making a person

I don't think education is so much about making a living, it's about making a person.

Tara Westover

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. Random House. 2018. As found in 2022 Great Quotes From Great Leaders Boxed Calendar: 365 Inspirational Quotes From Leaders Who Shaped the World.

they left us the legacy of a good name

The importance of having a good name is spoken of in Proverbs, where we read: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold” and “The [name] of the just is blessed.”

As I pondered these scriptures and the importance of having a good name, a flood of memories came into my mind about the good name and legacy my parents left my four brothers, my two sisters, and me. My parents did not have the riches of the world, nor did they have silver or gold. Nine of us lived in a two-bedroom, one-bath home with an enclosed back porch, where my sisters slept. When my parents passed away, my brothers and sisters and I gathered to divide their earthly possessions, which were few in number. My mother left a few dresses, some used furniture, and a few other personal items. My father left some carpenter tools, some old hunting rifles, and little else. The only things of any monetary value were a modest home and a small savings account.

Together we wept openly, giving thanks, knowing they had left us something much more precious than silver or gold. They had given us their love and their time. They had often borne testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, which we can now read in their precious journals. Not so much by words but more by their example, they had taught us to work hard, to be honest, and to pay a full tithing. They also engendered a desire to further our education, to serve a mission, and most important, to find an eternal companion, be married in the temple, and endure to the end. Truly they left us the legacy of a good name, for which we shall ever be grateful.



Mervyn B. Arnold, "What Have You Done with My Name?" General Conference October 2010

the great engine of personal development

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Back Bay Books. 1995.

p.166

a child can tell the truth

The idea generally prevails in Christian countries that it requires men to be qualified, and learned, and eloquent, to stand before the people and act as religious teachers. I will give you the reason why this is so. When a false theory has to be maintained, it requires to be set forth with much care; it requires study, and learning, and cunning sophistry to guild over a falsehood and give it the semblance of truth, and make it plausible and congenial to the feelings of the people; but the most simple and unlearned person can tell the truth. A child can tell the truth… Education is a good thing, and blessed is the man who has it, and can use it for the dissemination of the gospel without being puffed up with pride. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty… that no flesh should glory in His presence.


Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. XI., p. 214 as quoted in Doctrine and Covenants Commentary by Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl. Deseret Book. 1965. p.192, 193

Because of our sacred regard for each human intellect, we consider the obtaining of an education to be a religious responsibility.


Russell M. Nelson, “Where Is Wisdom?,” Ensign, Nov 1992, 6

A man's errors are his portals of discovery.


James Joyce. Irish novelist, 1882-1941

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away
from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Joseph E. O'Donnell

ought to be something more in terms of personal involvement

We live in an age of specialization. When I was a boy, many people had Model T Fords. Compared to modern cars, they were relatively simple mechanically. Many people were able to fix their own cars by grinding the valves, changing the rings on the pistons, putting in new brake bands, and using a generous supply of baling wire. Nowadays automobiles are so sophisticated that the average person knows very little about how to repair them. The mechanics of today use a computer to diagnose engine problems. I mention this example to encourage you young men to get training and education in order to keep up. Technical education is very important, and the same thing is true in fields of higher education. Any kind of skill requires specialized learning.

I do not care what vocation you choose to follow in life so long as it is honorable. How you provide for your family is your decision. Acquiring a skill is a good way to pay the bills, but there really ought to be something more in terms of personal involvement. Do not become so preoccupied with the material things of life that you lose the essence of your humanity. You may recall Dickens’s character Jacob Marley, who lamented his obsession with work when he exclaimed: “Business? … Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business.” Each of us ought to play some role in strengthening society, especially in doing the work of God.

I have learned that for those of us who hold the priesthood, the best formula for success is “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Success will not come immediately because it requires preparation and hard work. There really are no shortcuts to success.


James E. Faust, “Message to My Grandsons,” Ensign, May 2007, 54–56

No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.

Emma Goldman (1869-1940, American anarchist)

Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I'll understand.

Chinese Proverb

Knowledge of truth, combined with proper regard for it, and its faithful observance, constitutes true education. The mere stuffing of the mind with a knowledge of facts is not education. The mind must not only possess a knowledge of truth, but the soul must revere it, cherish it, love it as a priceless gem.

Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine