Boyd K. Packer Quotes

“Things we cannot solve, we must survive.”

— Boyd K. Packer

The study of doctrine and the teaching of doctrine will change behavior more than the study of behavior will change behavior.

— Boyd K. Packer

“Happiness will depend on what each of us does with what each has, what we learn from what we do, and what we do thereafter.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Our whole social order could self-destruct over the obsession with freedom disconnected from responsibility; where choice is imagined to be somehow independent of consequences.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“No one of us can survive in the world of today, much less what it will become, without personal inspiration.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Probably the greatest challenge and the most difficult thing you will face in mortal life is to learn to control your thoughts. In the Bible it says, as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." Those who can control their thoughts have conquered themselves.”

— Boyd K. Packer

The word discipline sometimes touches a slightly rebellious chord in our natures. Remember that it comes from the word disciple.

— Boyd K. Packer

“The Restoration began with the prayer of a 14-year-old boy and a vision of the Father and the Son. The dispensation of the fulness of times was ushered in.The Restoration of the gospel brought knowledge of the premortal existence. From the scriptures, we know of the Council in Heaven and the decision to send the sons and daughters of God into mortality to receive a body and to be tested (see D&C 138:56; see also Romans 8:16). We are children of God. We have a spirit body housed, for now, in an earthly tabernacle of flesh. The scriptures say, 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?' (1 Corinthians 3:16).”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known. Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness.”

— Boyd K. Packer

I have come to know that faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief.

— Boyd K. Packer

“With thoughtless and impatient hands We tangle up the plans The Lord hath wrought. And when we cry in pain He saith, "Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot." (Author unknown, in Jack M. Lyon et al., Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People [1996], 304)”

— Boyd K. Packer

A testimony of the hope of redemption is something which cannot be measured or counted. Jesus Christ is the source of that hope.

— Boyd K. Packer

The gospel teaches us to be happy, to have faith rather than fear, to find hope and overcome despair, to leave darkness and turn toward the light of the everlasting gospel.

— Boyd K. Packer

“Temple. One other word is equal in importance to a Latter-day Saint. Home. Put the words holy temple and home together, and you have described the house of the Lord!”

— Boyd K. Packer

“We are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“You may in time of trouble think that you are not worth saving because you have made mistakes, big or little, and you think you are now lost. That is never true! Only repentance can heal what hurts. But repentancecan heal what hurts, no matter what it is.”

— Boyd K. Packer

No pain will last forever. It is not easy, but life was never meant to be either easy or fair. Repentance and the lasting hope that forgiveness brings will always be worth the effort.

— Boyd K. Packer

“When music is presented which, however appropriate for other occasions, does not fit the Sabbath, much is lost ... The Spirit does not ratify speech nor confirm music which lacks spiritual substance.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“The gift of the Holy Ghost operates equally with men, women, and even little children. It is within this wondrous gift and power that the spiritual remedy to any problem can be found.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“We were given our agency. We must use it wisely and remain close to the Spirit; otherwise, we foolishly find ourselves yielding to the enticements of the adversary.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“The Atonement has practical, personal, everyday value; apply it in your life. It can be activated with so simple a beginning as prayer.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Punctuality is an essential trait of the teacher. It is a foundation, not an embellishment.”

— Boyd K. Packer

If prayer is to leave the public schools, let the ridicule of prayer leave also.

— Boyd K. Packer

Some suffer from real misfortunes. Sadly, others only imagine that they do.

— Boyd K. Packer

“The ultimate effort of everything in the Church is to the end that a father and a mother and their children can be happy at home. If they are happy at home, they are spiritually prepared for whatever should be ahead of them in the world.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“No service in the Church or in the community transcends that given in the home.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“That historian or scholar who delights in pointing out the weaknesses and frailties of present or past leaders destroys faith. A destroyer of faith - particularly one within the Church, and more particularly one who is employed specifically to build faith - places himself in great spiritual jeopardy. He is serving the wrong master, and unless he repents, he will not be among the faithful in the eternities. Do not spread disease germs!”

— Boyd K. Packer

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the nourishing power to heal starving spirits of the world.

— Boyd K. Packer

“Some worry endlessly over missions that were missed, or marriages that did not turn out, or babies that did not arrive, or children that seem lost, or dreams unfulfilled, or because age limits what they can do. I do not think it pleases the Lord when we worry because we think we never do enough or that what we do is never good enough ... Some needlessly carry a heavy burden of guilt which could be removed through confession and repentance.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“The scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“It has to be an awfully good meeting to beat having no meeting at all.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“If you stumble, rise up, go on.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Progression: you can start from where you are.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Often, very often, we are punished as much by our sins as we are for them.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“His judgments are just; His mercy without limit; His power to compensate beyond any earthly comparison.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Mature love has a bliss not even imagined by newlyweds.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“When temptation comes, you can invent a delete key in your mind- perhaps the words from a favorite hymn. Your mind is in charge; your body is the instrument of your mind. When some unworthy thought pushes into your mind, replace it with your delete key. Worthy music is powerful and can help you control your thoughts.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“Parents now are concerned about the moral and spiritual diseases. These can have terrible complications when standards and values are abandoned. We must all take protective measures.”

— Boyd K. Packer

The priesthood holds consummate power. It can protect you from the plague of pornography-and it is a plague-if you are succumbing to its influence. If one is obedient, the priesthood can show how to break a habit and even erase an addiction. Holders of the priesthood have that authority and should employ it to combat evil influences.

— Boyd K. Packer

“If you have stumbled or even been lost for a time, you can move forward with faith and not wander to and fro in the world any longer.”

— Boyd K. Packer

“If you understand the great plan of happiness and follow it, what goes on in the world will not determine your happiness.”

— Boyd K. Packer

Repentance is the key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold that key within our hands, and agency is ours to use it.

— Boyd K. Packer

“There is a falsehood that some are born with an attraction to their own kind, with nothing they can do about it. They are just 'that way' and can only yield to those desires. That is a malicious and destructive lie. While it is a convincing idea to some, it is of the devil. No one is locked into that kind of life. From our premoral life we were directed into a physical body. There is no mismatching of bodies and spirits. Boys are to become men -masculine, manly men -ultimately to become husbands and fathers. No one is predestined to a perverted use of these powers.”

— Boyd K. Packer

The idea that life began with mortal birth is preposterous. There is no way to explain life if you believe that.

— Boyd K. Packer

Our competition in life is solely with our old self.

— Boyd K. Packer

“Justice can seem to be so very demanding. But we must learn that when we put everything as right as we can put it right, it is Justice who invokes the Atonement, orders the adversary off our property, and posts the notice that his agents will make no more collections from us. Our debt will have been paid in full by the only perfect pure person who ever lived.”

— Boyd K. Packer

One thing is very clear: the safest place and the best protection against the moral and spiritual diseases is a stable home and family. This has always been true; it will be true forever. We must keep that foremost in our minds. The scriptures speak of 'the shield of faith wherewith,' the Lord said, 'ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked' (D&C 27:17). This shield of faith is best fabricated in a cottage industry. While the shield can be polished in classes in the Church and in activities, it is meant to be handcrafted in the home and fitted to each individual.

— Boyd K. Packer

God bless you young women and young men who struggle through the worrisome teenage years. Some of you may not yet have found yourselves, but you are not lost, for Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer.

— Boyd K. Packer

“What a wonderful time to be young. You will see events in your lifetime that will test your courage and extend your faith. If you will face the sunlight of truth, the shadows of discouragement and sin and error will fall behind you. You must never give up!”

— Boyd K. Packer

Your responsibility as a father and a husband transcends any other interest in life.

— Boyd K. Packer