L. Tom Perry famous quotes

You are not competing with anyone else. You are only competing with yourself to do the best with whatever you have received.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Competing

One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves. One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Weakness #Common #Failing

Teaching children the joy of honest labor is one of the greatest of all gifts you can bestow upon them.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Teaching #Joy

If you will respond to the invitation to share your beliefs and feelings about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a spirit of love and a spirit of courage will be your constant companion.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Jesus #Feelings #Spirit

The choices you make will make all of the difference in what you want to achieve.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Differences #Choices #Want

If I keep my promises to the Lord, He will always keep His promises to me. He [will] always fulfill His end of the bargain—and much, much more—if I fulfill mine.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Promise #Lord #Ends

I believe it is by divine design that the role of motherhood emphasizes the nurturing and teaching of the next generation.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Believe #Teaching #Motherhood

Regarding Fasting: Have the faith to bind the Lord.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Faith #Fasting #Lord

The joining together of a man and a woman to be legally and lawfully wed not only is preparation for future generations to inherit the earth, but it also brings the greatest joy and satisfaction that can be found in this mortal experience.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Men #Joy #Preparation

We must never let the noise of the world overpower and overwhelm that still small voice.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Voice #World #Noise

A good character is something you must make for yourself. It cannot be inherited from parents. It cannot be created by having extraordinary advantages. It isn't a gift of birth, wealth, talent or station. It is the result of your own endeavor. It is the reward that comes from living good principles and manifesting a virtuous and honorable life.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Character #Parent #Rewards

Let us each day search from the scriptures and from the prophets…. The scriptures that are never read will never help us. If read, the words of God will nourish our souls and carry us to great heights in our endeavors.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Soul #Each Day #Height

Parents must bring light and truth into their homes by one family prayer, one scripture study session, one family home evening, one book read aloud, one song, and one family meal at a time. They know that the influence of righteous, conscientious, persistent, daily parenting is among the most powerful and sustaining forces for good in the world. The health of any society, the happiness of its people, their prosperity, and their peace all find common roots in the teaching of children in the home.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Song #Prayer #Children

Family is the center of life. It is the key to eternal happiness.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Keys #Eternal Happiness

Have you ever thought of yourself as a junior angel crowned with glory and honor? Every one of our Father in Heaven's children is great in His sight. If the Lord sees greatness in you, how then should you see yourself?
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Father #Angel

What a glorious legacy of faith, courage, and ingenuity those noble early Mormon pioneers have left for us to build upon. My admiration for them deepens the longer I live.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Legacy #Pioneers #Noble

We must not pick and choose which commandments we think are important to keep but acknowledge all of God’s commandments. We must stand firm and steadfast, having perfect confidence in the Lord’s consistency and perfect trust in His promises.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Thinking #Perfect #Consistency

In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives. May we comply with the inspired counsel and direction the Lord has given us in the great plan of happiness. May we be worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and follow the guidance of the Spirit as we navigate this mortal journey. May we prepare ourselves to accomplish the ultimate purpose of this mortal test-to return and live with our Heavenly Father.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Stress #Father #Journey

In our hearts do we feel a sense of gratitude and devotion to the Father? Are we of one heart with Him to whom we owe everything? The test of our devotion to the Lord seems to be the way we serve Him.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Gratitude #Father #Heart

Embedded in the gospel of Jesus Christ there are eternal principles and truths that will last far longer than the principles of building ships and roofs. You and I, as members of the Lord's true Church, have special access and insight into these eternal principles and truths, especially when we listen to the Spirit for individual guidance and hear the prophet's voice as he declares the will of God to the members of the Church. You and I both know how important these eternal principles and truths are in our lives.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Jesus #Voice #Special

Homes should be an anchor, a safe harbor, a place of refuge, a place where families dwell together, a place where children are loved. In the home, parents should teach their children the great lessons of life. Home should be the center of one’s earthly experience, where love and mutual respect are appropriately blended.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Life Lesson #Home

