"Quotes"

CALLER: I was wondering about some of the guidelines in dietary restrictions Mormons live by, and how strictly members follow it. Because I was reading, once, the word of wisdom. My impression was that its major point was that one should respect all life, including animals and, as such, only consume them when absolutely necessary to sustain life, and to then eat them sparingly. But I've noticed that Mormon -- this is rarely followed by Mormons, and I'm wondering if this has anything to do with, as reported by "TIME" magazine.
Larry King: OK, president?
Gordon B. Hinckley: Oh, I don't know. You've read a part of the word of wisdom. The word of wisdom covers many things. It covers the excessive use of meat, as I see it. It covers, in a very particular way, the use of tobacco and alcohol.
Larry King: By saying no?
Gordon B. Hinckley: By saying, by proscribing those things.
Larry King: No to caffeine?
Gordon B. Hinckley: No to caffeine, coffee and tea. 

(Larry King Live - Aug. 9, 1998 - Interview with President Hinckley)

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***Gordon B. Hinckley - interview w/ Mike Wallace on not drinking caffeinated drinks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLFDP_MeYhg 

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"There is no question that the health of the body affects the spirit, or the Lord would never have revealed the Word of Wisdom.... Disease, fever and unexpected deaths are some of the consequences directly related to disobedience.... To a great extent, we are physically what we eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions of the Word of Wisdom...but what need additional emphasis are the positive aspects---the need for vegetables, fruits, and grain, particularly wheat. We need a generation of people who eat in a healthier manner."
(President Benson - Ensign, September 1988, p. 5)

"Doctors make experiments, and if they find a medicine that will have the desired effect on one person, they set it down that it is good for everybody, but it is not so. For upon the second person that medicine is administered to seemingly with the same disease, it might produce death…I say that unless a man or woman who administers medicine to assist the human system to overcome disease, understands, and has that intuitive knowledge, by the Spirit, that such an article is good to that individual at that very time, they had better let him alone. Let the sick do without eating, take a little of something to cleanse the stomach, bowels and blood, and wait patiently, and let nature have time to gain the advantage over the disease."  - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses

“This revelation has such far-reaching effects on so many aspects of our lives, and on the social behavior of those in our communities, that I firmly believe most of the ills of society today could be cured by the acceptance and observance of the Word of Wisdom.”

N. Eldon Tanner, Ensign, Aug 1981

"One hears the occasional statement that milk makes mucous & the saying is passed around from one uninformed person to another.  It may do so for a poorly nourished person, (or it may seem to do so).  There are people who can't eat wheat in any form - or strawberries make their eyes swell, or produces hives, etc.  Should it therefore be said that strawberries make the eyes swell or wheat gives one hives & therefore no one should eat them?  IF ONE IS COMPLETELY NOURISHED, NO NATURAL FOOD WILL CAUSE THESE ILL EFFECTS." - John A. Widtsoe - The Word of Wisdom, A Modern Interpretation"

"The fathers and mothers have laid the foundation for many of these diseases, from generation to generation, until the people are reduced to their present condition.... The people have laid the foundation of short life through their diet, their rest, their labor, and their doing this, that, and the other in a wrong manner, with improper motives, and at improper times. I would be glad to tell mothers how to lay the foundation of health in their children, that they may be delivered.... Some say that 'this is a miserable world, I do not care how soon I get through.'  Well, go and destroy yourselves, if you choose; you have all the opportunity that you can desire...Latter-day Saints who live merely to get ready to die are not worth much; rather get ready to live, and be prepared to live to the glory of your Father in Heaven and to do the work He has given you to do." (Journal of Discourses 2:269-71)

Your body is the instrument of your mind. In your emotions, the spirit and the body come closest to being one. What you learn spiritually depends, to a degree, on how you treat your body. That is why the Word of Wisdom is so important.  Do not ignore the Word of Wisdom, for that may cost you the “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures promised to those who keep it. And good health is an added blessing. - Boyd K. Packer

"If I do not see the evils that result from eating meats to excess, and the benefits that would result from abstaining, what anybody else may see would only have a temporary effect upon me. I must feel in my own heart that it is injurious to me to indulge in these things; there must be a well settled conviction within me that this is the case.  The question arises...  'What then are we to eat if we drop swine's flesh and eat very little beef or mutton...why, dear me, we shall starve to death.' In conversation with one of the brethren the other day, the brother remarked 'the diet of the poor is principally bread and meat, and if they dispense with meat, they will be reduced to very hard fare.' I reasoned with him...that other articles of food could be raised more cheaply and in greater variety than the flesh of animals. It is an exceedingly difficult thing for most people to break off and discontinue cherished and long standing habits.  We can have variety in diet, and yet have simplicity. We can have a diet that will be easily prepared, and yet have it healthful. We can have a diet that will be tasteful, nutritious and delightful to us and easy to digest..." (Journal of Discourses 12:221-4)

