Knowledge Quotes
In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power; for only by true understanding and steadfast judgment are we able to master the challenge of history. — John F. Kennedy
Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.
–William Shakespeare
The mind is like the stomach; it isn’t the amount that goes in that counts, but the amount you digest. –LeGrand Richards
The mind grows by what it feeds on. –Josiah Holland
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Luke 11 : 9
“[To become] more like the Savior . . . we, too, should increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
(Spencer J. Condie, “Becoming a Great Benefit to Our Fellow Beings,” Ensign, May 2002, 44)
“Education is the key to opportunity. The Lord has placed upon you, as members of this Church, the obligation to study and to learn of things spiritual, yes, but of things temporal also. Acquire all of the education that you can, even if it means great sacrifice while you are young.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 172)
“We encourage our youth in every country to get an education. Even if at times it seems hopeless. With determination and faith in the Lord, you will be blessed with success. It is a dream well worth pursuing.”
(Boyd K. Packer, “To Be Learned Is Good If . . . ,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, 73)
“It is so important that you young men and you young women get all of the education that you can. The Lord has said very plainly that His people are to gain knowledge of countries and kingdoms and of things of the world through the process of education, even by study and by faith. Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity for you. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth working at, and if you educate your mind and
your hands, you will be able to make a great contribution to the society of which you are a part, and you will be able to reflect honorably on the Church of which you are a member. My dear young brothers and sisters, take advantage of every educational opportunity that you can possibly afford, and you fathers and mothers, encourage your sons and daughters to gain an education which will bless their lives.”
(Gordon B. Hinckley, “Inspirational Thoughts,” Ensign, June 1999, 4)
“There are impelling reasons for our sisters to plan toward employment. . .We want them to obtain all the education and vocational training possible before marriage. If they become widowed or divorced and need to work, we want them to have dignified and rewarding employment. If a sister does not marry, she has every right to engage in a profession that allows her to magnify her talents and gifts.”
(Howard W. Hunter, “Prepare for Honorable Employment,” Ensign, Nov. 1975, 124)
“Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life.”
Attributed to Brigham Young…
“God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!”
–Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Ensign, July 1975, p 7)
“Search the scriptures – search the revelations … and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation” (_Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1938], pp. 11-12).
“The mere stuffing of the mind with a Knowledge of facts is not education.
The mind must not only possess a knowledge of the truth, but the soul must
revere it, cherish it, love it as a priceless gem; and this human life must
be guided and shaped by it in order to fulfill its destiny.”
Joseph F. Smith
The Choice
David L. Olpin,
It is the misapprehension of most people that if you are good, really good at what you do, you will eventually be both widely known and well compensated. It is the understanding of almost everyone that success, to be complete, must include a generous portion of both fame and fortune as essential ingredients. The world seems to work on that premise. The premise is false. It is not true. The Lord taught otherwise. I want you, our children, to know this truth: You need not be either rich or hold high position to be completely
successful and truly happy. In fact, if these things come to you, and they may, true success must be achieved in spite of them, not because of them. The crucial test of life does not center in the choice between fame and obscurity, nor between wealth and poverty. The greatest decision of life is between good and evil. What, then, do we want you to do? Simply this:
Be good!
Study the gospel.
Live it!
Stay active in the Church.
Receive the ordinances.
Keep your covenants.
Position and wealth are no more essential to true happiness in mortality than their absence can prevent you from achieving it. I can envision a day, in generations ahead, when I would regard you and your children, and theirs, struggling with the challenges of life. I may see you go the full distance of mortality without becoming either well-known or wealthy. I can see myself falling to my knees to thank a generous God that my prayers have been answered, that you have succeeded, that you are truly happy.
Sterling W. Sill, BYU Speeches, February 9, 1965, p.9
A young man came to Socrates one time and said, “Mr. Socrates, I have come 1,600 miles to talk to you about wisdom and learning.” He said, “You are a man of wisdom and learning, and I would like to be a man of wisdom and learning, and I would like to have you teach me how to be a man of wisdom and learning.” Socrates said, “Come follow me,” and he led the way down to the seashore. They waded out into the water up to their waists, and then Socrates turned on his friend and held his head under the water. His friend struggled and kicked and bucked and tried to get away, but Socrates held him
down. Now if you hold someone’s head under the water long enough, he will eventually become fairly peaceable. And after this man had stopped struggling, Socrates laid him out on the bank to dry, and he went back to the market place. After the young man had dried out a little bit, he came back to Socrates to find the reason for this rather unusual behavior, Socrates said to him, “When your head was under the water what was the one thing you wanted more than anything else?” And the man said, “More than anything else, I wanted air.” Socrates said, “All right, when you want wisdom and learning like you
wanted air, you won’t have to ask anybody to give it to you.”