Mothers of today have no greater opportunity and no more serious challenge than to do all they can to strengthen the home.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Mother #Home #Opportunity

Enduring to the end is definitely not a do-it-yourself project.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Ends #Projects #Endure

We can't predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond a shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Jesus #Struggle #Doubt

The almost universal gift everyone can develop is the creation of a pleasant disposition, an even temperament.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Creation #Disposition #Temperament

Let me close by bearing witness (and my nine decades on this earth fully qualify me to say this) that the older I get, the more I realize that family is the center of life and is the key to eternal happiness.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Keys #Eternal Happiness #Earth

The most powerful teaching a child will ever receive will come from concerned and righteous fathers and mothers.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Mother #Children #Powerful

If you don't raise the bar, how will you ever know your potential?
-- L. Tom Perry

#Bars #Raises #Raising The Bar

Go forward with new zeal and determination, and through your example shine the light of the gospel in this troubled world.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Determination #Light #Shining

Increasingly, the balance between living in the world and not being of the world is becoming more delicate. Publications, radio, television, and the Internet have surrounded us with worldliness. . . . We are fortunate to have been blessed with a special power to direct us in making important decisions between right and wrong.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Blessed #Decision #Special

Today, I would like you to pause, ponder, and think of the value of an immortal soul, especially the ones entrusted to you as parents. Where are your priorities? Have you committed yourself to give the sufficient time necessary to train your children?
-- L. Tom Perry

#Family #Children #Thinking

In all of the history of mankind there has never been a time when we have had a greater opportunity to increase our knowledge of the law of the Lord...Surely there can be no excuse for us not to become the best informed generation of all time in our knowledge of the scriptures. Never before have we had opportunity such as we have today to become real gospel scholars.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Real #Opportunity #Law

We declare to the world that the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. . . . We invite all to listen to the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from us. Then you can compare the glorious message with what you may hear from others, and you can determine which is from God and which is from man.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Jesus #Men #World

A good character is something you must make for yourself. It cannot be inherited from parents.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Character #Parent #Good Character

When we have the Spirit to direct us, we are capable of teaching with great power.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Teaching #Power #Spirit

What we need is a royal army of returned missionaries reenlisted into service.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Army #Missionary #Needs

Prayer endows us with the power to draw near to our Eternal Father. How important it is, then, that one of our fundamental teachings to our children is how to pray.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Prayer #Children #Father

God’s eternal blessings are contingent upon our obedience and adherence to the word of the Lord that is revealed to us through His holy prophets
-- L. Tom Perry

#Blessing #Adherence #Lord

Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. ... As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a years supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Believe #Years #Long

Today's complexities demand greater simplicity.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Simplicity #Demand #Today

God reveals to His prophets that there are moral absolutes. Sin will always be sin. Disobedience to the Lord’s commandments will always deprive us of His blessings. The world changes constantly and dramatically, but God, His commandments, and promised blessings do not change. They are immutable and unchanging.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Blessing #World #Moral

The world changes constantly and dramatically, but God, His commandments, and promised blessings do not change.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Blessing #World

Surely there could not be any doctrine more strongly expressed in the scriptures than the Lord’s unchanging commandments and their connection to our happiness and well-being as individuals, as families, and as a society.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Connections #Doctrine #Scripture

The scriptures are one of our greatest treasures. They contain God’s instructions to His people from the beginning of time.
-- L. Tom Perry

#People #Treasure #Scripture

If we will build righteous traditions in our families, the light of the gospel can grow ever brighter in the lives of our children from generation to generation. We can look forward to that glorious day when we will all be united together as eternal family units to reap the everlasting joy promised by our Eternal Father for His righteous children.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Father #Lds

I promise you, if you will heed the voice of warning of the Holy Ghost and will follow His direction, you will be blessed with the ministering of angels, which will add wisdom, knowledge, power, and glory to your life. Remember, the Lord is bound by solemn covenant to bless our lives according to our faithfulness.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Blessed #Angel #Voice

