Ezra Taft Benson Quotes
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We do not find the Savior using force or coercion to accomplish His purposes.
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There could not be a restoration of the gospel without freedom. God provided this country as the base of his operations in these the last days, a place where there would be freedom, where he could restore his gospel.
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When we set goals we are in command. If we know where we are going, we can judge more accurately where we are now and make effective plans to reach our destination.
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Let your minds be filled with the goal of being like the Lord, and you will crowd out depressing thoughts as you anxiously seek to know Him and do His will.
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Today, with the abundance of books available, it is the mark of a truly educated man to know what not to read. … Feed only on the best. As John Wesley’s mother counseled him: ‘Avoid whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, … increases the authority of the body over the mind.
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We cannot do everything at once, but we can do a great deal if we choose our goals well and work diligently to attain them.
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Our enmity toward God takes on many labels, such as rebellion, hard-heartedness, stiff-neckedness, unrepentant, puffed up, easily offended, and sign seekers. The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren't interested in changing their opinions to agree with God's.
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The proud do not change to improve, but defend their position by rationalizing. Repentance means change, and it takes a humble person to change.
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For the righteous, the gospel provides a warning before calamity, a program for the crises, refuge for each disaster... The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to the prophets and stored at least one year's supply of survival food.
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If we do not feel like praying, then we should pray until we do feel like praying.
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We have many responsibilities, and one cannot expect the full blessings of a kind Providence if he neglects any major duty. A man has duties to his church, his home, his country, and his profession or job.
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The devil knows that if the elders of Israel should ever wake up, they could step forth and help preserve freedom and extend the gospel. Therefore the devil has concentrated, and to a large extent successfully, in neutralizing much of the priesthood. He has reduced them to Sleeping Giants.
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In these sacred documents are embodied eternal principles that no man, group of men, or nation has the right to withhold from others. Here is our basis for freedom of individual achievement. Our Constitution with its Bill of Rights guarantees to all our people the greatest freedom ever enjoyed by the people of any great nation. This system guarantees freedom of individual enterprise, freedom to own property, freedom to start one's own business and to operate it according to one's own judgment so long as the enterprise is honorable.
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Freedom is an eternal principle. Heaven disapproves of force, coercion and intimidation. Only a free people can be truly a happy people.
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Do not make your mind a dumping ground for other people's garbage.
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The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not. Their self-esteem is determined by where they are judged to be on the ladders of worldly success. They feel worthwhile as individuals if the numbers beneath them in achievement, talent, beauty, or intellect are large enough.
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I have little need to remind you that water has become one of our major national concerns.
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Be cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully. Live happily.
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Physical well-being is not only a priceless asset to oneself-it is a heritage to be passed on. With good health, all other activities of life are greatly enhanced. A clean mind in a healthy body enables one to render far more effective service to others. It helps one provide more vigorous leadership. It gives our every experience in life more zest and more meaning. Robust health is a noble and worthwhile attainment.
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We must be devoted to sound principles in word and deed: principle above party, principle above pocketbook, principle above popularity.
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With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings.
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When I think of how we show faith, I cannot help but think of the example of my own father. I recall vividly how the spirit of missionary work came into my life. I was about thirteen years of age when my father received a call to go on a mission.
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This nation was established by the God of heaven as a citadel of liberty. A Constitution guaranteeing those liberties was designed under the superintending influence of heaven.
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Our great Constitution has been beaten and torn until now it hangs by a single thread, and that thread is our franchise to vote.