There was a young man who came to Mozart one time and said, “Mr. Mozart, would you teach me how to write symphonies?” Mozart said, “You are too young to write symphonies.” But this young man said, “You were writing symphonies when you were fifteen years younger than I am.” Mozart said, “But I didn’t have to ask anybody to teach me.”
It seems that none of the crows knew how to fly. One of the crows was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. He thought long and hard about it, but was having trouble coming up with a subject. (It seems the crows already knew just about everything!) One day, as he was crossing the street, he was so engrossed in thought that he did not see a car coming until the car honked. It was almost upon him and he had no time to run out of the
way. He panicked so completely that he began to flap his wings furiously in the air. In doing so, he became airborne and lifted himself completely out of danger.
“Aha!” thought the crow. “I will give my talk on flying.” So, when Sunday arrived, the crow dressed himself in his best clothes and went to church to teach the other crows to fly.
His talk was wonderful! He talked about the dynamics of flying, the methods of flight, flight patterns and on and on. He next invited the members of the congregation to practice flying. The young ones caught on most quickly, but before long there was not one member of the ward, even the most elderly, that did not know how to fly. They flew around the chapel, down the halls, into the classrooms and back. It seemed that they were born to fly! Every crow nodded their heads and declared the meeting a GREAT SUCCESS! They congratulated each other and slapped each other on the backs. Then, they gathered up their families and belongings…
…And they all walked home.
The Grocery Store Clerk
Jim Davis, a grocery store clerk who loves his job, prides himself on his good work. One of his pet peeves is out-of-control toddlers and parents who yell at their kids but do nothing to correct their children’s obnoxious behavior.
One evening, Jim was checking out a customer who had a shopping cart full of groceries. While ringing up the sale, a child behind him began screaming very loudly, and an angry man responded by shouting, “Get down!”
What a jerk, thought Jim, without even looking up. He kept on calling out prices and moving the groceries past the scanner. The kid behind him was still crying, and again he heard the man yell, “Get down!” Sheesh. Talk about poor parenting, thought Jim. This guy is a total jerk. He kept on checking groceries without looking up.
Finally finishing the customer’s cart, Jim looked up and said, “That’ll be $89.95, ma’am.” Seeing no one, he looked around and noticed that everyone, including his customer, was lying face down on the floor.
He turned around just in time to see a gunman leave the store. The checker behind him, still lying on the floor, calmly said, “Jim, you know the second time you heard ‘Get down,’ his gun was pointed right at your head.”
We can get so accustomed to the noise of our culture and the distractions of the world that when we hear someone telling us something important, we blow it off as if it were of no significance. How many times have we been warned about the dangers of abusing drugs and alcohol or of doing other behaviors that can kill you? We hear so much of that, we sometimes ignore the messengers, assuming the warning is meant for someone else. We go on with business as usual.
You put yourself at great risk when you blow off an important message, one that can save your life. The time will come when there’ll be no more opportunities to act on the message. There is One waiting for you to come to Him. “Now is the day of salvation.”
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.62
If our children and grandchildren are taught and heed these same truths, will they fall away? We best instruct them in the Book of Mormon at our dinner table, by our firesides, at their bedsides, and in our letters and phone calls-in all of our goings and comings. Some spiritually alert parents hold early-morning devotionals with their families in their homes. They have a hymn, prayer, and then read and discuss the Book of Mormon. “The elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Book of Mormon,” says the Lord (D&C 42:12). (CR October 1984, Ensign 14 [November 1984]: 7.)
The bible contains 3,566,480 letters, 733,746 words, 31,163 verses, 1,189 chapters, and 66 books. The longest chapter is the 119th Psalm. The middle verse is the 8th verse of the 118th Psalm. The longest name is in the 8th chapter of Isaiah. The word “and” occurs 46,227 times; the word “Jehovah” 6,885 times. The 37th chapter of Isaiah and the 19th chapter of the 9th books of Kings are alike. The longest verse is the 9th of the 8th chapter
of Esther; the shortest verse is the 35th of the 11th chapter of John. In the 21st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra is the alphabet. The finest piece of reading the 26th chapter of Acts. The name of God is not mentioned in the book of Esther. The Bible contains two testaments. The Old is law. The New is love. The Old is the bud, the New is the bloom. In the Old, man is reaching up for God. In the New, God is reaching down for man. In the Old, man is in the valley but can see the sun shining on the mountain tops. In the New, he is on the mountain top basking in the sunlight of God’s infinite love.
