Richard L. Evans Quotes

We are what we are, wherever we are.

There is no loneliness so great, so absolute, so utterly complete, as the loneliness of a man who cannot call upon his God.

The test of love is in how we live.

Sincere love is something that sacrifices not something that indulges itself. Sincere love is responsible. It would never knowingly hurt, but would heal.

It sometimes seems that we live as if we wonder when life is going to begin. It isn't always clear just what we are waiting for, but some of us sometimes persist in waiting so long that life slips by - finding us still waiting for something that has been going on all the time ... This is the life in which the work of this life is to be done. Today is as much a part of eternity as any day a thousand years ago or as will be any day a thousand years hence. This is it, whether we are thrilled or disappointed, busy or bored! This is life, and it is passing.

A person soon learns how little he knows when a child begins to ask questions.

Live so as to have a quiet conscience.

We should think seriously before we slam doors, before we burn bridges, before we saw off the limb on which we find ourselves sitting.

But fortunately for us and for all men, it has not been given unto us to judge, nor to execute, nor to measure out the days and the years of men. We may be most grateful that such matters belong to the Lord God our Father, who sees things past and things to come. And, we may be grateful for the assurance that there is plan and purpose in this world, and in our own lives.

Marriage requires the giving and keeping of confidences, the sharing of thoughts and feelings, respect and understanding always, marriage requires humility - the humility to repent, the humility to forgive. Marriage requires flexibility (to give and take) and firmness: not to compromise principles. And a wise and moderate sense of humor. Both need to be pulling together in the same direction.

Life moves in one direction only - and each day we are faced with an actual set of circumstances, not with what might have been, not with what we might have done, but with what is, and with where we are now- and from this point we must proceed; not from where we were, not from where we wish we were - but from where we are.

Don't let this choice [of a marriage partner] ever be made except with earnest, searching, prayerful consideration, confiding in parents, [and] in faithful, mature, trustworthy friends.

There are some things you can give another person, and some things you cannot give him, except as he is willing to reach out and take them, and pay the price of making them a part of himself. This principle applies to studying, to developing talents, to absorbing knowledge, to acquiring skills, and to the learning of all the lessons of life.

Indeed, the greatest blessing that can follow the death of those we love is reconciliation. Without it there is no peace. But with it come quiet thoughts and quickened memories. And what else shall a man do except become reconciled? What purpose does he serve by fighting what he cannot touch or by brooding upon what he cannot change?

Any man who can't control his thoughts can't control his actions, and any man who can't control his actions isn't safe in society.

If you don't want temptation to follow you, don't act as if you are interested.

Young people are going to go to someone, somewhere. And we had better see that that 'someone' is us.

We can run away from where we are, but not from what we are.

Too much pessimism has led too many men into making serious mistakes. And perhaps part of our pessimism comes because we are too close to ourselves to see in proper perspective.

All things need watching, working at, caring for, and marriage is no exception. Marriage is not something to be indifferently treated or abused, or something that simply takes care of itself. Nothing neglected will remain as it was or is, or will fail to deteriorate. All things need attention, care and concern, and esp ... ecially so in this most sensitive of all relationships of life.

Go ahead with your life, your plans ... Don't waste time by stopping before the interruptions have started.

Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.

May I make two citations from the words of a discerning editorial writer, not one of my faith, but one of much faith: "If we neglect the divine ... and give ourselves over wholly to the human," he said, "we may certainly count upon nothing but the triumph of pessimism ... True optimism must rest upon a calm, unshakable faith in eternal life and in the unlimited goodness of him who gives it."

Give no man sympathy because he has to work - it is his blessing that he can.

The undertaking of a new action brings new strength.

Freedom cannot always continue in comfort and convenience, cannot be assured without sacrifice, without truth and decency, without willingness to work, without downright honesty and honor, and readiness to keep the commandments and live within the law ... there is no liberty without a real respect for law; no liberty if we forget God, or fail to remember the principles on which freedom is founded.

Literally, no man ever sees himself as others see him. No photograph or reflection ever gives us the same slant on ourselves that others see. It has often been proved on the witness stand that no two people ever see the same accident precisely the same way. We see through different eyes and from different angles. But if we could see things as other people see them, we could come closer to knowing why they do what they do and why they say what they say.

We must carry things beyond conversation to conclusion.

May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have.

I don't think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it.

Enjoy life while it is happening.

Whatever you do, do not feel sorry for yourself - things could always be worse and they are for someone else!

Humor is essential to a full and happy life. It is a reliever and relaxer of pressure and tension, and the saving element in many situations.

Your direction is more important than your speed.

It is possible for two people who have wide differences of preference and opinion, of habits, of teaching, of training, of background and belief to enjoy the company of each other in many ways. Indeed, a diversity of friendships is one of life's real enrichments. To learn of the goodness of those who are unlike-their worth, their sincerity, their good hearts, their good minds, their good company-is rich and rewarding. It is wonderful to have a wide range of choice friends who can be counted on, friends who can be enjoyed and loved and trusted. Such is the meaning of friendship.

Shouldn't the commandments be re-written? No, they should be re-read!

What better can parents and children give to each other than respectful, understanding attention.

There are few of us but who have been touched somehow by death. Some may not have been touched closely by it nor yet have kept vigil with it, but somewhere along our lives, most of us are sorely bereft of someone near and deeply cherished - and all of us will some day meet it face to face.

One of our urgent opportunities is to respond to a child when he earnestly asks, remembering that they don't always ask.

This is life-and it is passing. What are we waiting for?

Work is the best wonder drug ever devised by God. Work is as necessary to man as eating and sleeping. Pleasure derived from labor is the sweetest of all pleasures.

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.

Realize that the privilege to work is a gift. Love of work is success. Be thankful that every morning that you get up that you have some thing that must be done (whether you like it or not).

In answer to the question, "Shouldn't the commandments be rewritten?," someone thoughtfully replied, "No, they should be reread."

One of the most fruitless, irritating wastes in the world is arguing-the contentious, endless kind of arguing that is akin to quarreling, and causes feuding in families and among friends, and leaves resentful feeling in homes, in hearts, in businesses and professions, and in all kinds of gatherings in public and private places, and in all relationships of life-and with so little that it ever seems to settle!

Happiness mainly depends on man's ability to work and the way in which he does it.

We need the courage to start and continue what we should do, and courage to stop what we shouldn't do.

There's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder.

If we don't want temptation to follow us, we shouldn't act as if we are interested. No one ever fell over a precipice who never went near one.