie Vanderman*s version of Joey Haverlin, trying to walk and talk like Corky Sabinson. And who do you think Corky Sabinson is always walking and talking like? Of all people, DOPEY WELLINGTON. That little pest who walks and talks like me!