Quotes by David McKay

The leadership demanded of youth today is not attained by chance nor fostered by indulgence. It demands careful preparation - a preparation that should be constantly impregnated, if you please, by the sweet spirit of four loyalties. Loyalty to self - by conserving physical strength and youthful vigor. Loyalty to parents - Our debt to our parents is unpayable except in one way- that is in emulating their ideals, thus bringing joy to them in their old age and satisfaction to those who have gone before in seeing that we keep ourselves clean and wholesome. Loyalty to country - A great writer has said that "The destiny of any nation at any given time depends upon the opinions of its young men under five and twenty." Loyalty to God and truth - Our belief in equality and brotherhood is a Christian heritage, and it fades out of the picture when Christian belief is forgotten. We have to educate the race to realize that no man is unwanted, that every soul is unique and has a life to live made up of momentous choices which will make or mar his own life and the life of the community and of the world. To cherish these loyalties, to make popular these ideals, the world needs men and women of unimpeachable character. The future is yours to make or to mar as you choose. Youth - conviction - courage - is a combination potentially capable of determining the kind of world we shall live in. Though not the wisest, youth is the best, the most radiant time of life. Young men and women, the future awaits you! It is yours!

Our most precious possession is the youth of the land, and to instruct them to walk uprightly and to become worthy citizens in the kingdom of God is our greatest obligation.

Let us . . . realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that love of work is success.

For great and low there's but one test, 'Tis that each one shall do his best. Who works with all the strength he can Shall never die in debt to man.

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved. Love is the sweetest thing in the world, but to be trusted throws upon him who receives that trust an obligation that he must not fail to discharge.

The greatest battles of your life are fought within the private chambers of your own soul.

To heal the soul is a greater miracle than to heal the body.

The thought in your mind at this moment is contributing, however, infinitesimally, almost imperceptibly to the shaping of your soul, . . . even passing and idle thoughts leave their impression.

Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.

He taught, and modern physiology and psychology confirm, that hate and jealousy and other evil passions destroy a man's physical vigor and efficiency. What a man continually thinks about determines his actions in times of opportunity and stress. 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.