Spencer W. Kimball
Born on March 28, 1895, in Salt Lake City, Spencer W. Kimball grew up in Thatcher, Arizona. After completing a mission and marrying Camilla Eyring, he settled in Safford, Arizona, to raise his family and run an insurance business. Years of Church and community leadership preceded his calling as an Apostle in 1943. Overcoming severe health problems, he became Church President on December 30, 1973, at the age of 78. He led the Church with spiritual power and energetic determination during a period of dramatic vitality and growth. His administration produced significant advances in doctrinal understanding, member unity, and gospel expansion worldwide. In the 12 years of his presidency, the number of operating temples doubled, the number of missionaries increased by 50 percent, and the priesthood was extended to all worthy male members. He died in Salt Lake City on November 5, 1985.
“My life is like my shoes, worn out by service.”
“Jesus said several times, “Come, follow me.” His was a program of “do what I do,” rather than “do what I say.” His innate brilliance would have permitted him to put on a dazzling display, but that would have left his followers far behind. He walked and worked with those he was to serve. His was not a long-distance leadership. He was not afraid of close friendships; he was not afraid that proximity to him would disappoint his followers. The leaven of true leadership cannot lift others unless we are with and serve those to be led.”
“O timid one, awaken, exert yourself, draw back the curtains your training and background have hung over the windows of your soul.”
“Of all treasures of knowledge, the most vital is the knowledge of God, his existence, powers, love, and promises.”
“Soul mates' are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.”
“We must not falter nor weary in well-doing. We must lengthen our stride. Not only is our own eternal welfare at stake, but also the eternal welfare of many of our brothers and sisters who are not now members of this, the true Church. I thrill to the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith in a letter that he sent to the Church from Nauvoo on September 6, 1842: 'Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward. … Courage … and on, on to the victory!”
“Life gives to all the choice. You can satisfy yourself with mediocrity if you wish. You can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless, or yyou can channel your life so that it will be clean, vibrant, useful, progressive, colorful, and rich.”
“Do it.”
“It is not so much what we know that is important, as what we are and what we do.”
“It's not possible that the problems of this world be resolved by the pesimists and sceptics whose horizons are guided by the obvious realities. We need men and women who think of things that have never been thought of and who dream of things that have never been dreamed of, and who ask, "Why not?"[It sounds better in Spanish]No es posible que los problemas de este mundo sean resueltos por pesamistas y esepticos cuyos horizontes esten guiados por las obvias realidades. Necesitamos hombres y mujeres que piensen en cosas que nunca se hayan pensado y que suenen en cosas que nunca se hayan sonado, y que se pregunten '?porque no?”
“I ask you, what good is a big picture window and the lavish appointments and a priceless decor in a home if there is no mother there?”
“We learn to do by doing.”