Melvin J. Ballard Quotes

It is a Mormon truism that is current among us and we all accept it, that as man is God once was and as God is man may become. That does not signify that man will become God. I am sorry to say, and yet it is a truth, that not many men will become what God is, simply because they will not pay the price, because they are not willing to live up to the requirements; and still all men may, if they will, become what God is, but only those who are heirs of the celestial glory shall ever be possible candidates, to become what God is.

The greatest mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting spirits, our Father's spirit children who anxiously desire to come to dwell here in this mortal state. All the honor and glory that can come to men and women is but a dim thing whose luster shall fade in comparison to the high honor, the eternal glory, the ever-enduring happiness that shall come to the woman who fulfils the first great duty and mission that devolves upon her to become the mother of the sons and daughters of God

The easiest way to destroy a man's faith is to destroy his morality.

I found myself one evening in the dreams of the night, in that sacred building, the Temple. After a
season of prayer and rejoicing, I was informed that I should have the privilege of entering into one of
those rooms, to meet a glorious personage, and as I entered the door, I saw, seated on a raised
platform, the most glorious Being my eyes have ever beheld, or that I ever conceived existed in all the
eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, he arose and stepped towards me with extended
arms, and he smiled as he softly spoke my name. If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never
forget that smile. He took me into his arms and kissed me, pressed me to His bosom, and blessed me,
until the marrow of my bones seemed to melt! When He had finished, I fell at His feet, and as I bathed
them with my tears and kisses, I saw the prints of the nails in the feet of the Redeemer of the world.
The feeling that I had in the presence of Him who hath all things in His hands, to have His love, His
affection, and His blessings was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I
would give all that I am, all that I ever hope to be, to feel what I then felt (as cited in Bryant S.
Hinckley, The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers, pp. 226-27.)

No nation went into oblivion or was destroyed because it had bad laws, or because its statesmen were not intelligent, but because of INTERNAL CORRUPTION, and because they could not maintain the POWER OF SELF-CONTROL.

It is my judgment that any man or woman can do more to conform to the laws of God in one year in this life than they could do in ten years when they are dead. The spirit can only repent and change, and then the battle has to go forward with the flesh afterwards. It is much easier to overcome and serve the Lord when both flesh and spirit are combined as one. This is the time when men are more pliable and susceptible. We will find when we are dead every desire, every feeling will be greatly intensified. When clay is pliable it is much easier to change than when it gets hard and sets.