The government," he told me one night, "is there to act as a safety net, not a candy machine.

The world isn't against you, Eddie," he continued. "You are against you. You have to realize that no one is meant to carry the load alone. We're all in this together. Once you realize that you can ask for help, your whole world will change.

if you don't stand up for yourselves, how can you stand up for anybody else?

True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well-being of one's companion.

Imagine how our own families, let alone the world, would change if we vowed to keep faith with one another, strengthen one another, look for and accentuate the virtues in one another, and speak graciously concerning one another. Imagine the cumulative effect if we treated each other with respect and acceptance, if we willingly provided support. Such interactions practiced on a small scale would surely have a rippling effect throughout our homes and communities and, eventually, society at large.

None of us is perfect. There was only one perfect man who ever walked the earth, and He was the Son of God. We all have weaknesses and I guess we all make mistakes and will make mistakes in the future, but look for the virtues, the strengths, the goodness in those with whom you labor, and draw those characteristics into your own lives and make them a part of yourselves, and you will be the richer for it all the days that you live.

This church does not belong to its President. Its head is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name each of us has taken upon ourselves. We are all in this great endeavor together. We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory. . . . Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this church is small or of little consequence.

It is important to know when you feel down that many others do also and that their circumstances are generally much worse than yours. And it's important to know that when one of us is down it becomes the obligation of his friends to give him a lift. I hope that each of us will cultivate a sensitivity toward the feelings of others and when encouragement is needed make an effort to extend it. Be a friend and you will have a friend. God be thanked for wonderful friends.

Work will cure your grief. Serve others.

Never lose faith in your opportunity to lift those who are in need, to give strength to those who are weak, to give encouragement to those who falter by the way.

We cannot expect to lift others unless we stand on higher ground ourselves.

We need to build and strengthen one another. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are to "succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." (D&C 81:5)