50 Quotes From “Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book”
“Longevity does not automatically produce humility. The mere passage of time does not mean the automatic passing of milestones in personal development.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Righteousness increases the uniqueness of our presence, but sin sinks us into sameness” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“As the Lord communicates with the meek and submissive, fewer decibels are required, and more nuances are received” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Though imperfect, an improving person can actually know that the course of his life is generally acceptable to the Lord despite there being much distance yet to be covered” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“The more what is politically correct seeks to replace what God had declared correct, the more ineffective approaches to human problems there will be” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Someday, when we look back on mortality, we will see that so many of the things that seemed to matter so much at the moment will be seen not to have mattered at all” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“The seeming flat periods of life give us a blessed chance to reflect upon what is past as well as to be readied for some rather stirring climbs ahead” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“The gigantic, global collapse that is yet to come will not be that of a failing stock market, but the fall of hardened mindsets and collective pride when it all finally tumbles” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Jesus could not have done the things He did if He had been like some of us – fretting over dominion, fearing the criticism of the world, and seeking glory and praise. In contrast there was Lucifer, whose ascendancy was more important to him than our agency.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“As Jesus begins to have a real place in our lives, we are much less concerned with losing our places in the world. When our minds really catch hold of the significance of Jesus’ atonement, the world’s hold on us loosens” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Some … have actually removed the divinity of Jesus Christ from the center of their doctrines – only to see all the other doctrinal dominoes tumble too.”(Neal A. Maxwell)
“While recognition is a basic human need and is important in the public service, there are those who do too many things to be seen of men”(Neal A. Maxwell)
“Repentance takes care of the past, faith of the future, and the Holy Ghost helps us with today”(Neal A. Maxwell)
“Decrease the belief in God and behold the large increase in the number of those who wish to play at being God. Such societal supervisors may deny the existence of divine ways but they are very serious about imposing their own ways”(Neal A. Maxwell)
“We need not be atop high mountains or in sacred groves for God to be there. God is also there even in the mildest expressions of His presence. “ (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Unless we rebuild marriages and families, then we are just straightening deck chairs on the Titanic”(Neal A. Maxwell)
“The acceptance of the reality that we are in the Lord’s loving hands is only a recognition that we have never really been anywhere else” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Weak individuals make great dominoes” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Those who build the heavenly kingdom have always made nervous the people who are busy building wordly kingdoms. Noah’s ark-building was not politically correct.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“It’s easier to be a character than to have character!” (Neal A. Maxwell)
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“Let us think of service not only as giving, but also as receiving righteously. Parenthetically, one of the many reasons why some of todays children have not learned to give is that some parents do not know how to receive “ (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Jesus didn’t find pleasure hanging on the cross; joy came after duty and agony. He went to Gethsemane and Golgotha out of a sense of supreme service, not because it would meet his needs… but selfish people are forever taking their own temperature, asking themselves, ‘Am I happy?’” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“In a selfish society, citizens are antagonists – not brothers and sisters “ (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Never have so many being schooled so much as to their _rights_ while, at the same time, being taught that there are no behavioral _wrongs._ (Neal A. Maxwell)
“God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Abortion, which has increased enormously, causes one to ask, “Have we strayed so far from God’s second great commandment-love thy neighbor-that a baby in a womb no longer qualifies to be loved-at least as a mother’s neighbor?”” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“When we don’t like to face up to hard facts, we use soft words. We do not speak about killing a baby within the womb, but about “termination of potential life.” Words are often multiplied to try to cover dark deeds.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Pilate’s hands were never dirtier than just after he had washed them.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Organized love is better than generalized concern.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Significantly Church members did not become inactive while crossing the plains, when the sense of belonging and being needed was so profound” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“We should not complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of thorns.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Only the Lord can compare crosses, but all crosses are easier to carry when we keep moving.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“One’s life cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Perhaps the greatest trial to descend upon modern disciples will not be military or political bondage but environmental bondage in which we are forced to live in a wicked world with evil ever present around us.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Trials and tribulations tend to squeeze the artificiality out of us, leaving the essence of what we really are and clarifying what we really yearn for.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Exceptional souls are not developed by being made exceptions to the challenges that are common to mankind” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Agency in its fullest sense requires the individual to be in command of himself, for one who is a prisoner of his bad impulses cannot really choose; another truth about “things as they are,” therefore, is that we either control our bad impulses or they control us.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“God leaves us free. He is deeply committed to our moral agency and to letting people make mistakes if they choose to. And war is the reflection of how institutions fail and of the corruption of individuals. And yet, God leaves us mortals free to make decisions. Sometimes God intervenes as in the Noachian flood, or in Sodom and Gomorrah, but not always. And so needless and terrible tragedies occur because of leaders’ and people’s misuse of their freedom” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“While we usually think of apostasy solely in terms of theological deviation, we often fail to see its connections to the everyday, human condition in which the consequences of that deviation are enormous” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“No attacks on the Church will be more bitter or more persistent than those made in the Salt Lake Valley. No taunts will be more shrill than those of apostates and excommunicants. In that valley and in the state of Utah, Church members will be accused of the “crime” of being a majority! Some clever defectors will imitate their model, Satan, and will try to take others over the side with them. Elsewhere, you will encounter the same sort of snobbery that gave rise to “can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“The quiet and steady decrease of faith leads to a surrendering to the world. When that happens there are no white flags or formal, public ceremonies marking such subjugation. The adversary cleverly does not insist on these ceremonies so long as the results are what he desires. A few “sell out” directly, like Judas. Thirty pieces of silver are not necessary if a little notoriety will suffice.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“We have been given apostles and prophets not only “for the perfecting of the Saints” but also to make sure that we are “no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:11-14). Apostolic watchcare over the doctrines of the kingdom, in order to keep them pure, is a very important duty. The performance of that important duty should be expected, not resented.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“We cannot safely trust “in the arm of flesh.” Even when it is pumped full of steroids, it lacks the strength to maintain its grasp on the iron rod. Not alone does the arm of flesh finally prove anemic, but it always reaches for the wrong things (see 2 Chr. 32:8; Jer. 17:5)” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“The absence of authority is not freedom; nothing is more controlling than anarchy-in the home or in the streets” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Even if we decide to leave Babylon, some of us endeavor to keep a second residence there, or we commute on weekends.” (Neal A. Maxwell)
“Take away regard for the seventh commandment, and behold the current celebration of sex, the secular religion, with its own liturgy of lust and supporting music. Its theology focuses on self, its hereafter is now. Its chief ritual is sensation-though the irony is that it finally desensitizes its obsessed adherents, who become “past feeling” (Neal A. Maxwell)
Neal Ash Maxwell (July 6, 1926 – July 21, 2004) was an American scholar, educator, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1981 until his death.
