Neal A Maxwell Discipleship Quotes

Do not let the future be held hostage by the past ~ Neal A. Maxwell

We can learn that at the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in! Those, for instance, who stretch themselves in service- though laced with limiting diseases-are often the healthiest among us! The Spirit can drive the flesh beyond where the body first agrees to go! ~ Neal A. Maxwell

In one degree or another we all struggle with selfishness. Since it is so common, why worry about selfishness anyway? Because selfishness is really self-destruction in slow motion. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Ultimate hope constitutes the anchor of the soul. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Don't fear, just live right. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

C. S. Lewis pointed out that some people are angry with God for His not existing, and others for His existing but for failing to do as mortals would have Him do. Instead of such childishness, we are urged to know God and to learn of His attributes. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

For some Church members the Book of Mormon remains unread. Others use it occasionally as if it were merely a handy book of quotations. Still others accept and read it but do not really explore and ponder it. The book is to be feasted upon, not nibbled (see 2 Nephi 31:20). ~ Neal A. Maxwell

It is not the years but the changes that make us grow. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Those who do too much for their children will soon find they can do nothing with their children. So many children have been so much done for they are almost done in. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

When one comes to know God and His Son Jesus Christ through the scriptures, the Spirit, and personal revelation, it is impossible to feel anything other than overwhelmed by the attributes so perfectly developed in them and so tentatively and superficially developed in oneself. Even so, we are told to strive to become like them. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

We cannot repent for someone else. But we can forgive someone else, refusing to hold hostage those whom the Lord seeks to set free! ~ Neal A. Maxwell

It is possible to know when, at least basically, we please God. In fact, Joseph Smith taught that one of the conditions of genuine faith is to have "an actual knowledge that the course of life which [one] is pursuing is according to [God's] will." ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Man can learn self-discipline without becoming ascetic; he can be wise without waiting to be old; he can be influential without waiting for status. Man can sharpen his ability to distinguish between matters of principle and matters of preference, but only if we have a wise interplay between time and truth, between minutes and morality. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Many of those engaged in a lemming-like march to the sea are proud of their individualism. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

At times God's best pupils experience the most rigorous and continuous courses. Eventually those who prove to be men of Christ will thereby become distinguished alumni of life's school of affliction, graduating with honors. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

He knows that having put his hand to the plow he must not look back, because when we are looking back, we are also holding back. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

When great individuals move so marvelously along the straight and narrow path, it is unseemly of us to call attention to the fact that one of their shoelaces is untied as they make the journey. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Never give up what you want most for what you want today. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

It is only by yielding to God that we can begin to realize His will for us. And if we truly trust God, why not yield to His loving omniscience? After all, He knows us and our possibilities much better than do we. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

If the kingdom of God is not first, it doesn't matter what's second. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

No "natural" resource is more precious and to be used more wisely than time. These mortal moments matter more than we know. There are no idle hours; there are only idle people. In true righteousness there is serenity, but there is an array of reminders that the "sacred present" is packed with possibilities which are slipping by us, which are going away from us each moment. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

A basic cause of murmuring is that too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations!. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

The winds of tribulation, which blow out some men's candles of commitment, only fan the fires of faith of others. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

How could there be refining fires without our enduring some heat? ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Love is never wasted, even if it is not reciprocated. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

While most of our suffering is self- inflicted, some is caused by or permitted by God. This sobering reality calls for deep submissiveness, especially when God does not remove the cup from us. In such circumstances, when reminded about the premortal shouting for joy as this life's plan was unfolded (Job 38:7), we can perhaps be pardoned if, in some moments, we wonder what all the shouting was about. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

We ... live in a world that is too prone to the tasteless, and we need to provide an opportunity to cultivate a taste for the finest music. And, likewise, we're in a world that's so attuned to the now that we need to permit people to be more attuned to the best music of all ages. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

I thank the Savior personally; for bearing all which I added to His hemorrhaging at every pore for all humanity in Gethsemane. I thank Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul cry atop Calvary. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

It is understandable how some people could give way to this kind of pervasive pessimism, but we speak of a gospel which brings good tidings of great joy and this must be reflected in our lives, if we are to be believable especially as we suggest to others that there is, in fact, not only a better way, but also the way. Scriptures that speak of man as a being who "might have joy" have more impact when falling from the lips or pens of men and women whose lives give fresh evidence of the validity of that scripture. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

The "man of Christ" knows that the collapse of systems is always preceded by the collapse of individuals. Camelot began to give way to the world the moment Lancelot and Guinevere gave way to their appetites. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Beware not to get caught up in the thick of thin things. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Real disciples absorb the fiery darts of the adversary by holding aloft the quenching shield of faith with one hand, while holding to the iron rod with the other (see Eph. 6:16; 1 Ne. 15:24; D&C 27:17). There should be no mistaking; it will take both hands! ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Finally, we can accept this stunning, irrevocable truth: Our Lord can lift us from deep despair and cradle us midst any care. We cannot tell him anything about aloneness or nearness! ... He who cannot lie, will atteast to our adequacy with the warm words, Well Done. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Enthusiasm needs to be effective enthusiasm. We must distinguish between the contribution and enthusiasm of the cheerleader and the enthusiasm of the player. While cheerleaders serve an important purpose, the real contest involves players on the field or on the court of life. We must not go through life acting only as enthusiastic cheerleaders available for hire; we must be anxiously and personally engaged. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord's timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Faith in God includes Faith in God's timing. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

At the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in! ~ Neal A. Maxwell

We are in bondage to that which overcomes us. See also 2 Peter 2:19. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

During our mortal schooling in submissiveness, we will see the visible crosses that some carry, but other crosses will go unseen. A few individuals may appear to have no trials at all, which, if it were so, would be a trial in itself. Indeed, if, as do trees, our souls had rings to measure the years of greatest personal growth, the wide rings would likely reflect the years of greatest moisture-but from tears, not rainfall. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

I am as I am, And so is a stone; Them that don't like me, Must leave me alone. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Just as God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, as we become more like Him, neither can we. The best people have a heightened awareness of what little of the worst is still in them! Indeed, the divine discontent, the justifiable spiritual restlessness that we feel, is a natural follow-on feeling in the disciple who has taken the Lord's counsel to "make you a new heart and a new spirit." (Ezekiel 18:31.) ~ Neal A. Maxwell

The gross size of our talent inventories is less important than the net use of our talents? ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Crowds cannot make right what God has declared to be wrong. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

The unwillingness of most leaders to set standards, to administer feedback when standards are not met, to praise clearly when standards are met, stands in the way of the development of excellence. The leader who makes no demands of his disciples cannot really lead them at all. The sense of new excitement and new challenge generated by the gospel will be blunted by leaders who shield followers from the full demands of fellowship. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Listening is one of the forms of love. ~ Neal A. Maxwell