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“I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. … Let every man and woman know, by the whisperings of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, p. 150.)

“The things of God are of deep import and time and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind O man if thou wilt lead a soul into salvation must search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity, thou must commune with God.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 3, p. 295.)

“They were saying I accepted money under the table, that I was a crypto-priest, that I was a sleeper cell operative for the creationists.” (after the relatively obscure Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington published an article suggesting that “intelligent design” was the basis for the complexity of life, editor Richard Sternberg found himself the target of a vicious smear campaign orchestrated by senior scientists at the Smithsonian Institution)

“There is more salvation and security in wheat, than in all the political schemes of the world.” (Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, Volume 2, p. 207.)

“By virtue of this participation, subjective liberty and conceit, [in other words individuals and individualism] with their general opinion, can show themselves palpably efficacious and enjoy the satisfaction of feeling themselves to count for something.” (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, commenting that purpose of legislatures is to satisfy those state subjects who might accidently demonstrate a degree of wisdom.)

“Other officers in the kingdom have fallen, but never the Presidents. ‘Keep your eye on the Captain’ is still good counsel. The words of a living prophet must and ever will take precedence. President McKay has said a lot about our tragic trends toward socialism and communism and the responsibilities liberty-loving people have in defending and preserving our Constitution. Have we read these words from God's mouthpiece and pondered on them?” (Ezra Taft Benson, October 10, 1963.)

“The Lord will not force himself upon people, and if they do not believe, they will receive no revelation. If they are content to depend upon their own limited calculations and interpretations, then, of course, the Lord will leave them to their chosen fate.” (Spencer W. Kimball Conference Report, October 1966.)

PUBLIC AFFAIRS: “On the issue of a Constitutional amendment prohibiting same-gender marriage, there are some Latter-day Saints who are opposed to same-gender marriage, but who are not in favor of addressing this through a Constitutional amendment. Why did the Church feel that it had to step in that direction?”

DALLIN H. OAKS: “There are people who oppose a federal Constitutional amendment because they think that the law of family should be made by the states. I can see a legitimate argument there. I think it’s mistaken, however, because the federal government, through the decisions of life-tenured federal judges, has already taken over that area. This Constitutional amendment is a defensive measure against those who would ignore the will of the states appropriately expressed and require, as a matter of federal law, the recognition of same-gender marriages — or the invalidation of state laws that require that marriage be between a man and a woman. In summary, the First Presidency has come out for an amendment (which may or may not be adopted) in support of the teaching function of the law. Such an amendment would be a very important expression of public policy, which would feed into or should feed into the decisions of judges across the length and breadth of the land.” (Dallin H. Oaks, Same-Gender Attraction, LDS Newsroom, http://www.lds.org/newsroom/issues/answer/0,19491,6056-1-202-4-202,00.html.)

“...there is a natural and necessary progression, from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny.” (George Washington, Writings of George Washington, 26:489.)

“Our great Constitution has been beaten and torn until now it hangs by a single thread, and that thread is our franchise to vote.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Freeman Institute, Provo, Utah, 1976.)

“Brigham Young conversed freely on the situation of the Saints in the mountains, and said that he dreaded the time when the sants would become popular with the world: for he had seen in sorrow, in a dream, or in dreams, this people clothed in the fashions of Babylon and drinking in the spirit of Babylon until on could hardly tell a saint from a black-leg.” (Brigham Young, as related by Mosiah Hancock.)

“Mr. House is my second personality. He is my independent self. His thoughts and mine are one. If I were in his place, I would just do as he suggested.” (President Woodrow Wilson, The Intimate Papers of Colonel House, p. 114.)

“From the days of Spartacus — Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky (Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxemburg (Germany, and Emma Goldman (United States), this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization...has been steadily growing.” (Winston Churchill, Zionism versus Bolshevism, Illustrated Sunday Herald, February 8, 1920.)

“If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.” (George W. Bush, President-Elect Bush Meets With Congressional Leaders on Capitol Hill, CNN Transcript, December 18, 2000.)

“A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it.” (George W. Bush, Business Week, July 27, 2001.)