Ten Ways to Worry Less and Accomplish More
7 Author Unknown
1. Don’t think of problems as difficulties. Think of them as opportunities for action.
2. After you’ve done your best to deal with a situation, avoid speculating about the outcome. Forget it and go onto the next thing..
3. Keep busy. Keep the 24 hours of your day filled with these three ingredients: work, recreation, sleep. Don’t allow yourself time for abstract thinking.
4. Don’t concern yourself with things you can’t do anything about. Armchair generals don’t win battles, but they do have nervous breakdowns.
5. For the time being anyway, eliminate daydreaming completely. Stop building air castles.
6. Don’t procrastinate. Putting off an unpleasant task until tomorrow simply gives you more time for your imagination to make a mountain out a possible molehill. More time for anxiety to sap your self-confidence. Do it now, brother, do it now.
7. Don’t pour woes and anxieties to other people. You don’t want their sympathy…it’ll merely make it easy for you to feel sorrier for yourself.
8. Get up as soon as you wake up. If you lie in bed, you may use up as much nervous energy living your day in advance as you would in actual accomplishment of the day’s work.
9. Try to arrange your schedule so that you will not have to hurry. Hurry, a blood brother to worry, helps shatter poise and self-confidence, and contributes to fear and anxiety.
10. If a project seems too big, break it up into simple steps of action. Then negotiate those steps-link rungs in a ladder…one at a time. And don’t allow yourself to think about the difficulties of step number two until you’ve executed step number one.
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles by it. – Thomas Fuller
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the realtragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. – Plato
In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power; for only by true understanding and steadfast judgment are we able to master the challenge of history. — John F. Kennedy
Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.
–William Shakespeare
The mind is like the stomach; it isn’t the amount that goes in that counts, but the amount you digest. –LeGrand Richards
The mind grows by what it feeds on. –Josiah Holland
The great aim of education is not knowledge but action. Herbert Spencer
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Luke 11 : 9
“Search the scriptures – search the revelations … and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation” (_Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938], pp. 11-12).
Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life.
Attributed to Brigham Young…
God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!
–Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge
By Richard G. Scott
Gaining spiritual knowledge is not a mechanical process. It is a sacred privilege based upon spiritual law. I testify that you can receive inspired help.
You wonderful, righteous members of this church constantly inspire and motivate me. Thank you for your zest for life, your generous giving of self, your devotion, and your determination to live worthily. I also express gratitude to our many friends who have joined us through these conference sessions. May the messages given bless your lives.
Recently in South America a youth inquired, “Can you give us suggestions that will help us know the Savior better and be able to constantly follow His example?” That meaningful question and others like it have prompted this message on acquiring spiritual knowledge.
President Ezra Taft Benson emphasized the importance of spiritual knowledge, saying:
“We should make daily study of the scriptures a lifetime pursuit. . ..The most important [thing] you can do . . . is to immerse yourselves in the scriptures. Search them diligently, Learn the doctrine, Master the principles.
“You must . . . see that . . . searching the scriptures is not a burden laid upon [us] by the Lord, but a marvelous blessing and opportunity”
Spiritual learning takes precedence. The secular without the foundation of the spiritual is . . . like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow. . . One need not choose between the two . . . for there is opportunity to get both simultaneously
President Spencer W. Kimball
KNOWLEDGE
Never before in the history of the world has there been a time when so many opportunities have been open to women. Now is the season to train your minds and your hands for the work you wish to do. I am not suggesting that all of you should be university students. There is a need for technicians of many varieties, and the work to be done is honorable and contributes immensely to the society of which we are a part.
Some of you may think that marriage will take care of all your future needs. Marriage is important, and I hope that each of you will have the blessing of a happy marriage, but circumstances arise in the lives of many women that make it necessary to work and provide for their needs. Education can prove to be the wisest and most profitable investment you can make. Get all the help and direction you can concerning your aptitudes and ambitions, and then get training to sharpen your skills and improve your opportunities.
*President Gordon B. Hinckley
Too great care cannot be taken in educating our young ladies. Great responsibilities will devolve upon them. To their hands will be mainly committed the formation of the moral and intellectual character of the young. Let the women of our country be made intelligent, and their children will certainly be the same. The proper education of a man decides his welfare; but the interests of a whole family are secured by the correct education of a woman.
**George Q. Cannon
