Quotes About Thought Discipline - Page 2
"If a man does not control his temper, it is a sad admission that he is not in control of his thoughts. He then becomes a victim of his own passions and emotions, which lead him to actions that are totally unfit for civilized behavior, let alone behavior for a priesthood holder."
President Ezra Taft Benson, CR Oct. 1983
"If we in this nation continue to sow the images of murder, violence, drug abuse. . . perversion, (and) pornography...before the eyes of millions..., year after year and day after day, we should not be surprised if the foundations of our society rot away as if from leprosy."
Senator Robert Byrd - BYU Speeches, 1993-94, p. 57
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."
Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Essay on Man, Epistle II, line 217
"If a man be pure in thought, he will be correspondingly pure in action; but if he allows his mind to roam in unrestricted freedom through the various avenues of evil or to dwell unchecked upon the contemplation of forbidden indulgences, it will not be long before his feet tread those paths and his hand plucks the tempting but deceitful fruit."
President George Q. Cannon
It is not enough simply to try to resist evil or empty our lives of sin. We must also fill our lives with righteousness. We must engage in activities that bring spiritual power.
President Ezra Taft Benson
"The Lord votes for you—Satan votes against you—YOU cast the deciding vote!"
"It takes courage to realize that you are greater than your moods, greater than your thoughts, and that you can control your moods and thoughts."
Stephen R. Covey - Book: First Things First, p. 178
"Transgression of any kind is always accompanied by a loss of self-esteem."
"Think clean thoughts. Those who think clean thoughts do not do dirty deeds. You are responsible before God not only for your acts but also for controlling your thoughts. So live that you would not blush with shame if your thoughts and acts should be flashed on a screen in your church. The old adage is still true that you sow thoughts and you reap acts, you sow acts and you reap habits, you sow habits and reap a character, and your character determines your eternal destiny. 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he' (Proverbs 23:7)."
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 561
"We should always remember that our choices do not begin with the act, but in the mind with the idea."
"Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny."
Anonymous
"Our minds can become veritable junk heaps with dirty, cast-off ideas that accumulate there little by little. Years ago I put up some signs in my mind. They are very clearly printed and simply read: "no trespassing." "No dumping allowed." . . .I do not want my mind to be a dumping place for shabby ideas or thoughts, for disappointments, bitterness, envy, shame, hatred, worry, grief, or jealousy."
Boyd K. Packer (Ensign, November 1977, page 59-60)
"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
Norman Vincent Peale
"One of our most urgent present-day needs is to house clean our thinking.
Because two opposite thoughts cannot co-exist in the mind at the same moment, the best way to get rid of undesirable thoughts is by antidoting them with good.
The best way to get darkness out of a room is to fill it with light.
The best way to kill the negative is to cultivate the positive, and the best way to improve our lives is to improve our thoughts."
Sterling W. Sill
"That (final) judgment will consider not only your actions, but also your innermost intent and heartfelt desires. Your everyday thoughts have not been lost. Scriptures speak of the 'bright recollection' (Alma 11:43) and 'perfect remembrance' (Alma 5:18) that your mind will provide in times of divine judgment."
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Ensign, Nov. 1990 (October Conference) page 75
"Each thought is a nail that is driven
In structures that cannot decay;
And the mansion at last will be given
To us as we build it each day."
George Eliot
"If thoughts make us what we are and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts."
Ezra Taft Benson - "Come unto Christ," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], p. 41
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought….What we think, we become."
Buddha
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."
Buddha
"The first deviation toward moral breakdown in a man or woman is similar to a spark that ignites a devastating forest fire. On a hot, windy summer day this year in Midway, Utah, embers from a small campground fire were fanned into a raging forest fire that soon swept over the entire mountainside. Before the flames were brought under control, the lives of two outstanding members of the Church were lost. The roaring fire had destroyed the beautiful autumn foliage, plus eighteen homes.
We risk similar damage to our moral integrity when we let our guard down for even one brief moment. The spark of an evil thought can enter our mind and could ignite and destroy the moral fiber of our soul."
"The Straight And Narrow Way", Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, October 1990