Obedience is a choice. It is a choice between our own limited knowledge & power & God's unlimited wisdom & omnipotence.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Spiritual #Omnipotence #Choices

Parents have the glorious opportunity of being the most powerful influence, above and beyond any other, on the new lives that bless their homes.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Powerful #Home #Motherhood

Teaching children the joy of honest labor is one of the greatest of all gifts you can bestow upon them. Let us also teach our children to see that the work assigned is carried to its completion and to take pride in what they accomplish.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Teaching #Pride

Strong, proactive obedience is anything but weak or passive. It is the means by which we declare our faith in God and qualify ourselves to receive the powers of heaven. Obedience is a choice. It is a choice between our own limited knowledge and power and God’s unlimited wisdom and omnipotence.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Strong #Mean #Knowledge And Power

Build traditions in your families that will bring you together, for they can demonstrate your devotion, love, and support for one another. These events would include blessings of children, baptisms, other priesthood ordinances, graduations, missionary farewells, homecomings, and, of course, marriages. Sharing these occasions as a family will help us build a foundation established upon a rock.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Farewell #Blessing

May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments. May our testimonies ever grow stronger as we seek to find the fountain of eternal truth. May the brotherhood that exists in our quorum be of comfort and strength and security as we pass through this mortal part of our existence. May the joy of gospel service ever abide in our hearts as we go forward to fulfill our duties and responsibilities as servants in our Father in Heaven's kingdom.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Father #Heart #Responsibility

Be certain that you easily clear the minimum standards for service as a missionary and that you are continually raising the bar.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Missionary #Bars #Standards

The service of bringing light to a troubled world must never end.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Light #Missionary #World

To anyone who has followed the practice of using profanity or vulgarity and would like to correct the habit, could I offer this suggestion? First, make the commitment to erase such words from your vocabulary. Next, if you slip and say a swear word or a substitute word, mentally reconstruct the sentence without the vulgarity or substitute word and repeat the new sentence aloud. Eventually you will develop a non-vulgar speech habit.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Commitment #Vocabulary #Practice

I do plead with the mothers of Zion to undertake modesty in dress. We may like to follow the fashion, but let us follow it in modesty. The most precious thing that a girl has is her modesty and if she preserves this in dress, in speech, in action, it will arm, and protect her as nothing else will. But let her lose her modesty, and she becomes a victim of those who pursue her, as the hare is of the hound; and she will not be able to stand unless she preserves her modesty.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Girl #Mother #Fashion

Obedience is an emblem of our faith in the wisdom and power of the highest authority, even God.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Obedience #Authority #Emblems

Our value system must conform to His. Our actions must conform to our values.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Our Actions #Action #Conform

Who can put a pricetag on the influence of a mother?
-- L. Tom Perry

#Mother #Influence

It is not enough to behave reverently; we must feel in our hearts reverence for our Heavenly Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Reverence flows from our admiration and respect for Deity. It is something we feel inside our hearts no matter what is going on around us. It is also a personal responsibility. We cannot blame others for disturbing our reverent attitudes.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Jesus #Attitude #Father

The nations of the world, if they follow the Lord, will continue to be a blessing to His children so long as they trust and follow Him.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Children #Blessing #Long

One of the better ways to simplify our lives is to follow the counsel we have so often received to live within our income, stay out of debt, and save for a rainy day. We should practice and increase our habits of thrift, industry, economy, and frugality. Members of a well-managed family do not pay interest; they earn it.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Rainy Day #Practice #Income

Just as the pioneers made the desert blossom as a rose, so too our lives and families will blossom if we follow their example and embrace their traditions. Yes, pioneer faith is needed as much in the world today as in any period of time. Once again, we need to know that heritage. We need to teach it, we need to be proud of it, and we need to preserve it.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Rose #Example #Pioneers

Heavenly Father's commandments are the road map He has given us to return to Him, which is the only way we will be eternally happy.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Father #Maps #Way

Have more confidence in yourself than allowing your decisions to happen just by chance.
-- L. Tom Perry

#Decision #Chance #Confidence In Yourself