David O. McKay

“Happiness is the purpose and design of existence.”

Pathways to Happiness

— David O. McKay

The greatest need in the world today is faith in God and courage to do his will.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, p. 171

— David O. McKay

“No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”

Conference April 1935

— David O. McKay

“The purpose of the gospel is to make bad men good and good men better.”

— David O. McKay

As Christ lived after death so shall all men live, each taking his place in the next world for which he has best fitted himself. The message of the resurrection, therefore, is the most comforting, the most glorious ever given to man, for when death takes a loved one from us, our sorrowing hearts are assuaged by the hope and the divine assurance expressed in the words: “He is not here: he is risen.” Because our Redeemer lives, so shall we. I bear you witness that he does live. I know it, as I hope you know that divine truth. May all mankind some day have that faith.

Gospel Ideals, p. 48

— David O. McKay

“Let us instruct young people who come to us, first, young men throughout the Church, to know that a woman should be queen of her own body. The marriage covenant does not give the man the right to enslave her, or to abuse her, or to use her merely for the gratification of his passion. Your marriage ceremony does not give you that right”

Conference Report, Apr. 1952, 86

— David O. McKay

“The peace of Christ does not come by seeking the superficial things of life, neither does it come except as it springs from the individual’s heart.” He said further that this peace is “conditioned upon obedience to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. … No man is at peace with himself or his God who is untrue to his better self, who transgresses the law of what is right either in dealing with himself by indulging in passion, in appetite, yielding to temptations against his accusing conscience, or in dealing with his fellowmen, being untrue to their trust. Peace does not come to the transgressor of law; peace comes by obedience to law, and it is that message which Jesus would have us proclaim among men.”

Conference Report, Oct. 1938, p. 133.

— David O. McKay

“Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting. . . . True education seeks, then to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love — men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life. . . It is regrettable, not to say deplorable, that modern education so little emphasizes these fundamental elements of true character. The principal aim of many of our schools and colleges seems to be to give the students purely intellectual attainments and to give but passing regard to the nobler and more necessary development along moral lines.”

Gospel Ideals p. 440-441

— David O. McKay

“a true Latter-day Saint is kind to animals, is kind to every created thing, for God created all.”

General Conference, October 1951

— David O. McKay

That the spirit of man passes triumphantly through the portals of death into everlasting life is one of the glorious messages given by Christ, our Redeemer. To him this earthly career is but a day and its closing but the setting of life’s sun. Death, but a sleep, is followed by a glorious awakening in the morning of an eternal realm. . . . If everyone . . . knew that the crucified Christ actually rose on the third day – that after having greeted others and mingled with others in the spirit world, his spirit did again reanimate his pierced body, and after sojourning among men for the space of forty days, he ascended a glorified soul to his Father – what benign peace would come to souls now troubled with doubt and uncertainty! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands with Peter, with Paul, with James, and with all the other early apostles who accepted the resurrection not only as being literally true, but as the consummation of Christ’s divine mission on earth.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, pp. 65-66

— David O. McKay

“Benevolence in its fullest sense is the sum of moral excellence, and comprehends every other virtue. It is the motive that prompts us to do good to others and leads us to live our life for Christ’s sake. All acts of kindness . . . of forgiveness, of charity, of love, spring from this divine attribute.”

“Christ, the Light of Humanity,” Improvement Era, June 1968, 4.

— David O. McKay

“Parents who fail to teach obedience to their children, if [their] homes do not develop obedience society will demand it and get it. It is therefore better for the home, with its kindliness, sympathy and understanding to train the child in obedience rather than callously to leave him to the brutal and unsympathetic discipline that society will impose if the home has not already fulfilled its obligation.”

The Responsibility of Parents to Their Children, p. 3.

— David O. McKay

“The true end of life is not mere existence, not pleasure, not fame, not wealth. The true purpose of life is the perfection of humanity through individual effort, under the guidance of God’s inspiration. Real life is response to the best within us. To be alive only to appetite, pleasure, pride, money-making, and not to goodness and kindness, purity and love, poetry, music, flowers and stars, God and eternal hopes, is to deprive one’s self of the real joy of living.”

General Conference, October 1963

— David O. McKay

I . . . beheld in a vision something infinitely sublime. In the distance I beheld a beautiful white city. Though far away, yet I seemed to realize that trees with luscious fruit, shrubbery with gorgeously-tinted leaves, and flowers in perfect bloom abounded everywhere. The clear sky above seemed to reflect these beautiful shades of color. I then saw a great concourse of people approaching the city. Each one wore a white flowing robe, and a white headdress. Instantly my attention seemed centered upon their Leader, and though I could see only the profile of his features and his body, I recognized him at once as my Savior! The tint and radiance of his countenance were glorious to behold! There was a peace about him which seemed sublime – it was divine! The city, I understood, was his. It was the City Eternal; and the people following him were to abide there in peace and eternal happiness. But who were they? As if the Savior read my thoughts, he answered by pointing to a semicircle that then appeared above them, and on which were written in gold the words: “These Are They Who Have Overcome The World – Who Have Truly Been Born Again!”

Cherished Experiences, p. 102

— David O. McKay

“Sincere praying implies that when we ask for any blessing or virtue, we should work for the blessing and cultivate the virtue.”

Secrets of a Happy Life, 114–15.

— David O. McKay

“The form of worship is frequently an outward compliance without the true soul acknowledgment of its deep spiritual significance… In the partaking of the sacrament, there is danger of people’s permitting formality to supersede spirituality.”

Gospel Ideals (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1953), 71.

— David O. McKay

“If at this moment each one of you were asked to state in one sentence the most distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer? My answer would be divine authority by direct revelation.”

Conference Report, April 1937

— David O. McKay

“No more sacred ordinance has been given to us by the Lord than the administration of the Sacrament.”

Conference Report, October 1956, 88.

— David O. McKay

“No parent can consistently teach faith in Christ who profanes the name of Deity. Profanity is never heard in the well-ordered home. Swearing is a vice that bespeaks a low standard of breeding. Blasphemous exclamations drive out all spirit of reverence.”

Gospel Ideals, Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953, p. 420.

— David O. McKay

“Christ’s ideal pertaining to marriage is the unbroken home, and conditions that cause divorce are violations of his divine teachings. Except in cases of infidelity or other extreme conditions, the Church frowns upon divorce”

(IE 72 [June 1969]:2-5)

— David O. McKay

“Man is a spiritual being, a soul, and at some point of his life everyone is possessed with an irresistible desire to know his relationship to the infinite. There is something within him which urges him to rise above himself, to control his environment, to master the body and all things physical and live in a higher, more beautiful world.”

— David O. McKay

“Let me emphasize that the noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make lives better and happier. The most worthy calling in life is that in which man can serve best his fellowman.”

Conference Report, April 1961, p. 131

— David O. McKay

“The kind of life you live, your disposition, your very nature, will be determined by your thoughts, of which your acts are but the outward expression. Thought is the seed of action.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, 23: Developing a Christlike Character

— David O. McKay

“Motherhood is the one thing in all the world which most truly exemplifies the God-given virtues of creating and sacrificing. The mother who, in compliance with eternal law, brings into the world an immortal spirit occupies first rank in the realm of creation.”

"Respect for Mothers and Their Divine Role"

— David O. McKay