2 Nephi 5:17

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 5:17

17 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.

Quotes for Discussion

Industry and Labor

The spirit of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is opposed to idleness. We do not believe that a man who has that spirit can rest content if he is not busily employed.

In James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency, 3:113

If we want to keep the Spirit, we must work. There is no greater exhilaration or satisfaction than to know, after a hard day of work, that we have done our best.

Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings, 483

There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labors….Most of us are inherently lazy. We would rather loaf than work….But it is work that spells the difference in the life of a man or woman.

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Aug. 1992, p. 4

Cutting trees is more important than thinking about cutting trees or planning to cut trees. We are becoming the world experts in meeting, thinking, planning, and organizing about working the work, but we need to do it. We need to work. While many are sitting and saying and even shouting great swelling words of marginal effectiveness, hard-working Latter-day Saints will always be found diligently doing and delivering potatoes to their neighbors. Contrary to the belief of many, “Say” and “Sit” will never replace “Diligently Do.”…My young friends of the Aaronic Priesthood, say less and do more. Get it done.

F. David Stanley, Ensign, May 1993, p. 45

[speaking of his youth] “Back then…we were all poor together, and we didn’t know it. Work was a given. Today, for some receiving is a given….I certainly did not always put my shoulder to the wheel with a ‘heart full of song,’ but I did learn about shoulders and wheels, which helped later in life, when the wheels grew larger. Some of today’s otherwise good young men mistakenly think that putting their shoulders to the wheel is the same thing as putting their hands on a steering wheel!...I remind you that the gospel of work is part of ‘the fullness of the gospel’…Alas, a few of our underwhelmed youth work all right, but mostly at trying to please themselves….The hardest work you and I will ever do is to put off our selfishness. It is heavy lifting!...How blessed we would be if more sons could work alongside their fathers….Fathers and sons, if such teaming up is not already happening at all, please, in the next three months, select just one, stretching chore to do together….Knowing how to work will give you an edge in life….The capacity to work and work wisely will never become obsolete….I have not seen any perspiration free shortcuts to the celestial kingdom; there is no easy escalator to take us there.”

Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1998, pp. 37-39

There is divine security in learning the value and dignity of honest work. The right to work is inherent in man’s divine nature. Work is a blessing and a privilege, not a penalty.

Bernard P. Brockbank, BYU Speeches of the Year, July 6, 1971