The LDS Daily WOOL Home Page
3/19/03
"Moral agency in the face of difficult choices was not for Adam and
Eve alone (Moses
7:32; D&C
101:78). There are blessings if we choose aright and penalties
if we choose wrongly. Therefore, attempting to stand between friends
and the consequences of their wrong choices is not realistic; it is
not nearly as useful as being lovingly at their sides before and when
choices are being made. Men and women really are 'free to choose' (2
Nephi 2:27), and we cannot and should not try to have it
otherwise." — Neal A. Maxwell, "But for a Small Moment," [Salt
Lake City: Bookcraft, 1986], p. 130
3/20/03
"We should never abandon the quest for a better self. But neither
should we allow ourselves to become immobilized, thinking we are
nobody. One of Satan's greatest tools is to convince us that we are
worth nothing, to lead us to deny our divine heritage. He would have
us 'be miserable like unto himself.' (2
Nephi 2:27.) It is stabilizing to be able to say, 'This is who I
am, and I am happy to live with me.'" — Elaine L. Jack, "Eye to
Eye, Heart to Heart," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1992], p.
106
3/21/03
"The Lord has given us the gift of agency (see Moses
7:32) and instructed us sufficiently to know good from evil (see
2 Nephi 2:5). We
are free to choose (see 2
Nephi 2:27) and are permitted to act (see 2
Nephi 10:23; Helaman
14:30), but we are not free to choose the consequences. With
absolute certainty, choices of good and right lead to happiness and
peace, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to unhappiness,
sorrow, and misery." — Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Finding Peace in Our
Lives," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995], p. 152
3/22/03
"Men may choose the right or they may choose the wrong; they may walk
in darkness or they may walk in the light; and, mind you, God has not
left his children without the light. He has given them in the various
dispensations of the world the light of the gospel wherein they could
walk and not stumble, wherein they could find that peace and happiness
which he desires, as a loving Father, his children should enjoy, but
the Lord does not take from them their free agency." — David O.
McKay, "Gospel Ideals: Selections from the Discourses of David O.
McKay," [Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953], p. 301
3/23/03
"Next to life itself, free agency is God's greatest gift to mankind,
providing thereby the greatest opportunity for the children of God to
advance in this second estate of mortality." — Harold B. Lee,
"Stand Ye in Holy Places," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974],
p. 235
2/4/17
Temptations are ever present. Because the adversary cannot beget life,
he is jealous toward all who have that supernal power. He and those
who followed him were cast out and forfeited the right to a mortal
body. “He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2
Nephi 2:27). He will tempt, if he can, to degrade, to corrupt,
and, if possible, to destroy this gift by which we may, if we are
worthy, have eternal increase (see D&C
132:28–31). – Boyd
K. Packer, “The
Plan of Happiness,” Ensign (CR) May 2015