General Conference


President David O. McKay

Preach the Word

“Today civilized nations are sitting on a mountain of explosives, accumulated in defiance of Christ’s teachings. Let the heat of hatred, suspicion, and greed become a little more intense, and there will be such an international explosion as will greatly retard, if not forcibly drive from the midst of mankind, the hoped-for peace heralded by the heavenly hosts when Christ as a babe was born in Bethlehem.”


Stephen L. Richards

Keep the Commandments

“I cannot see how the rank and file of the people who are classed as atheistic communists could accept the godless totalitarianism of Marx and Lenin if they really had a comprehension and knowledge of the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the eternal plans of the Father for the well-being and exaltation of his children.”


President Spencer W. Kimball

Build or Destroy

“There are those today who seem to take pride in disagreeing with the orthodox teachings of the Church and who present their own opinions which are at variance with the revealed truth. Some may be partially innocent in the matter; others are feeding their own egotism; and some seem to be deliberate. Men may think as they please, but they have no right to impose upon others their unorthodox views. Such persons should realize that their own souls are in jeopardy.”



President David O. McKay

“What About Jesus Christ”

“‘…we are a body who aid one another in the productive life; we waste none of our substance in vice, luxury, or ostentation; we do not dissipate our energy in brawling, gambling, or unwholesome habits; we conserve our resources of body and mind and devote them to the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God, which is not a mystical, but a real kingdom; it is a body of people dominated by ideas of productivity, which is mutual service.'”


Ezra Taft Benson

The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God

“Now, we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat the falsehoods in socialism, organic evolution, rationalism, humanism…”


Marion G. Romney

Work and Welfare: A Historical Perspective

“That fall [of Rome], in large measure, was due to the purchasing of votes with unearned benefits, such as entertainment, circuses, and food. The government’s actions built up in the people an expectation and demand which eventually could be kept down only by the establishment of a dictatorship. Many of our members live in countries where this history has repeated itself. In the United States, our treasured American work ethic is waning and the purchasing of votes with unearned benefits is dangerously common.”


Elder Delbert L. Stapley

The Lord’s Plan

“In the eyes of God this work is of a spiritual nature; therefore I have more faith and assurance in the stability and the effectiveness of the welfare plan to care for the need of the Church under all conditions and circumstances, if operated fully by faithful and devoted members of the Church, than I do in any plan of assistance devised by man, regardless of how good those plans may be or how well they may be administered.”


Albert E. Bowen

Law and Labor

“So intimately are the two intertwined that democracy and the Christian religion must survive or perish together. Neither has worked perfectly in human hands. But the failure of the perfect working of the principles of free government probably is fairly in proportion to the failure of men to live the Christian religion.”