"To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul."
— Marcus Tullius Cicero

"Everyone has the power for greatness—not for fame, but greatness, because greatness is determined by service."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

"When the taste for physical gratifications among them has grown more rapidly than their education . . . the time will come when men are carried away and lose all self-restraint . . . . It is not necessary to do violence to such a people in order to strip them of the rights they enjoy; they themselves willingly loosen their hold. . . . they neglect their chief business which is to remain their own masters."
— Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America, Volume 2)

"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."
— Rudyard Kipling

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. "
— Francis Bacon

"Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all."
— Henry David Thoreau (A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers)

"We must be trained to clarify minds, heal broken hearts, and create homes where sunshine will make an environment in which mental and spiritual health may be nurtured. Our schooling must not only teach us how to bridge the Niagara River gorge, or the Golden Gate, but must teach us how to bridge the deep gaps of misunderstanding and hate and discord in the world."
— Spencer W. Kimball

"[T]he great end of education . . . is to persuade and to inspire the sincere love of virtue."
— George Turnbull (Observations upon Liberal Education, in All Its Branches)

"The aim of education is to develop resources in the child that will contribute to his well-being as long as life endures; to develop power of self-mastery that he may never be a slave to indulgence or other weaknesses, to develop [strong] manhood, beautiful womanhood that in every child and every youth may be found at least the promise of a friend, a companion, one who later may be fit for husband or wife, an exemplary father or a loving intelligent mother, one who can face life with courage, meet disaster with fortitude, and face death without fear."
— David O. McKay

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
— Winston S. Churchill

"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened and maintained."
— Winston S. Churchill

"[W]e need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

"Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone they say come all their miseries yes but they themselves with their own reckless ways compound their pains beyond their proper share."
— Homer (The Odyssey)

"[W]isdom is the child of integrity—being integrated around principles. And integrity is the child of humility and courage. In fact, you could say that humility is the mother of all virtues because humility acknowledges that there are natural laws or principles that govern the universe. They are in charge. Pride teaches us that we are in charge. Humility teaches us to understand and live by principles, because they ultimately govern the consequences of our actions. If humility is the mother, courage is the father of wisdom. Because to truly live by these principles when they are contrary to social mores, norms and values takes enormous courage."
— Stephen R. Covey

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."
— Marcus Tullius Cicero

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
— Mahatma Gandhi (An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth)

"Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way . . . God can give us the perfect way."
— Corrie Ten Boom (The Hiding Place)

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."
— Mark Twain

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
— Oscar Wilde

"“I ask Laurie if there was any pain and she says, ‘No pain, but I know what the Earth feels like making a mountain.”"
— Allen Cohen

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
— Bessie Anderson Stanley

"For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson (Ralph Waldo Emerson on Self Reliance)

"If a person has a contribution to make, he must make it in public. If learning is not made public, it is a waste."
— Chaim Potok (The Chosen)

"Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in our world. One rests on righteousness and the other on force. One appeals to reason, and the other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in the republic, the other is represented by despotism.

The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of divine grace."
— Calvin Coolidge

"The common eye sees only the outside of things, and judges by that, but the seeing eye pierces through and reads the heart and the soul, finding there capacities which the outside didn't indicate or promise, and which the other kind of eye couldn't detect."
— Mark Twain (Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc)

"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse. (Apr 2007 Gen Conf)"
— Jeffrey R. Holland

"The results of our most important lifelong learning are not reflected in grades or degrees or honors, but in who we become. Our aim to develop eternal character values, such as knowledge, hope, faith, charity, love, are the most important quest that we have in learning."
— Robert D. Hales

"You were born to lead as mothers and fathers because nowhere is righteous leadership more crucial than in the family. You were born to lead as priesthood and auxiliary leaders, as heads of communities, companies, and even nations. You were born to lead as men and women willing 'to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places' because that's what a true leader does."
— Sheri L. Dew (No Doubt About It)

"These are the days in which a true leader wants to live. These are days when opportunities to change lives and even destinies are nearly endless. You are running the anchor leg of the relay because you were born to lead. You were born for glory."
— Sheri L. Dew (No Doubt About It)

"And what is true education? It is awakening a love for truth; giving a just sense of duty; opening the eyes of the soul to the great purpose and end of life. It is not so much giving words, as thoughts; or mere maxims, as living principles. It is not teaching to be honest, because 'honesty is the best policy'; but because it is right. It is teaching the individual to love the good, for the sake of the good; to be virtuous in action because one is so in heart; to love and serve God supremely, not from fear, but from delight in his perfect character."
— David O. McKay (Gospel Ideals)

"Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education...is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character."
— David O. McKay (Gospel Ideals)

"A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and mathematics; he may be an authority in psychology, biology, or astronomy; he may know all the discovered truths pertaining to geology and natural science; but if he has not with this knowledge that nobility of soul which prompts him to deal justly with his fellow men, to practice virtue and holiness in his personal life, he is not truly an educated man.

Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting."
— David O. McKay (Gospel Ideals)

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."
— Pierre Auguste Renoir

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
— Mahatma Gandhi