Quotes About the Priesthood
"Brethren, what can we do for ourselves with the priesthood? We only do for others with the priesthood. We bless others, we perform ordinances for others, we perform service for others."
Robert L. Simpson
"General Conference Reports", p. 100, 1 October 1962
"What is priesthood? Well, we've had the definition-it's the power of the Lord given to man to act for Him in things pertaining to salvation. But I have a different definition that to me seems more accurate. Priesthood is the power by which the power of the Almighty works through man."
Harold B. Lee "Teachings of Harold B. Lee", p. 482
"In the restored Church of Jesus Christ the Holy Priesthood is conferred, as an individual bestowal, upon men only, and this in accordance with Divine requirement. It is not given to woman to exercise the authority of the Priesthood independently; nevertheless, in the sacred endowments associated with the ordinances pertaining to the House of the Lord, woman shares with man the blessings of the Priesthood. When the frailities and imperfections of mortality are left behind, in the glorified state of the blessed hereafter, husband and wife will administer in their respective stations, seeing and understanding alike, and cooperating to the full in the government of their family kingdom.
"Then shall woman be recompensed in rich measure for all the injustice that womanhood has endured in mortality. Then shall woman reign by Divine right, a queen in the resplendent realm of her glorified state, even as exalted man shall stand, priest and king unto the Most High God. Mortal eye cannot see nor mind comprehend the beauty, glory, and majesty of the righteous woman made perfect in the celestial kingdom of God."
James E. Talmage, "The Eternity of Sex", Young Woman's Journal, Oct. 1914: 602-3 page 138
"The power of the priesthood is the greatest power and the greatest force on the face of the earth. Talk about real security! That will be with us if we keep the commandments of the Lord, and if we keep the covenants that we have made with the Lord."
Thorpe B. Isaacson
"General Conference Reports", p. 91, 3 April 1953
"The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man ordained to any degree of the Priesthood, has this authority delegated to him.
"But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. In their fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time,the Prophet and President of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the President of a temple, the President of a stake, the President of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality. His Priesthood is not increased by this special appointment, . . . the President of an Elders' quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in the mission or the quorum, so in other words, the keys of that division of that work. So it is throughout all the ramifications of the Priesthood — a distinction must be carefully made between the general authority, and the directing of the labors performed by that authority."
John Widtsoe's book, "Priesthood and Church Government" p. 195
"No boy or man fully possesses the priesthood until he learns to serve others and the Lord. It is true that someone with authority may bestow the priesthood by the laying on of hands, but until we do something by way of service to others, the priesthood lies dormant within us and is of little value. We must not fail to magnify the callings we receive."
Elder Glen L. Rudd, "Because I Pray for You", General Conference, April 1988
"I thank my Eternal Father for the restoration of the holy priesthood, that 'every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world' (D & C 1:20). I have seen the beauty and wonder of that priesthood in the governance of this remarkable church. I have felt its power flow through me to the blessing and the healing of the sick. I have seen the ennoblement it has given to humble men who have been called to great and serious responsibility. I have seen it as they have spoken with power and authority from on high as if the voice of God were speaking through them."
President Gordon B. Hinckley, Oct. Conf., 1993
"When one holds the priesthood of God, he never knows when his moment of service may come. The challenge is to be ready to serve."
Thomas S. Monson "The Priesthood in Action," Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 48
"You men who hold this precious priesthood, bind it to your very souls. Be worthy of it at all times and in all circumstances. . . . How great are the promises of the Lord to those who walk in faith. . . . What a great and marvelous force for good is in this priesthood if we are united and move forward as one."
Gordon B. Hinckley, "To Men of the Priesthood," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 59
"Ordinary men-including, and perhaps especially, young men-blessed with the privilege of holding the priesthood of God may be called upon to do extraordinary tasks. Holders of the holy priesthood can accomplish mighty feats of heroism, bravery, and service through faith in that sacred power."
Jack H. Goaslind, - "In His Strength I Can Do All Things," General Conference, April 1997
"To every officer, to every teacher in this Church who acts in a priesthood office, there comes the sacred responsibility of magnifying that priesthood calling. Each of us is responsible for the welfare and the growth and development of others. We do not live only unto ourselves. If we are to magnify our callings, we cannot live only unto ourselves. As we serve with diligence, as we teach with faith and testimony, as we lift and strengthen and build convictions of righteousness in those whose lives we touch, we magnify our priesthood. To live only unto ourselves, on the other hand, to serve grudgingly, to give less than our best effort to our duty, diminishes our priesthood just as looking through the wrong lenses of binoculars reduces the image and makes more distant the object."
Gordon B. Hinckley, "Magnify Your Calling," Ensign, May 1989, p. 47