Top 120 David O. McKay Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “He who harbors hatred and bitterness injures himself far more than the one towards whom he manifests these evil propensities.”

— David O. McKay

52. “Happiness consists not of having, but of being. It is a warm glow of the heart at peace with itself.”

— David O. McKay

53. “I’m going to tell you the most important secret of human life. The most critical need of the human soul is to be kind.”

— David O. McKay

54. “Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by sermons you preach.”

— David O. McKay

55. “Sincere prayer implies that when we ask for any virtue or blessing, we should work for the blessing and cultivate the virtue.”

— David O. McKay

56. “I repeat that no greater immediate responsibility rests upon members of the Church, upon all citizens of this republic and of neighboring republics than to protect the freedom vouchsafed by the Constitution of the United States.”

— David O. McKay

57. “Pleasure is not the purpose of man’s existence. Joy is.”

— David O. McKay

58. “I never think of death: I am too busy thinking of life.”

— David O. McKay

59. “The true end of life is not mere existence, not pleasure, not fame, not wealth. The true purpose of life is the perfection of humanity through individual effort, under the guidance of God’s inspiration.”

— David O. McKay

60. “The Constitution of this government was written by men who accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind. Let men and women in these United States then continue to keep their eyes centered upon Him who ever shines as a Light to all the world.”

— David O. McKay

61. “Today, as never before, the issue is clearly defined-liberty and freedom of choice, or oppression and subjugation for the individual and for nations.”

— David O. McKay

62. “I think it must be apparent to every thinking mind that the noblest of all professions is that of teaching, and that upon the effectiveness of that teaching hangs the destiny of nations.”

— David O. McKay

63. “The home is the basis of a righteous life and no other instrumentality can take its place nor fulfill its essential functions.”

— David O. McKay

64. “A man who cannot control his temper is not very likely to control his passions, and no matter what his pretensions in religion, he moves in daily life very close to the animal plane.”

— David O. McKay

65. “Love is the divinest attribute of the human soul.”

— David O. McKay

66. “Men may yearn for peace, cry for peace, and work for peace, but there will be no peace until they follow the path pointed out by the Living Christ. He is the true light of men’s lives.”

— David O. McKay

67. “Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother’s image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child’s mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world.”

— David O. McKay

68. “One of my most precious possessions is my memory of a home in which love was supreme, in which I cannot recall ever a cross word having passed between father and mother. We all owe such a blessing to our children.”

— David O. McKay

69. “I will raise my voice as long as God gives me sound or ability, against this Communistic idea that the Government will take care of us all, and everything belongs to the government. It is wrong!”

— David O. McKay

70. “Even a barn looks better when it’s painted.”

— David O. McKay

71. “The greatest need in the world today is faith in God and courage to do His will.”

— David O. McKay

72. “True happiness comes only by making others happy – the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.”

— David O. McKay

73. “As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man’s free agency is a God-given gift.”

— David O. McKay

74. “This age is fraught with limitless perils, as well as untold possibilities.”

— David O. McKay

75. “If our young people could but glimpse it, it would be the most powerful spiritual motivation of their lives!”

— David O. McKay

76. “The purpose of the church is to make bad men good and good men better.”

— David O. McKay

77. “The rising sun can dispel the darkness of night, but it cannot banish the blackness of malice, hatred, bigotry, and selfishness from the hearts of humanity.”

— David O. McKay

78. “True education seeks to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men and women with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love.”

— David O. McKay

79. “Man is responsible not only for every deed, but also for every idle word and thought.”

— David O. McKay

80. “A man’s reaction to his appetites and impulses when they are roused gives the measure of that man’s character. In these reactions are revealed the man’s power to govern or his forced servility to yield.”

— David O. McKay

81. “Misrepresentation, false propaganda, innuendoes soon sprout into poisonous weeds, and before long the people find themselves victims of a pollution that has robbed them of their individual liberty and enslaved them to a group of political gangsters.”

— David O. McKay

82. “True motherhood is the noblest call of the world, and we look with sorrow upon the practice here in our own United States of limiting families, a tendency creeping into our own Church.”

— David O. McKay

83. “There are seeds of happiness planted in every human soul. Our mental attitude and disposition constitute the environment in which these seeds may germinate.”

— David O. McKay

84. “Every noble impulse, every unselfish expression of love; every brave suffering for the right; every surrender of self to something higher than self; every loyalty to an ideal; every unselfish devotion to principle; every helpfulness to humanity; every act of self-control; every fine courage of the soul, undefeated by pretense or policy, but by being, doing, and living of good for the very good’s sake – that is spirituality.”

— David O. McKay

85. “Always remember that a soldier’s pack is lighter than a slave’s chains.”

— David O. McKay

86. “When harmony, mutual consideration and trust pass out of the home, hell enters in.”

— David O. McKay

87. “Slander is poison to the soul.”

— David O. McKay

88. “In the well-ordered home we may experience a taste of heaven.”

— David O. McKay

89. “When the husband and wife are healthy, and free from inherited weaknesses and diseases that might be transmitted with injury to their offspring the use of contraceptives is to be condemned.”

— David O. McKay

90. “True liberty in individuals consists in the enjoying of every right that will contribute to one’s peace and happiness, so long as the exercise of such a privilege does not interfere with the same privilege in others.”

— David O. McKay

91. “Throughout the ages advanced souls have yearned for a society in which liberty and justice prevail. Men have sought for it, fought for it, have died for it. Ancient freemen prized it; slaves longed for it; the Magna Charta demanded it; the Constitution of the United States declared it.”

— David O. McKay

92. “The two most important documents affecting the destiny of America are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Both these immortal papers relate primarily to the freedom of the individual.”

— David O. McKay

93. “Everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the Infinite.”

— David O. McKay

94. “What you think about when you don’t think, shows who you really are.”

— David O. McKay

95. “In choosing a companion, it is necessary to study the disposition, the inheritance, and training of the one with whom you are contemplating making life’s journey.”

— David O. McKay

96. “The latest I like to be to meeting is 15 minutes early.”

— David O. McKay

97. “Among the immediate obligations and duties resting upon members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, and one of the most urgent and pressing for attention and action of all liberty loving people, is the preservation of individual liberty.”

— David O. McKay

98. “A man may act as his conscience dictates so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. That is the spirit of true democracy, and all government by the Priesthood should be actuated by that same high motive.”

— David O. McKay

99. “Adversity itself may lead toward and not away from God and spiritual enlightenment; and privation may prove a source of strength if we can but keep a sweetness of mind and spirit.”

— David O. McKay

100. “An Unsatisfied Appetite for Knowledge Means Progress and Is the State of a Normal Mind.”

— David O. McKay