(1/15/01)
"I would admonish everyone within the sound of my voice to associate with good people. Those with whom you associate will contribute to your success or your failure, and their actions and ideals will have a profound influence on life and your actions, either for good or evil. Learn to walk in the company of good people; shun evil by staying out of the devil’s territory." — O. Leslie Stone, "Making Your Marriage Successful," Ensign, May 1978, p. 57

(1/16/01)
"President George Albert Smith’s grandfather said: 'There is a line of demarcation well defined between the Lord’s territory and the devil’s territory. If you will remain on the Lord’s side of the line, the adversary cannot come there to tempt you. You are perfectly safe as long as you stay on the Lord’s side of the line. But...if you cross onto the devil’s side of the line, you are in his territory, and you are in his power, and he will work on you to get you just as far from that line as he possibly can, knowing that he can only succeed in destroying you by keeping you away from the place where there is safety.' (Quoted by George Albert Smith in Conference Report, Oct. 1945, p. 118.)" — Charles Didier, "To Follow or Not, That Is the Question," Ensign, Nov. 1981, p. 52

(1/17/01)
"Again Paul’s counsel to Timothy, 'Keep thyself pure' (1 Tim. 5:22). Those are simple words. But they are ever so important. Paul is saying, in effect, stay away from those things which will tear you down and destroy you spiritually. Stay away from television shows which lead to unclean thoughts and unclean language. Stay away from videos which will lead to evil thoughts. They won’t help you. They will only hurt you. Stay away from books and magazines which are sleazy and filthy in what they say and portray. Keep thyself pure." — Gordon B. Hinckley, "Converts and Young Men," Ensign, May 1997, p. 49

(1/18/01)
"The spirit of the gospel leads men to righteousness; to love their fellowmen and to labor for their salvation and exaltation; it inspires them to do good and not evil, to avoid even the appearance of sin, much more to avoid sin itself. This is indeed the spirit of the gospel, which is the spirit of this latter-day work, and also the spirit that possesses those who have embraced it; and the aim and purpose of this work is the salvation, the exaltation, and the eternal happiness of man, both in this life and in the life to come." - Joseph F. Smith, "Conference Report," Apr. 1909, p. 4

(1/19/01)
"I have felt that of all the gifts of the Gospel which follow the believer, we should seek for the gift of discernment of spirits. I have asked the Lord to give me this gift; for I can see that the adversary will work upon the minds of the people, and one of the great safeguards against this is for the Latter-day Saints to possess this gift, that they may ward off the adversary and his temptations, or any influence that is calculated to bring up doubts in their minds and cause them to complain and find fault and to think that perhaps the work of God is not growing." — Elder E. D. Wooley, "General Conference Reports," April 1903

(4/16/01)
"This is a time of sifting, a time when, more than ever in the history of the modern world, the adversary and his followers have shown themselves to be enemies of God. Yet as we heard our prophet and president say this morning, we need not fear the fiery darts of the adversary, because each of us has the power to avoid becoming entangled in sin more definitely than ever before. The time has come for each member of the Church to keep close to the Lord, to be steadfast by sustaining and upholding and following the counsel of his divinely appointed servants, avoiding, as the Book of Mormon says, the vainness, the frailties, and the foolishness of men. We must purify our lives and sanctify our homes." — ElRay L. Christiansen, "The Sifting," Ensign, Dec. 1971, p. 60

(4/17/01)
"Believing involves faith and good works. We cannot be passive; we must actively avoid evil. This means that we do not trifle with sacred things. Families in this day and time should not only avoid evil but avoid the very appearance of evil. To combat these influences families must have family prayer, family home evening, and family scripture study." — James E. Faust, "Pioneers of the Future: 'Be Not Afraid, Only Believe,'" Ensign, Nov. 1997, p. 45

(4/18/01)
"Let us be wise and keep away from temptations and snares. Let us cautiously avoid 'foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.' Let us 'flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.' Let us 'fight the good fight of faith' and 'lay hold on eternal life' (1 Tim. 6:9, 11–12)." — Russell M. Nelson "The Magnificence of Man," New Era, Oct. 1987, p. 50

(4/19/01)
"There is pollution in our society. It is all about us. It is sweeping across the world like a flood destroying people. My beloved brothers and sisters, stay away from it. Stay away from this sleazy pollution. Stay away from anything which tears you down and makes you less than what you ought to be." — (meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 5 Aug. 1998). "Latter-day Counsel: Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley," Ensign, July 1999, p. 73

(4/20/01)
"In his dream, Lehi saw an iron rod which led through the mists of darkness. He saw that if people would hold fast to that rod, they could avoid the rivers of filthiness, stay away from the forbidden paths, stop from wandering in the strange roads that lead to destruction. Later his son Nephi clearly explained the symbolism of the iron rod. When Laman and Lemuel asked, 'What meaneth the rod of iron?' Nephi answered, 'It was the word of God; and [note this promise] whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.' (1 Ne. 15:23–24; italics added.) Not only will the word of God lead us to the fruit which is desirable above all others, but in the word of God and through it we can find the power to resist temptation, the power to thwart the work of Satan and his emissaries." — Ezra Taft Benson "The Power of the Word," Ensign, May 1986, p. 80

(5/23/04)
"If you are ever tempted to experiment with the alluring offerings of Lucifer, first calmly analyze the inevitable consequences of such choices, and your life will not be shattered. You cannot ever sample those things that are forbidden of God as destructive of happiness and corrosive to spiritual guidance without tragic results." - Richard G. Scott, "How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil," General Conference, April 2004