The LDS Daily WOOL Home Page
(5/27/98)
"Friendship is an extremely
important part of your life. Someone has said a true
friend is someone who makes it easier to live the gospel
of Jesus Christ."—Elder Malcolm S. Jeppsen, Who
Is A True Friend?, General Conference, April
1990
(5/28/98)
"It takes courage to be a real
friend. Some of us endanger the valued classification of
friend because of our unwillingness to be one under all
circumstances. Fear can deprive us of friendship. Some of
us identify our closest friends as those with the courage
to remain and share themselves with us under all
circumstances. A friend is a person who will suggest and
render the best for us regardless of the immediate
consequences. Sir Winston Churchill became Great
Britain's greatest friend in his country's darkest hour
because he was courageous enough to call for 'blood,
toil, tears, and sweat' when some would have accepted him
more readily as a friend had he advocated peaceful
surrender."—Elder Marvin J. Ashton, What
Is A Friend?, General Conference, October
1972
(5/29/98)
"One can fellowship and friendship
others—indeed we must—without taking out a
membership in the country club at Sodom."Elder Neal
A. Maxwell, Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward,
p.76
(5/30/98)
"True friendship may well be the
best thing that we can do to help reach those who may be
drifting toward unsafe and morally damaging activities
and counterfeit forms of belonging."—Elder M.
Russell Ballard, Standing for Truth and Right,
General Conference, October 1997
(5/31/98)
"Friendship is one of the grand
fundamental principles of 'Mormonism'; [it is designed]
to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars
and contentions to cease and men to become friends and
brothers."—"The Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith" page 316
(8/24/00)
"Who is the enemy of mankind? He who wishes to change truth for error
and light for darkness; he who wishes to take peace from a family, city,
state or nation and give the sword in return. He is my enemy, he is your
enemy and the enemy of mankind. Who is the friend of mankind? He who
makes peace between those who are at enmity, who brings together those
who, perhaps, through some misunderstanding, have been at variance with
and lost friendship and fellowship for each other, and shows them that
their ill-will is without foundation and existed simply because they did
not understand each other." —
"Discourses of Brigham Young", p.71
(8/25/00)
"Among life's sweetest blessings is fellowship with men and women whose
ideals and aspirations are high and noble. Next to a sense of kinship
with God come the helpfulness, encouragement, and inspiration of
friends. Friendship is a sacred possession. As air, water, and sunshine
to flowers, trees, and verdure, so smiles, sympathy, and love of friends
to the daily life of man! 'To live, laugh, love one's friends, and be
loved by them is to bask in the sunshine of life.'"
— David O. McKay, "Gospel Ideals",
p.253
(8/26/00)
"The fellowship of true friends who can hear you out, share your joys,
help carry your burdens, and correctly counsel you is priceless. For one
who has been in the prison of depression, the words of the Prophet
Joseph Smith have special meaning: 'How sweet the voice of a friend is;
one token of friendship from any source whatever awakens and calls into
action every sympathetic feeling' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, p. 134)." — "Teachings of
Ezra Taft Benson", p.273-274
(8/27/00)
"Some of us are not the good brothers and sisters we should be in those
circumstances when a friend is being criticized. Our conduct must rise
above the morality of the chicken coop in which, once a chicken is
wounded, all the other chickens peck away at its bloody head. If only we
could simply remember that while we need to deal frankly with mistakes
(our own and those of others) when people have erred, they need us more
than ever. We can offer support without approving of the error."
— Neal A. Maxwell, "Wherefore Ye
Must Press Forward", p.93
(8/28/00)
"In giving our service to others, we need to remember President
Hinckley's counsel to extend the hand of fellowship and to share our
love with the hundreds of thousands who join the Church as converts each
year. The greatest tool the Lord has to welcome new converts warmly and
'keep them in the right way' is the love each of us extends by taking
the time to introduce ourselves to new members, learning their names,
listening to them, and learning something about them."
— Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, "The
Time to Prepare", General Conference, April 1998
(8/29/00)
"I would add a suggestion for avoiding undue temptation. Young men and
women, not yet ready for marriage, should be friends with many others,
but they should not engage in courting. Immaturity makes them
susceptible to temptation. We want them to grow up clean, with a life
plan for missions, then wholesome courting and eternal marriage in the
holy temple. It is timing that is vital. The sexual relationship that is
wrong before marriage is right, and beautiful as part of the union
encouraged by God. Friendship, not courtship, should be the relationship
of teenagers." — "The Teachings of
Spencer W. Kimball", p.288
(4/30/02)
"The friends we choose to associate with are main contributing factors
in the formation of our character. We form social habits by association
with our friends. These habits can be useful when directed towards the
formation of a wholesome personality." —
L. Tom Perry, "Good Friends," "New Era," Feb. 1993, p. 4
(5/01/02)
"Friends help to determine your future. You will tend to be like them and to be
found where they choose to go. Remember, the path we follow in this life leads
to the path we follow in the next." — Thomas
S. Monson, "In Harm's Way," "Ensign," May 1998, p. 47
(5/02/02)
"Like so much of what is worthwhile in life, our needs for friendship are often
best met in the home. If our children feel friendship within the family, with
each other, and with parents, they will not be desperate for acceptance outside
the family. I think one of life's most satisfying accomplishments for my wife
and me is to have lived long enough to see our children become good friends.
It's definitely a miracle that those in our family who in younger years
occasionally threatened one another with serious bodily harm now seek out and
genuinely enjoy each other's friendship. Similarly, I think no finer compliment
can be paid to parents than to have children say that their parents are among
their best friends." — Marlin K. Jensen,
"Friendship: A Gospel Principle," "Ensign," May 1999, p. 64
(5/03/02)
"We need a more peaceful world, growing out of more peaceful families and
neighborhoods and communities. To secure and cultivate such peace, 'we must love
others, even our enemies as well as our friends.' The world needs the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Those who are filled with the love of Christ do not seek to force
others to do better; they inspire others to do better, indeed inspire them to
the pursuit of God. We need to extend the hand of friendship. We need to be
kinder, more gentle, more forgiving, and slower to anger. We need to love one
another with the pure love of Christ. May this be our course and our desire."
— Howard W. Hunter, "A More Excellent Way,"
"Ensign," May 1992, p. 63
2/23/06
"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that 'friendship is one of the grand
fundamental principles of Mormonism.' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 316.) That thought ought to inspire and
motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our
world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep
yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships
can give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention of the
principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite naturally as we
live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a
first cousin, it is friendship. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul slightly,
friendship 'suffereth long, and is kind; [friendship] envieth not; seeketh not
her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; [friendship] never faileth.'
(1 Cor. 13:4-8.)" -
Marlin K. Jensen, "Friendship:
A Gospel Principle," Ensign (CR), May 1999, p.64
3/27/06
"The First Epistle of John tells us that if we do not have good relationships
with our neighbors, whom we have seen, we cannot rightfully claim to love God,
whom we have not seen. (1 Jn.
4:20.)
"Do we take time occasionally to read the Sermon on the Mount? It refers largely
to our relationships with one another. Let me mention just a few of its
principles." - Mark E. Petersen, "Do
Unto Others...," Ensign (CR), May 1977, p.73
2/27/07
"We pray to our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the great
Mediator. Though omnipotent and omniscient, all-powerful and all-knowing, He is
our friend. After counseling early Brethren of the Church to 'set in order your
own house,' He said, 'I will call you friends, for you are my friends' (D&C
93:43, 45). With all of His greatness, He has said that He is our friend. We
have been asked to be a friend to our neighbors and to teach them the gospel,
and to be a friend to new converts, that the fruit of our labors may remain (see
John 15:16). Our prophet
has asked us to be a friend. Can our prophet expect anything less?" - Robert D.
Hales, "In
Remembrance of Jesus," Ensign (CR), November 1997, p.24
8/20/07
"A powerful idea
with immediate practical application is the reality that we can pray to our
Heavenly Father, and he will hear our prayers and help us in the way that is
best for us. Most of us have experienced the terrible empty feeling that comes
from being separated from those who love us. If we remember that we can pray and
be heard and helped, we can always withstand that feeling of emptiness. We can
always be in touch with a powerful friend who loves us and helps us, in his own
time and in his own way." - Dallin H. Oaks, "Powerful Ideas," Ensign (CR), November 1995,
p.25