Truth: Church Leader Quotes

Great Talks

• Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "What is Truth?"

QUOTES

Heber C Kimball

I am not what the world calls a learned man; neither is President Young. We never went to any college except the one sustained by the Latter-day Saints, and we have been in that from the beginning. Let me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, if we had been brought up in palaces, and been sent to school all the days of our lives to get all the education of the world, and were practical men only in these things, would we be of any advantage to this people? A man may pass through a course of education designed to fit him for a doctor, a minister, or a lawyer, and it is often the case that he comes out an ignoramus, or worse than useless member of society. When the flowers begin to bloom on the mountain sides, the ladies try to imitate them with artificial ones. Which would you rather possess in education--the real flower, or the artificial one? Would you not rather have true education, direct from heaven, than the artificial one of the world? The one educates the head and the heart, the other the head alone.

John Taylor

Whatever you do, be careful in the selection of teachers. We don't want infidels to mold the minds of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed upon us by the Lord, and we cannot be too careful in rearing and training them. I would rather have my child taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have them under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts. 

In relation to the education of the world generally, a great amount of it is of very little value, consisting more of words than ideas; and whilst men are verbose in their speaking or writing, you have to hunt for ideas or truth like hunting for a grain of wheat among piles of chaff or rubbish. It is true that a great amount of it is really valuable and it is for us to select the good from the bad. The education of men ought to be adapted to their positions both as temporal and eternal beings.

And then we want to study also the principles, and to get the very best teachers we can to teach our children; see that they are men and women who fear God and keep his commandments. We do not want men or women to teach the children of Latter-day Saints who are not Latter-day Saints themselves. Hear it you Elders of Israel, and you school-trustees! We want none of these things. Let others who fear not God take their course; but it is for us to train our children up in the fear of God. God will hold us responsible for this trust. Hear it, you Elders of Israel and you fathers and you mothers! Talking about education, as I said before, Joseph Smith knew more in regard to true education than all the philosophers and scientists of the earth; and he knew it by the revelations of God.

These very principles that we possess—the first principles [of the] gospel, namely baptism [and the] laying on [of] hands [for the] gift [of the] Holy Spirit—are some of the first leading causes of that intelligence which governs us in other matters. (john Taylor)

Brigham Young

neither the alphabet nor the multiplication table should be taught without the Spirit of God.

“[Our] religion … prompts [us] to search diligently after knowledge. There is no other people in existence more eager to see, hear, learn, and understand truth.” “to increase [their] knowledge … in every branch of [learning], for all wisdom, and all the arts and sciences in the world are from God, and are designed for the good of his people.”

George Q. Cannon

No system of education can be perfect which does not teach the principle of righteousness and faith in God. Learning has not save the world neither candidate save it.

No man by wisdom ever found God and men may study all their lives and acquire all the knowledge and worldly wisdom that is within the reach of the human mind and yet to be utterly destitute to the true knowledge of God.

It is of utmost importance that our children should, in the first place, be taught faith in God. This cannot be left out of our system of education. Every child in our midst should be taught how to obtain a knowledge of God, this should be the cornerstone and foundation of all education.

Elder Richard G Scott

As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles…. Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. It true principal makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances. It is worth great effort to organize the truth we gather to simple statements of principle.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Fundamental premises of the faith of Latter-day Saints: (Elder Oaks)

• 1. The nature of God, including the role of the three members of the Godhead and the corollary truth that there are moral absolutes.
• 2. The purpose of life.
• 3. The threefold sources of truth about man and the universe: science, the scriptures, and continuing revelation—and how we can know them. (We seek after knowledge, but we do so in a special way because we believe there are two dimensions of knowledge: material and spiritual. We seek knowledge in the material dimension by scientific inquiry and in the spiritual dimension by revelation.)

Lorenzo Snow

Our children should be indoctrinated in the principles of the Gospel from their earliest childhood. They should be made familiar with the contents of the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. These should be their chief text books, and everything should be done to establish and promote in their hearts genuine faith in God, in His Gospel and its ordinances, and in His works. But under our common school system this is not possible.

Joseph F. Smith

Everyone should learn something new everyday. You all have inquiring minds and are seeking truth in many fields. I sincerely hope your greatest search is in the realm of spiritual things, because it is there that we are able to gain salvation and make the progress that leads to eternal life in our Father's kingdom. The most important knowledge in the world is gospel knowledge. It is knowledge of God and his law, of those things that men must do to work out their salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord. (Ensign, May 1971, pp. 2-3)

Heber J. Grant

It is a duty we owe our children to see that they get an education; but the education of the heart--education in the Gospel, a testimony of the plan of salvation--is the foundation that we should lay in the breast of every child.

Jospeh Fielding Smith

The education of the present day is very largely knowledge without the accompanying light and truth... Such learning leads to spiritual death, not spiritual life. I regret exceedingly that courses of study in the public schools, in the colleges, and places of learning throughout the land, are in conflict with the fundamental truths of the Christian faith; and for one, I desire to express my feelings... and to declare that I consider it an outrage against the liberties of the people, when we are denied the privilege of teaching principles of eternal truth in the realm of religion; when we are denied the privilege of praying to our Heavenly Father in the schools, or referring to the Supreme Being for fear that we will offend someone.

Harold B Lee

One of the greatest threats to the work of the Lord today comes from false educational ideas. There is a growing tendency of teachers within and without the church to make academic interpretations of gospel teachings - to read, as a prophet leader has said, 'by the lamp of their own conceit.' Unfortunately, much in the sciences, the arts, politics and the entertainment field, as has been well said by an eminent scholar, 'all dominated by this humanistic approach which ignores God and his word as revealed through the prophets.' This kind of worldly system apparently hopes to draw men away from God by making man the 'measure of all things' as some worldly philosophers have said.  (Conference Report 10/68 p. 59.) 

If we find in school texts claims that contradict the word of the Lord as pertaining to the creation of the world, the origin of man, or the determination of what is right or wrong in the conduct of human souls, we may be certain that such teachings are but the theories of men; and as men improve their learning and experimentation, the nearer will their theories coincide with the truths that God has given to His church. And second, that there are, beyond the things we can discern by the physical senses of "the natural man," things of a spiritual nature: "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:11, 14.) (Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 341.)

Bruce R. McConkie

Education is gained primarily from the Spirit of the Lord by revelation and secondarily by study, research, and investigation. (Mormon Doctrine, p. 214)

Ezra Taft Benson

Only a Zion people can bring in a Zion society. And as the Zion people increase, so we will be able to incorporate more of the principles of Zion until we have a people prepared to receive the Lord. On this campus [BYU], in due time, there will be an increasing number of textbooks written by inspired men of the Church. There will be less and less a tendency to subscribe to the false teachings of men. There will be more and more a tendency first to lay the groundwork of the gospel truth in every subject and then, if necessary, to show where the world may fall short of that standard. In due time there will be increased teaching by the Spirit of God, but that can take place only if there is a decreased promotion of the precepts of men. (1974 BYU Speeches of the Year p. 305)

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Other church members

Jack Monnett

Celestial principles are the key, and fortunately they are the easiest to identify. They are endless, always consistent and found throughout the Scriptures and in the words of living profits. Joseph Smith said that once understanding correct principles, we should be able to govern ourselves. That is true. Every motive, every thought, every idea, every attitude is based on principle. … once they are discovered and understood, they should be our primary guides to self governance." (revealed educational principles and the public schools)