Chastity Quotes
''We believe in chastity before marriage and total fidelity after marriage. That sums it up. That is the way to happiness in living. That is the way to satisfaction. It brings peace to the heart and peace to the home.''
President Gordon B. Hinckley "This Thing Was Not Done in a Corner", General Conference, October 1996
"There are at least three dangers that threaten the Church within, and the authorities need to awaken to the fact that the people should be warned unceasingly against them. As I see these, they are flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity."
Joseph F. Smith, "Gospel Doctrine," p. 312
"My precious young brothers, may you understand that chastity is the source of virile manhood, the crown of beautiful womanhood, the foundation of a happy home, and the ultimate and perfect standard underlying all spiritual progression."
Elder Robert L. Backman, CR, "Chastity - The Source of True Manhood", Ensign", Nov. 1989, page 40
"My beloved youth, he is not your friend who would rob you of your virtue. She does not love you if she tempts you or yields to you. Such is your enemy. To require the yielding to passion, and gratification, yet to profess love, is to lie; for we never exploit one whom we love."
President Spencer W. Kimball (in Conference Report, Sydney Australia Area Conference, 1976, p. 54). (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 38).
"...For some unknown reason, there is constantly appearing the false rationalization that at one time in the long-ago, virtue was easy and that now it is difficult.
I would like to remind any who feel that way that there has never been a time since the Creation when the same forces were not at work that are at work today. The proposal made by Potiphar's wife to Joseph in Egypt is no different from that faced by many men and women and youth in our day.
"The influences today may be more apparent and more seductive, but they are no more compelling. One cannot be shielded entirely from these influences. They are all about us. Our culture is saturated with them. But the same kind of self-discipline exercised by Joseph will yield the same beneficial result...."
"The violation of his commandments in this, as in any other age, brings only regret, sorrow, loss of self-respect, and in many cases tragedy."
President Gordon B. Hinckley: (With All Thy Getting Get Understanding. Ensign, Aug. 1988, 2). (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 38).
"The plaguing sin of this generation is sexual immorality. This, the Prophet Joseph said, would be the source of more temptations, more buffetings, and more difficulties for the elders of Israel than any other."
President Ezra Taft Benson: (Cleansing the Inner Vessel, CR April 1986, Ensign, May 1986, 4). (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 39).
"Do not be misled by Satan's lies. There is no lasting happiness in immorality. There is no joy to be found in breaking the law of chastity.
Just the opposite is true. There may be momentary pleasure. For a time it may seem like everything is wonderful. But quickly the relationship will sour. Guilt and shame set in. We become fearful that our sins will be discovered. We must sneak and hide, lie and cheat. Love begins to die. Bitterness, jealousy, anger, and even hate begin to grow. All of these are the natural results of sin and transgression.
"On the other hand, when we obey the law of chastity and keep ourselves morally clean, we will experience the blessings of increased love and peace, greater trust and respect for our marital partners, deeper commitment to each other, and, therefore, a deep and significant sense of joy and happiness."
President Ezra Taft Benson: (The Law of Chastity, BYU 1987-88 Speeches, 51). (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 39).
"Decide now to be chaste. The decision to be chaste and virtuous need only be made once. Make that decision now, and let it be so firm and with such deep commitment that it can never be shaken."
President Ezra Taft Benson:(The Law of Chastity, New Era, Jan. 1988, 6). (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 39).
"No one can transgress the laws of chastity and find peace."
"Infidelity and sexual immorality are two principal evils that threaten to weaken and to wreck present-day civilization."
President David O. McKay: (Gospel Ideals, 1976, p. 473 and p. 487) (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 40).
"Some find it difficult to withstand the mockings and unsavory remarks of foolish ones who ridicule chastity, honesty, and obedience to God's commands. But the world has ever belittled adherence to principle. When Noah was instructed to build an ark, the foolish populace looked at the cloudless sky, then scoffed and jeered---until the rain came."
President Thomas S. Monson: (CR, April 1967, p. 5) (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 40).
"'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' ....The violator of this commandment suffers a loss second only to the loss suffered by him who kills. With the loss of the Spirit of the Lord, which always accompanies adultery, comes a diminution of the power to choose between right and wrong. Lying, loss of self-respect, and disloyalty are bosom companions of adultery. If we are seriously interested in being successful in any endeavor, we shall avoid every type of immorality as we would avoid the plague."
President Marion G. Romney:(A Glorious Promise, Ensign, Jan. 1981, p. 3) (What Prophets and Apostles Teach About Chastity and Fidelity, Ensign 1998, p. 41).
"I have heard all my life that it is the young woman who had to assume the responsibility for controlling the limits of intimacy in courtship because a young man cannot.
Seldom have I heard any point made about this subject that makes me want to throw up more than that.
What kind of man is he, what priesthood or power or strength or self-control does this man have that lets him develop in society, grow to the age of mature accountability, perhaps even pursue a university education and prepare to affect the future of colleagues and kingdoms and the course of the world, but yet does not have the mental capacity or the moral will to say, "I will not do that thing"?
No, this sorry drugstore psychology would have him say, "I just can't help myself. My glands have complete control over my life--my mind, my will, my entire future.
"To say that a young woman in such a relationship has to bear her responsibility and that of the young man's too is the most discriminatory doctrine I have ever heard.
In most instances if there is sexual transgression, I lay the burden squarely on the shoulders of the young man--for our purposes probably a priesthood bearer—and that's where I believe God intended responsibility to be.
In saying that I do not excuse young women who exercise no restraint and have not the character or conviction to demand intimacy only in its rightful role. . . . But I refuse to buy some young man's feigned innocence who wants to sin and call it psychology."
From Jeffrey R. Holland "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments"
"Above all, courtesy to companions cannot be defiled by disobedience to the law of chastity. That sin is joy's deadly poison. The first morning's glance in the mirror cannot reflect joy if there is any recollection of misdeeds the night before. The surest step toward joy in the morning is virtue in the evening."
Russell M. Nelson: "Joy Cometh in the Morning", Ensign, November, 1986
"There is no strength that is greater than the strength of virtue. There is no other nobility equal to the nobility of virtue. There is no quality so becoming, no attire so attractive."
Gordon B. Hinckley, "If Thou Art Faithful", (Ensign, November 1984)
"Humanity will rise and fall through its attitude toward the law of chastity."
Mark E. Petersen (General Conference Report, April 1969, page 62)
"Chastity is like money in the bank. As you save yourself you are SAVING the joy of belonging to one and only one."
Paul H. Dunn (Gen. Conf, October 1981 "Teach the Why". Nov. Ensign, page 72)
"To the young men who are here tonight I wish to say that the Lord has made it clear, and the experience of centuries has confirmed it, that happiness lies not in immorality, but rather in abstinence. The voice of the Church to which you belong is a voice pleading for virtue. It is a voice pleading for strength to abstain from that which is evil. It is a voice declaring that sexual transgression is sin. It is contrary to the will of the Lord. It is contrary to the teachings of the Church. It is contrary to the happiness and well-being of those who indulge in it.
"You should recognize, you must recognize, that both experience and divine wisdom dictate virtue and moral cleanliness as the way that leads to strength of character, peace in the heart, and happiness in life."
Gordon B. Hinckley, "Reverence and Morality," Ensign, May 1987, 47-48