Howard W. Hunter

“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again. “Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning — with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.”

"The Gifts of Christmas"

— Howard W. Hunter

If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right.

Fear Not, Little Flock

— Howard W. Hunter

“You should express regularly to your wife and children your reverence and respect for her. Indeed, one of the greatest things a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

— Howard W. Hunter

“It is interesting that the first recorded instruction given to Adam after the Fall, dealt with the eternal principle of work. The Lord said: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” (Gen. 3:19.) Our Heavenly Father loves us so completely that he has given us a commandment to work. This is one of the keys to eternal life. He knows that we will learn more, grow more, achieve more, serve more, and benefit more from a life of industry than from a life of ease.”

Prepare for Honorable Employment

— Howard W. Hunter

“Among the chosen witnesses are the Lord’s Apostles. Indeed, the call to the holy apostleship is one of bearing witness to the world of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith said, ‘The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.'”

An Apostle’s Witness of the Resurrection

— Howard W. Hunter

It is necessary to say a word about what is “enough income.” This is a materialistic world, and Latter-day Saints must be careful not to confuse luxuries with necessities. An adequate income allows us to provide for the basic requirements of life. There are some who unwisely aspire to self-indulgent luxuries that often lead them away from complete commitment to the gospel of our Savior.

Prepare for Honorable Employment

— Howard W. Hunter

“If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, then it is utterly selfish, and we come to think of God as a repairman or a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. We should remember the Most High day and night – always – not only at times when all other assistance has failed and we desperately need help. If there is any element in human life on which we have a record of miraculous success and inestimable worth to the human soul, it is prayerful, reverential, devout communication with our Heavenly Father.”

“Hallowed Be Thy Name,” Ensign, November 1977, p. 52

— Howard W. Hunter

“Christ was perfect and sinless, not because he had to be, but rather because he clearly and determinedly wanted to be.”

Ensign, November 1976, p. 19

— Howard W. Hunter

“What a glorious thing it is for us to have the privilege of going to the temple for our own blessings. Then after going to the temple for our own blessings, what a glorious privilege to do the work for those who have gone on before us.”

"A Temple-Motivated People"

— Howard W. Hunter

“Indeed, one of the greatest things a father can do for his children is to love their mother. A man who holds the priesthood regards the family as ordained of God. Your leadership of the family is your most important and sacred responsibility. The family is the most important unit in time and in eternity and, as such, transcends every other interest in life.”

— Howard W. Hunter

“We need to be kinder with one another, more gentle and forgiving. We need to be slower to anger and more prompt to help. We need to extend the hand of friendship and resist the hand of retribution. In short, we need to love one another with the pure love of Christ, with genuine charity and compassion and, if necessary, shared suffering, for that is the way God loves us.”

A More Excellent Way, Conference April 1992

— Howard W. Hunter

“We are at a time in the history of the world and the growth of the Church when we must think more of holy things and act more like the Savior would expect his disciples to act. We should at every opportunity ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” and then act more courageously upon the answer. We must be about his work as he was about his Father’s. We should make every effort to become like Christ, the one perfect and sinless example this world has ever seen.”

“Follow the Son of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 87

— Howard W. Hunter

We believe there is a spiritual influence that emanates from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. All men share an inheritance of divine light. God operates among his children in all nations, and those who seek God are entitled to further light and knowledge, regardless of their race, nationality, or cultural traditions.

The Gospel—A Global Faith

— Howard W. Hunter

“Humility is an attribute of godliness possessed by true Saints. It is easy to understand why a proud man fails. He is content to rely upon himself only. This is evident in those who seek social position or who push others aside to gain position in fields of business, government, education, sports, or other endeavors. Our genuine concern should be for the success of others. The proud man shuts himself off from God, and when he does he no longer lives in the light.”

“The Pharisee and the Publican,” Ensign, May 1984, p. 66

— Howard W. Hunter

“We urge you to do all in your power to allow your wife to remain in the home, caring for the children while you provide for the family the best you can.”

Ensign, November 1994, p. 51

— Howard W. Hunter

“Without the Resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a litany of wise sayings and seemingly unexplainable miracles – but sayings and miracles with no ultimate triumph. No, the ultimate triumph is in the ultimate miracle: for the first time in the history of mankind, one who was dead raised himself into living immortality. He was the Son of God, the Son of our immortal Father in Heaven, and his triumph over physical and spiritual death is the good news every Christian tongue should speak.”

Conference Report, April 1986

— Howard W. Hunter

Any man who abuses or demeans his wife physically or spiritually is guilty of grievous sin and in need of sincere and serious repentance. Differences should be worked out in love and kindness and with a spirit of mutual reconciliation. A man should always speak to his wife lovingly and kindly, treating her with the utmost respect. Marriage is like a tender flower, brethren, and must be nourished constantly with expressions of love and affection.

Being a Righteous Husband and Father

— Howard W. Hunter

“Tenderness and respect—never selfishness—must be the guiding principles in the intimate relationship between husband and wife.”

Being a Righteous Husband and Father

— Howard W. Hunter

No man who has been ordained to the priesthood of God can with impunity abuse his wife or child. Sexual abuse of children has long been a cause for excommunication from the Church.

Being a Righteous Husband and Father

— Howard W. Hunter

In this Easter season of the year – when we are reminded yet again of all Christ has done for us, how dependent we are upon his redeeming grace and personal resurrection, and how singular his name is in the power to dispel evil and death and save the human soul – may we all do more to respect and revere his holy name and gently, courteously encourage others to do the same.

Conference Report, April 1993

— Howard W. Hunter

This faith and hope of which I speak, is not a Pollyanna-like approach to significant personal and public problems. I don’t believe we can wake up in the morning and simply by drawing a big “happy face” on the chalkboard believe that is going to take care of the world’s difficulties. But if our faith and hope is anchored in Christ, in his teachings, commandments, and promises, then we are able to count on something truly remarkable, genuinely miraculous, which can part the Red Sea and lead Modern Israel to a place, “where none shall come to hurt or make afraid.” Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal which Satan uses to make mankind unhappy. He who fears loses strength for the combat of life, in the fight against evil. Therefore the power of the Evil One always tries to generate fear in human hearts. In every age and in every era fear has faced mankind.

“An Anchor to the Souls of Men,” CES Fireside for Young Adults, February 7, 1993

— Howard W. Hunter

Once we start to recognize the many miraculous and blessed manifestations of God and Christ in our lives – the everyday variety as well as restored sight to the blind and restored hearing to the deaf – we may be truly bewildered at the unexplainable principles and processes that bring about such wonders.

“The God That Doest Wonders,” Ensign, May 1989, p. 15

— Howard W. Hunter

“To deny the reality of miracles on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictitious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it.”

Ensign, May 1989, 16.

— Howard W. Hunter

“…Attend the temple on a regular basis. Make sure in your planning that you include a visit to the temple as often as personal circumstances will allow. I promise you that your personal spirituality, relationship with your husband or wife and family relationships will be blessed and strengthened as you regularly attend the temple.”

Church News, Sept. 24, 1994)

— Howard W. Hunter