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
“Your chances for a happy and lasting marriage will be far greater if you will date those who are active and faithful in the Church.”
“Four B’s for Boys,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 41.
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“no member of the Church has received the ultimate which this Church had to give until he or she has received his or her temple blessings in the house of the Lord.
Some Thoughts on Temples, Retention of Converts, and Missionary Service
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“The whole gamut of human endeavor is now open to women. There is not anything that you cannot do if you will set your mind to it. I am grateful that women today are afforded the same opportunity to study for science, for the professions, and for every other facet of human knowledge. You are as entitled as are men to the Spirit of Christ, which enlightens every man and woman who comes into the world. . . You can include in the dream of the woman you would like to be a picture of one qualified to serve society and make a significant contribution to the world of which she will be a part.”
“How Can I Become the Woman of Whom I Dream?”
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Our Eternal Father lives. He stands as the great God of the universe, ruling in majesty and power. And yet He is my Father, to whom I may go in prayer with the assurance that He will hear, listen, and answer.”
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“I believe in beauty. The earth in its pristine beauty is an expression of the nature of its Creator…. I believe in the beauty of nature—the flowers, the fruit, the sky, the peaks and the plains from which they rise. I see and believe in the beauty of animals….I believe in beauty—the beauty of God’s unspoiled creations, the beauty of his sons and daughters who walk without whimpering, meeting the challenges of each new day.”
The Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 248, 249.
— Gordon B. Hinckley
We never felt that it was a sacrifice to pay our tithing. We felt it was an obligation, that even as small children we were doing our duty as the Lord had outlined that duty, and that we were assisting his church in the great work it had to accomplish.
The Sacred Law of Tithing
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“There is something almost sacred about a great library because it represents the preservation of the wisdom, the learning, and the pondering of men and women of all the ages, accumulated under one roof.”
Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“There may be now and again a legitimate cause for divorce. I am not one to say that it is never justified. But I say without hesitation that this plague among us, which seems to be growing everywhere, is not of God, but rather is the work of the adversary of righteousness and peace and truth”
in Conference Report, Apr. 1991, 96–98; or Ensign, May 1991, 73–74
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“There is something wonderful about a book. We can pick it up. We can heft it. We can read it. We can set it down. We can think of what we have read. It does something for us. We can share great minds, great actions, and great undertakings in the pages of a book.”
Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Imagine how our own families, let alone the world, would change if we vowed to keep faith with one another, strengthen one another, look for and accentuate the virtues in one another, and speak graciously concerning one another. Imagine the cumulative effect if we treated each other with respect and acceptance, if we willingly provided support. Such interactions practiced on a small scale would surely have a rippling effect throughout our homes and communities and, eventually, society at large.”
Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Under the plan of heaven, the husband and wife walk side by side as companions, neither one ahead of the other, but a daughter of God and a son of God walking side by side. Let your families be families of love and peace and happiness.”
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“How sweet is the assurance, how comforting is the peace that come from the knowledge that if we marry right and live right, our relationship will continue, notwithstanding the certainty of death and the passage of time. Men may write love songs and sing them. They may yearn and hope and dream. But all of this will be only a romantic longing unless there is an exercise of authority that transcends the powers of time and death.”
The Marriage That Endures
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Of course, all in marriage is not bliss. . . . The remedy for most marriage stress is not in divorce. It is in repentance. It is not in separation. It is in simple integrity that leads a man to square up his shoulders and meet his obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule. . . .There must be a willingness to overlook small faults, to forgive, and then to forget. There must be a holding of one’s tongue. Temper is a vicious and corrosive thing that destroys affection and casts out love. . . . There may be now and again a legitimate cause for divorce. I am not one to say that it is never justified. But I say without hesitation that this plague among us, which seems to be growing everywhere, is not of God, but rather is the work of the adversary of righteousness and peace and truth.”
What God hath joined together. Ensign, 21(5), 72–74.
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Knowledge without labor is profitless. Knowledge with labor is genius.”
