When we don't like to face up to hard facts, we use soft words. We do not speak about killing a baby within the womb, but about "termination of potential life." Words are often multiplied to try to cover dark deeds.
Neal A. MaxwellRead
Although goal setting can clearly be overdone, only a few people are overly involved with goals and goal setting; most people do far too little goal setting, including the reflecting that precedes the setting of such goals. Too many marriages have financial goals but not other explicit goals. Yet the gospel is certainly goal-oriented.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of setting various types of goals in life, particularly in relationships, beyond just financial ones.
Neal A. Maxwell points out that while it is possible to become excessively focused on goal setting, the greater issue is that many individuals do not engage in enough reflection or planning for their goals, especially in the context of marriages. He suggests that financial goals are often prioritized, but establishing emotional and relational goals is equally crucial for a healthy partnership, aligning with the idea that a fulfilling life should be driven by diverse and meaningful objectives.
Themes
Goal SettingRelationshipsMarriageFinancial GoalsReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on marital success, one might quote Maxwell to emphasize the need for couples to set diverse goals together.
More from Neal A. Maxwell
All quotes →The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best?
Neal A. MaxwellRead
So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the 'sacrifice unto the Lord... of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' (D&C 59:8), a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving 'away all [our] sins' in order to 'know God' (Alma 22:18) for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him.
Neal A. MaxwellRead
If we knew how often the obedience of others is affected by our own, and how often our stepping forth soon brings forth a whole platton of helpers, and how often our speaking forth soon creates a chorus - we would be even more ashamed of our slackess and our silence.
Neal A. MaxwellRead
Stubborn selfishness leads otherwise good people to fight over herds, patches of sand, and strippings of milk. All this results from what the Lord calls coveting "the drop," while neglecting the "more weighty matters." (D&C 117:8) Myopic selfishness magnifies a mess of pottage and makes thirty pieces of silver look like a treasure trove. In our intense acquisitiveness, we forget Him who once said, "What is property unto me?"
Neal A. MaxwellRead
In a 'wheat and tares' world, how unusually blessed faithful members are to have the precious and constant gift of the Holy Ghost with reminders of what is right and of the covenants we have made. 'For behold, ... the Holy Ghost ... will show unto you all things what ye should do.' (2 Ne. 32:5.) Whatever the decibels of decadence, these need not overwhelm the still, small voice! Some of the best sermons we will ever hear will be thus prompted from the pulpit of memory—to an audience of one!
Neal A. MaxwellRead
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