“We live to die, and we die to live again. From an eternal perspective, the only death that is truly premature is the death of one who is not prepared to meet God.”
Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 2011

“In a world that is being darkened by evil images and dishonest messages, you have been blessed to recognize more easily the flashes of light and truth. You have learned for yourself that light grows brighter as you receive it gladly. It will become brighter and brighter until the perfect day when we will be in the presence of the Source of the light.”
Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Dec. 2009

“The condition of the physical body can affect the spirit. That’s why the Lord gave us the Word of Wisdom. He also said that we should retire to our beds early and arise early (see D&C 88:124), that we should not run faster than we have strength (see D&C 10:4), and that we should use moderation in all good things.”
Ezra Taft Benson, Tambuli, Mar 1987

“What would happen if we truly treated our bodies as temples? The result would be a dramatic increase in chastity, modesty, observance of the Word of Wisdom, and a similar decrease in the problems of pornography and abuse, for we would regard the body, like the temple, as a sacred sanctuary of the Spirit. Just as no unclean thing may enter the temple, we would be vigilant to keep impurity of any sort from entering the temple of our bodies. Likewise, we would keep the outside of our bodily temples looking clean and beautiful to reflect the sacred and holy nature of what is inside, just as the Church does with its temples. We should dress and act in ways that reflect the sacred spirit inside us.” Susan W. Tanner, Ensign, Nov 2005, 13

“Wisdom can not be purchased with credit. It must be paid for penny by penny as it becomes available for purchase.”  - W. Denis Nurmela (Words of Wisdom Mailing list March 13, 1997)

John A. Widtsoe on toxic foods & substances:

("The Word Of Wisdom - A Modern Interpretation")

"If these substances are abolished by man, how can the large numbers of people who will be thrown out of employment be cared for?  The most obvious answer is that moral evil is NEVER justified by economic good.  It may also be answered that the money now expended for these injurious substances would more than care for the unemployed in a state of idleness."

Yet I will say with regard to miracles, there is no such thing save to the ignorant--that is, there never was a result wrought out by God or by any of His creatures without there being a cause for it. There may be results, the causes of which we do not see or understand, and what we call miracles are no more than this--they are the results or effects of causes hidden from our understandings. [Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, pg. 140 - p.141, 11 Jul 1869].

Science reveals the beauty and harmony of the world material; it unveils to us ten thousand mysteries in the kingdom of nature, and shows that all forms of life through fire and analogous decay are returned again to its bosom. It unfolds to us the mysteries of cloud and rains, dew and frost, growth and decay, and reveals the operation of those silent irresistible forces which give vitality to the world. It reveals to us the more wonderful operations of distant orbs and their relations to the forces of nature. It also reveals another grand principle, that the laws of nature are immutable and unchangeable as are all the works of God. [John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, pg. 224, 6 May 1870].

It is hard to get the people to believe that God is a scientific character, that He lives by science or strict law, that by this He is, and by law he was made what He is; and will remain to all eternity because of His faithful adherence to law. It is a most difficult thing to make the people believe that every art and science and all wisdom comes from Him, and that He is their Author. [Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, pg. 302, 13 Nov 1870].

The Lord almighty is the greatest chemist there is. [Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 15, pg. 127, 11 Aug 1872].

The laws of nature are the laws of truth. Truth is unchangeable, and independent in its own sphere. A law of nature never has been broken. And it is an absolute impossibility that such law ever should be broken. [Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 1891, pg. 102].

 The entire constitution of nature is founded on system and order. [James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, Deseret Book, SLC, 1966, originally published 1899, pg. 220.]

According to the conception of geologists the earth passed through ages of preparation, to us unmeasured and immeasurable, during which countless generations of plants and animals existed in great variety and profusion and gave in part the very substance of their bodies to help form certain strata which are still existent as such. Geologists say that these very simple forms of plant and animal bodies were succeeded by others more complicated; and in the indestructible record of the rocks they read the story of advancing life from the simple to the more complex, from the single-celled protozoan to the highest animals, from the marine algae to the advanced types of flowering plant -- to the apple-tree, the rose, and the oak.  What a fascinating story is inscribed upon the stony pages of the earth's crust!  [James E. Talmage, "The Earth and Man," address delivered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, 9 Aug 1931, and published by the Church under direction of the First Presidency].

 The Church teaches that the laws of nature are but the immutable laws of the Creator of the universe. [John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, Bookcraft, 1960, pg. 139].

As science advances and increases, as new discoveries are made, as more complete command is obtained over the forces of nature, the more necessary it becomes that we have a religion to guide us in employing these discoveries. To save the world from science, and to make science the builder of a good world, we must hasten our progress towards the fuller acceptance of God. So, the answer to the question at the head of this article is very simple. In an age of science we have greater need than ever before of religion. A conscience of science is a present need. [John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, Bookcraft, 1960, pg. 178].

Religion and science have sometimes been in apparent conflict. Yet the conflict should only be apparent, not real, for science should seek truth, and true religion is truth. There can never be conflict between revealed religion and scientific fact. That they have often occupied different fields of truth is a mere detail. The gospel accepts and embraces all truth; science is slowly expanding her arms and reaching into the invisible domain in search of truth. The two are meeting daily -- science as a child, revealed religion as the mother. Truth is truth, whether labeled science or religion. There can be no conflict. Time is on the side of truth -- for truth is eternal. [Ezra Taft Benson, LDS Conference Report, Apr. 1966, pg. 129].

Both science and religion beget humility. Scientists and teachers of religion disagree among themselves on theological and other subjects. Even in our own church men and women take issue with one another and contend for their own interpretations. This free exchange of ideas is not to be deplored as long as men and women remain humble and teachable. Neither fear of consequence or any kind of coercion should ever be used to secure uniformity of thought in the church. People should express their problems and opinions and be unafraid to think without fear of ill consequences.  We should all be interested in academic research. We must go out on the research front and continue to explore the vast unknown. We should be in the forefront of learning in all fields, for revelation does not come only through the prophet of God nor only directly from heaven in visions or dreams. Revelation may come in the laboratory, out of the test tube, out of the thinking mind and the inquiring soul, out of search and research and prayer and inspiration. We must be unafraid to contend for what we are thinking and to combat error with truth in this divided and imperiled world, and we must do it with the unfaltering faith that God is still in his heaven even though all is not well with the world.  We should be dauntless in our pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity. No one would have us become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts. We should be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and faith. There have been times when progress was halted by thought control. Tolerance and truth demand that all be heard and that competing ideas be tested against each other so that the best, which might not always be our own, can prevail. Knowledge is the most complete and dependable when all points of view are heard. We are in a world of restlessness and skepticism, where old things are not only challenged but often disappear, but also a world of miraculous achievement, undreamed of accomplishment, and terrifying power.  Science offers wonderful tools for helping to create the brotherhood of humanity on earth, but the cement of brotherhood does not come from any laboratory. It must come from the heart and mind and spirit of men and women.

Peace and brotherhood can be achieved when the two most potent forces in civilization -- religion and science -- join to create one world in its truest and greatest sense. We should continue to become acquainted with human experience through history and philosophy, science and poetry, art and religion. Every discovery of science reveals clearly the divine plan in nature. The remarkable harmony in the physical laws and processes of the universe, from the infinitesimal to the infinite, surpasses mortal understanding and implies a supreme architect, and the beauty and symmetry of God's handiwork inspire reverence. One of the most important things in the world is freedom of the mind; from this all other freedoms spring. Such freedom is necessarily dangerous, for one cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong, but generally more thinking is the antidote for the evils that spring from wrong thinking. More thinking is required, and we should all exercise our God-given right to think and be unafraid to express our opinions, with proper respect for those to whom we talk and proper acknowledgment of our own shortcomings. We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it. The church is not so much concerned with whether the thoughts of its members are orthodox or heterodox as it is that they shall have thoughts. One may memorize much without learning anything. In this age of speed there seems to be little While speak of independence and the right to think, to agree or disagree, to examine and question, I need to remind myself not to forget that fixed and unchanging laws govern all God's creation, whether the vastness of the starry heavens or the minute revolving universe of the atom or human relationships. All is law. All is cause and effect, and God's laws are universal. God has no favorites; no one is immune from either life's temptations or the consequences of his or her deeds. God is not capricious. [Hugh B. Brown, "A Final Testimony," from Edwin B. Firmage, ed., The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown: An Abundant Life, Signature Books, 1988].

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