Mormon Beliefs: Worldliness

Worldliness

"It is possible for a man who loves the world to overcome that love, to get knowledge and understanding until he sees things as they really are, then he will not love the world but will see it as it is." (Brigham Young, Deseret News Weekly, 28 Nov. 1855, 2)

"If you expect glory,intelligence and endless lives, let the world go." (Joseph F. Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 243)

"The distance between the Church and a world set on a course which we cannot follow will steadily increase." (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1994, 21)

"I would rather be a Moses on the mount with all of Israel against me, then Aaron at the altar of the Golden calf with all of Israel dancing around and praising me." (George H. Brimhall, Brigham Young University: A School of Destiny 1976, 211)

"May we be different in order to make a difference in the world." (Neal A. Maxwell, "Why Not Now?" Ensign, Nov. 1974, 13)

"The flow has become a flood and soon will be a torrent. It will become a torrent of sounds and sights and sensations that invite temptation and offend the Spirit of God. Swimming back upstream to purity against the tides of the world was never easy. It is getting harder and may soon be frighteningly difficult." (Henry B. Eyring, "We Must Raise Our Sight," CES Conference, 14 Aug. 2001)

"Worldliness is not, in the last analysis, love of possessions, or the habit of courting great personages. It is simply the weakness of fibre which makes us take our standards from the society round us." (Ronald A. Knox, Stimuli, 1951; inThe Treasury of Religious and Spiritual Quotations Reader's Digest, 1994, 633)

• How come we can quote movie lines, but not General Conference talks?
• How come we know batting averages and ERAs but we don't know chapter and verse?
• How come we can name the entire cast of Friends, but not the members of the Quorum of the Twelve?
• How come we've read all the Harry Potter books, but not all of the Standard Works?
• Why are we so quick to wear the latest fashions, and so slow to put on the whole armor of God?