Skip to content

Gordon B. Hinckley

Portrait of Gordon B. Hinckley
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

AUTHOR PROFILE

Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon B. Hinckley served as the fifteenth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1995 to 2008. His ministry stretched from the rise of worldwide television news to an era when more Saints than ever lived far from a temple. He is remembered for bringing temple worship closer to families, speaking openly about faith, and encouraging members to care for one another.

FEATURED QUOTE
“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others…By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”
— Gordon B. Hinckley

Biography at a glance

  • Born: June 23, 1910, in Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Church service: Apostle beginning in 1961; President of the Church from 1995 to 2008
  • Family: Married Marjorie Pay in the Salt Lake Temple in 1937
  • Major emphases: Temples, missionary work, education, and strengthening faith at home

From missionary service to Church leadership

After studying English and journalism at the University of Utah, Hinckley served a mission in Great Britain. He returned to Church employment in 1935, helping with its radio, publicity, and missionary literature work. Those early assignments put communication at the center of his service. He was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1961 and later served in the First Presidency before becoming Church president in March 1995. The Church’s timeline of his life traces these assignments and their dates.

Making temple blessings more accessible

Temple building became a defining part of President Hinckley’s administration. Smaller temples helped make ordinances available to members who had previously faced long and costly journeys. The Church’s history overview describes that effort and the wider growth of the Church during his presidency. He also directed the creation of the Perpetual Education Fund to support young adults seeking education in places where opportunity was limited.

Faith and family

President Hinckley often connected broad Church growth with everyday discipleship. His counsel addressed parents, young adults, converts, and neighbors of other faiths. In 1995 he presented The Family: A Proclamation to the World at a general Relief Society meeting. LDS Flow has a separate account of the proclamation and its place in his legacy.

Related LDS Flow reading

Explore related people and topics

Sources and further reading

Quotes by Gordon B. Hinckley

144 quotes

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’? Unlike the book on the library shelf, the covers of which shield its contents, our lives cannot be closed. Parents, we truly are an open book in the library of learning of our homes.”

Ensign, Nov. 2000, 65.

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are”

“What Are People Asking about Us?” Oct. 1998 general conference

— Gordon B. Hinckley

How do we prepare for the Second Coming? Well, you just do not worry about it. You just live the kind of life that if the Second Coming were to be tomorrow you would be ready. Nobody knows when it is going to happen. No one knows when the Savior is coming, not even the angels in heaven. Our responsibility is to prepare ourselves, to live worthy of the association of the Savior, to deport ourselves in such a way that we would not be embarrassed if He were to come among us. That is a challenge in this day and age.

Weber State University, Institute Devotional, April 15, 1997

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“We hope that through the payment of liberal fast offerings there will be more than enough to provide for the needs of the less fortunate. If every member of this church observed the fast and contributed generously, the poor and the needy – not only of the Church, but many others as well, would be blessed and provided for. Every giver would be blessed in body and spirit, and the hungry would be fed, the naked clothed according to need.”

“Rise to a Larger Vision of the Work,” Ensign, May 1990, p. 95

— Gordon B. Hinckley

In that first bright Easter morn, Peter and John ran with alarm to the empty tomb, into which had been placed the lifeless body of the Savior Jesus Christ just days before. Similar concern must have filled the mind of Mary Magdalene as she gazed into the sepulcher now void of the body of the Master. Confusion and dismay were not to last, however, as the Resurrected Lord made manifest to those so dear to Him in life the reality of eternal life and the miracle of the Resurrection. (See John 20.) We now rejoice with all of faithful Christendom at the marvelous message of the Resurrection. By virtue of His loving gift of life, each of us will rise from the grave, body and spirit joined together inseparably throughout eternity. We proclaim that the “bands of death” (Mosiah 15:8) have, in very deed, been broken for the children of men. Each of us may lay aside all wonder, all fear of the darkness of death and rejoice, “having a perfect brightness of hope.” (3 Nephi 31:20) We offer our solemn testimony that He lives; that the blessings of the Resurrection will be realized for each of us. We join with you in an expression of humble gratitude for His willing sacrifice and pray the blessings of heaven will attend us all, as we commemorate at this Easter time the hope and eternal promise of the Resurrection.

