"men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

" Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites, — in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity,—in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption,—in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (Revolution and Romanticism, 1789-1834)

Seen at https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/293641-men-are-qualified-for-civil-liberty-in-exact-proportion-to 

When a man shuns effort, he is in no position to resist temptation

"When a man shuns effort, he is in no position to resist temptation. So, through all the ages, idleness has been known as the parent of all the vices."

(David Starr Jordan, The Strength of Being Clean [New York and Boston: H.M. Caldwell Co., 1900], pp. 18–19.), as quoted in "The Nobility of Man in Choosing Good over Evil" by Elder Alvin R. Dyer, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, General Conference, October 1971, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1971/10/the-nobility-of-man-in-choosing-good-over-evil?lang=eng 

Our dear departed ones know our thoughts and feelings

 "Our deceased family and friends are not gone, neither are they far, far away in some distant heaven. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “They are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith.” [11] Brigham Young taught that the spirit world is right here on this earth, [12] and Parley P. Pratt gave an extensive explanation for how and why that is the case. [13] Joseph F. Smith said: “I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. . . . We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world.” [14] " 

What’s on the Other Side?

A Conversation with Brent L. Top on the Spirit World

Brent L. Top and R. Devan Jensen

https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-14-no-2-2013/whats-other-side#_noteref-12

 

How to Communicate Support to Your Missionary Son or Daughter

By London Brimhall

Church Magazines

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/08/15-how-to-communicate-support-to-your-missionary-son-or-daughter?lang=eng

How to invite and recognize the Spirit

When seeking the Spirit and personal revelation, it’s important to do so within the correct framework. Quoting Preach My Gospel, Elder [Gary E.] Stevenson said: “‘Having the guidance of the Holy Ghost in your life requires spiritual work. This work includes fervent prayer and consistent scripture study. It also includes keeping your covenants and God’s commandments. … It includes worthily partaking of the sacrament each week’ [Preach My Gospel, 101].”

He then provided four additional guiding principles for “inviting and recognizing the promptings of the Spirit”:

1. 1. Stand in Holy Places: “Our temples and homes are the most sacred of these dedicated spaces.”

2. 2. Stand with Holy People: “If you hope to feel the Spirit, be with people with whom the Spirit can easily dwell.”

3. 3. Testify of Holy Truths: “The Comforter always shares his voice when we testify with our voice.”

4. 4. Listen to the Holy Spirit: “He speaks in subtle, quiet tones. … Find a quiet place, a holy space where you can seek to receive direction from the Spirit.”

 

As quoted in 

When Spiritual Experiences Are Different from What You Expected

By Abby Larkins

Church Magazines

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/08/young-adults/13-when-spiritual-experiences-are-different-from-what-you-expected?lang=eng

Seeing your body as your temple can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it

 “Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple. That truth—refreshed gratefully each day—can positively influence your decisions about how you will care for your body and how you will use it.”

"Decisions for Eternity"

By Elder Russell M. Nelson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/decisions-for-eternity?lang=eng

What Can I Say to Others about the Temple?

This entire article:  "What Can I Say to Others about the Temple?"

By Jessica Anne Lawrence, Church Magazines

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/08/07-what-can-i-say-to-others-about-the-temple?lang=eng

Key snippet: 

For example, we can share that “an endowment is literally a ‘gift.’” The temple endowment is a gift of sacred blessings from God to each of us, and some of those blessings include:

1. “Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings.

2. “Power to do all that God wants us to do.

3. “Divine guidance and protection as we serve the Lord, our families, and others.

4. “Increased hope, comfort, and peace.

5. “Promised blessings now and forever.”

We can also talk about the covenants we make in the temple. The beautiful thing about the temple is that it allows us to draw closer to God and strengthen our relationship with Him by making additional promises with Him. These covenants are:

• “Law of Obedience, which includes striving to keep God’s commandments.
• “Law of Sacrifice, which means doing all we can to support the Lord’s work and repenting with a broken heart and contrite spirit.
• “Law of the Gospel, which is the higher law that He taught while He was on the earth.
• “Law of Chastity, which means that we have sexual relations only with the person to whom we are legally and lawfully wedded according to God’s law.
• “Law of Consecration, which means dedicating our time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed us to building up Jesus Christ’s Church on the earth.”

We should not make it too expensive emotionally for others to try to communicate with us

"We ought to build a climate around us in which we are, in all situations, open to the comments of others. We should not make it too expensive emotionally for others to try to communicate with us. If it is too hard to do so, people will just pull back. If we are too well protected and too well defended, they are not going to extend themselves overmuch in an effort to communicate with us. It is difficult to say which is most dangerous—the mote in one's eye or the moat around his "castle" that keeps out the needed communications, involving correction, counsel, or commendation."

⁠— Neal A. Maxwell, as heard quoted on the Follow Him podcast, https://podscripts.co/podcasts/follow-him-a-come-follow-me-podcast/alma-43-52-part-2-david-boren-august-12-18-come-follow-me , and found more fully at https://qtmp.com/quote/9P3 on 11 Aug 2024

 "The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is, first, foremost, and forever, the source of lasting happiness, true peace, and joy for everyone in these latter days."

- President Jeffrey R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "The Savior of All, a Gospel for All," Liahona, March 2024

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/03/03-the-savior-of-all-a-gospel-for-all?lang=eng

Now is the time to change

 "If you are serious about helping to gather Israel and about building relationships that will last throughout the eternities, now is the time to lay aside bitterness. Now is the time to cease insisting that it is your way or no way. Now is the time to stop doing things that make others walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting you. Now is the time to bury your weapons of war. If your verbal arsenal is filled with insults and accusations, now is the time to put them away. You will arise as a spiritually strong man or woman of Christ."

- President Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Peacemakers Needed," General Conference, April 2023

Receiving a testimony line upon line

“When I as a boy first started out in the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them.”

- Joseph F. Smith, as quoted in https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/04/come-follow-me/20-receiving-revelation-until-our-faith-in-the-lord-becomes-unshaken?lang=eng 

The Savior holds our children blameless for our parental mistakes

 "As any parent can testify, the pain associated with our mistakes is not simply the fear of our own punishment but the fear that we may have limited our children’s joy or in some way hindered them from seeing and understanding the truth. The glorious promise of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice is that as far as our mistakes as parents are concerned, He holds our children blameless and promises healing for them. And even when they have sinned against the light—as we all do—His arm of mercy is outstretched, and He will redeem them if they will but look to Him and live."

- Elder James R. Rasband, Of the Seventy, "Ensuring a Righteous Judgment," General Conference, April 2020

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/13rasband?lang=eng