Stand a Little Taller
— Gordon B. Hinckley
As you know, we have recently issued a booklet on child abuse. We deplore this terrible thing which seems to be growing in the world. Of course, it is not new. It has gone on for generations. It is serious, and we so regard it. Sexual abuse of children on the part of fathers, or anyone else, has long been a cause for excommunication from the Church. No man who has been ordained to the priesthood of God can with impunity indulge in either spouse or child abuse. Such activity becomes an immediate repudiation of his right to hold and exercise the priesthood and to retain membership in the Church. I am glad that there is a growing public awareness of this insidious evil. The exploitation of children, or the abuse of one’s spouse, for the satisfaction of sadistic desires is sin of the darkest hue.
Questions and Answers
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“This earth is his creation. When we make it ugly, we offend him.”
“What Shall I Do Then with Jesus Which Is Called Christ?”
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Pray for wisdom and understanding as you walk the difficult paths of your lives. If you are determined to do foolish and imprudent things, I think the Lord will not prevent you. But if you seek His wisdom and follow the counsel of the impressions that come to you, I am confident that you will be blessed.”
“Benediction,” Ensign, May 2003, pp. 99-100
— Gordon B. Hinckley
The Lord expects us to keep the Sabbath Day holy. I can’t understand why anyone thinks that he or she has to shop on Sunday. We have refrigerators. . . . You don’t need to buy meat on Sunday. You don’t need to buy milk on Sunday. None of these things. You don’t need to buy furniture on Sunday. You don’t need to buy automobiles on Sunday. You don’t need to do any of these things on the Sabbath Day. The Lord, from the time of Sinai has declared unequivocally that we should keep the Sabbath Day holy. It is just that simple, but He has said again…that we will be blessed if we do so.
Sandy Utah Central Regional conference, January 25, 1998. President Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, March 14, 1998, p. 14
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“I pity the man who at one time looked into the eyes of a beautiful young woman and held her hand across the altar in the house of the Lord as they made sacred and everlasting promises one to another, but who, lacking in self-discipline, fails to cultivate his better nature, sinks to coarseness and evil, and destroys the relationship which the Lord has provided for him”
“Walking in the Light of the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 99)
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Our message is so imperative, when you stop to think that the salvation, the eternal salvation of the world, rests upon the shoulders of this church. When all is said and done, if the world is going to be saved, we have to do it. There is no escaping from that. No other people in the history of the world have received the kind of mandate that we have received. We are responsible for all who have lived on this earth. That involves our family history and temple work. We are responsible for all who now live upon the earth, and that involves missionary work. And we are going to be responsible for all who will yet live upon the earth.”
Mission Presidents’ Seminar, Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah, June 1999;
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Reformation of the world begins with reformation of self. We cannot hope to influence others in the direction of moral virtue unless we live lives of virtue. The example of our virtuous living will carry a greater influence than will all the preaching, postulating, and theorizing in which we might indulge. We cannot expect to lift others unless we are standing on higher ground.”
Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“The decisions we make, individually and personally, become the fabric of our lives. That fabric will be beautiful or ugly according to the threads of which it is woven. I wish to say particularly to the young men who are here that you cannot indulge in any unbecoming behavior without injury to the beauty of the fabric of your lives. Immoral acts of any kind will introduce an ugly thread. Dishonesty of any kind will create a blemish. Foul and profane language will rob the pattern of its beauty.”
"This Work Is Concerned with People," Conference, April 1995
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“I have now been an officer in this Church for a very long time. I am an old man who cannot deny the calendar. I have lived long enough and served in enough different capacities to have removed from my mind, if such were necessary, any doubt of the divinity of this, the work of God. We respect those of other churches. We desire their friendship and hope to render meaningful service with them. We know they all do good, but we unabashedly state—and this frequently brings criticism upon us—that this is the true and living Church of our Father in Heaven and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Benediction
— Gordon B. Hinckley
“Prayer, in the homes of this and other lands, is one of the simple medicines that would check the dread disease that has eroded the fiber of our character. It is as simple as sunshine and would be as effective in curing our malady. We could not expect a miracle in a day, but in a generation we would have a miracle.”
“Be Thou an Example”
— Gordon B. Hinckley
LDS Flow A comprehensive online experience for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