The First Presidency Easter Message [Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, James E. Faust], March 1997

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“Our behavior in public must be above reproach. Our behavior in private is even more important. It must clear the standard set by the Lord. We cannot indulge in sin, let alone try to cover our sins. We cannot gratify our pride. We cannot partake of the vanity of unrighteous ambition. We cannot exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion upon our wives or children, or any others in any degree of unrighteousness. “If we do any of these things, the powers of heaven are withdrawn. The Spirit of the Lord is grieved. The very virtue of our priesthood is nullified. Its authority is lost. . . .How tragic and utterly disgusting a phenomenon is wife abuse. Any man in this Church who abuses his wife, who demeans her, who insults her, who exercises unrighteous dominion over her is unworthy to hold the priesthood. Though he may have been ordained, the heavens will withdraw, the Spirit of the Lord will be grieved, and it will be amen to the authority of the priesthood of that man.”

“Personal Worthiness to Exercise the Priesthood,” General Conference, April 2002

— Gordon B. Hinckley

I think it has been taught by some . . . that if a wife does not love her husband in this state she cannot love him in the next. This is not so. Those who attain to the blessing of the first resurrection will be pure and holy, and perfect in body. Every man and woman that reaches to this unspeakable attainment will be as beautiful as the angels that surround the throne of God. If you can, by faithfulness in this life, obtain the right to come up in the morning of the resurrection, you need entertain no fears that the wife will be dissatisfied with her husband, or the husband with the wife; for those of the first resurrection will be free from sin and from the consequences and power of sin.

(1862). Future state of existence. In Journal of Discourses, 10, 24.

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“It is not an easy thing to become a member of this Church. In most cases it involves setting aside old habits, leaving old friends and associations, and stepping into a new society which is different and somewhat demanding. With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ‘the good word of God’ . It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things.”

“Converts and Young Men”

— Gordon B. Hinckley

Unfortunately a few of you may be married to men who are abusive. Some of them put on a fine face before the world during the day and come home in the evening, set aside their self-discipline, and on the slightest provocation fly into outbursts of anger. No man who engages in such evil and unbecoming behavior is worthy of the priesthood of God. No man who so conducts himself is worthy of the privileges of the house of the Lord. I regret that there are some men undeserving of the love of their wives and children. There are children who fear their fathers, and wives who fear their husbands. If there be any such men within the hearing of my voice, as a servant of the Lord I rebuke you and call you to repentance. Discipline yourselves. Master your temper. Most of the things that make you angry are of very small consequence. And what a terrible price you are paying for your anger. Ask the Lord to forgive you. Ask your wife to forgive you. Apologize to your children.

Women of the Church

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“I marvel at the miracle of the human mind and body. Have you ever contemplated the wonders of yourself, the eyes with which you see, the ears with which you hear, the voice with which you speak? No camera ever built can compare with the human eye. No method of communication ever devised can compare with the voice and the ear. No pump ever built will run as long or as efficiently as the human heart. No computer or other creation of science can equal the human brain. What a remarkable thing you are. You can think by day and dream by night. You can speak and hear and smell.”

— Gordon B. Hinckley

“I ask anew the question offered by Pilate two thousand years ago, ‘What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?’ Indeed, we need continually to ask ourselves, What shall we do with Jesus who is called Christ? What shall we do with his teachings, and how can we make them an inseparable part of our lives? In light of these questions, at this season we ask another: What does Christmas really mean?”

“What Shall I Do Then with Jesus Which Is Called Christ?”

— Gordon B. Hinckley

There is no need for people to shop and desecrate the Sabbath day by buying things on Sunday. That is not the time to buy groceries. You have six days of the week and you all have a refrigerator. You do not have to shop on Sunday. Do not buy furniture on Sunday, buy it the other days of the week. You will not lose anything if you do your shopping the other days and do not do it no Sunday. Let this day be a day of meditation, of reading the scriptures, of talking with your families, and of dwelling on the things of God. If you do so you will be blessed.

Jordan Utah South Regional Conference, 3/2/97

— Gordon B. Hinckley

© Copyright 2026, All Rights Reserved