Quotes from President Gordon B. Hinckley at a New Year’s Eve Fireside For Youth, Dec. 31, 2006
BE GRATEFUL
“My first suggestion to you, my dear young friends, is that you walk with gratitude in your hearts. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings that are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you.”
BE SMART
“Be smart. You are moving into the most competitive age the world has ever known. All around you is competition. You need all the education you can get. You should sacrifice anything that is needed to be sacrificed to qualify yourselves to do the work of the world. That world will, in large measure, pay you what it thinks you are worth, and your worth will increase as you gain education and proficiency in your chosen field.
“Train your mind and your hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your life. And as you do so and as you perform with excellence, you will bring honor to yourself and to your family. You will be regarded as a man or woman of integrity and ability and conscientious workmanship. Be smart. Don’t be foolish. You cannot bluff or cheat others without bluffing or cheating yourself.
“You don’t have to be a genius to do great things. The important work of this world is done, for the most part, by ordinary people who do their work in an extraordinary way.
“There can be no doubt, none whatever, that education pays. Do not short-circuit your education. If you do, you will pay for it over and over again.”
BE CLEAN
“Keep yourselves clean from the dark and disappointing evil of sexual transgression. Walk in the sunlight of that peace which comes from virtue.
“Please know that there are thousands, even millions of youth, who refrain from these kinds of dangerous, deceptive, addictive activities. Many come from homes where religion is practiced and a code of ethics and morality is observed. Many youth have never had a drink or experimented with drugs or participated in premarital sexual activities.
“I congratulate those of you who fall into this category for maintaining your self-control and regarding yourself with enough respect to not follow the crowd. I congratulate you on your strength and on standing by your convictions. You are not alone. You are simply being wise and doing what is right and smart and clean.
“Be clean in every way. Someday you will meet the man or woman of your dreams. Be clean for the sake of your future companion. Be clean for the sake of your posterity. Be clean for the sake of your self-respect.”
BE PRAYERFUL
“None of us can do it alone. … Prayer will change your life. It will bring you peace. It will give you direction and guidance. It will help you feel that you are not alone in this big and sometimes brutal world. The Lord answers our prayers. I know that.”
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