Classic BYU Speeches

Bruce R. McConkie, Oct 31, 1967

Neal A. Maxwell, Oct 21, 1986

Thomas Monson shares a few touching experiences that demonstrate the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, which we should all seek to have in our hearts.

To bring down the power of heaven, we must learn the principle of waiting upon the Lord through real prayer, righteous living, and fervent listening.

Spencer W. Kimball, Dec 6, 1955

To be covenant children of God is a call to leadership. The price for such leadership is often loneliness, but peace of conscience is the reward.

This year being our nation’s Bicentennial anniversary and the Fourth of July being but two months away, I have thought it might be appropriate to give some consideration to our country’s fate and her ultimate destiny. Celebration of the Fourth of July Although I was born and lived for fifteen years in a foreign land, my parents, who were United States citizens, and their fellow colonists always remembered and observed the Fourth of July. The celebration regularly included a flag and bunting parade and an oration commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. My concept of, and my feelings about, what was going on in and around Independence Hall at the time the Declaration was being signed, were in my youth and still are influenced by the words and the spirit of the poem “Independence Bell.” I memorized it in my youth, and I hope its lines will transmit to you something of my feelings as I read them to you now. There was tumult in the city, In the quaint Old Quaker town, And the streets were rife with people Pacing restless up and down.— People gathering at corners, Where they whispered each to each, And the sweat stood on their temples With the earnestness of speech. As the bleak Atlantic currents Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, So they beat against the State House, So they surged against the door; And the mingling of their voices Made a harmony profound, Till the quiet street of Chestnut Was all turbulent with sound. “Will they do it?” “Dare they do it?”  “Who is speaking?” “What’s the news?”  “What of Adams?” “What of Sherman?”  “Oh, God grant they won’t refuse!”  “Make some way, there!” “Let me nearer!”  “I am stifling!” “Stifle, then! When a nation’s life’s at hazard, We’ve no time to think of men!” So they beat against the portal, Man and woman, maid and child; And the July sun in heaven On the scene looked down and smiled: The same sun that saw the Spartan Shed his patriot blood in vain, Now beheld the soul of freedom, All unconquered, rise again. See! See! The dense crowd quivers Through all its lengthy line, As the boy beside the portal Looks forth to give the sign! With his little hands uplifted, Breezes dallying with his hair, Hark! with deep, clear intonation, Breaks his young voice on the air. Hushed the people’s swelling murmur, List the boy’s exultant cry! “Ring!” he shouts, “Ring! Grandpa, Ring! oh, ring for Liberty!”  Quickly at the given signal The bell-man lifts his hand, Forth he sends the good news, making Iron music through the land. How they shouted! What rejoicing! How the old bell shook the air, Till the clang of freedom ruffled The calmly gliding Delaware! How the bonfires and the torches Lighted up the night’s repose, And from the flames, like fabled Phoenix, Our glorious Liberty arose! That old State House bell is silent, Hushed is now its clamorous tongue; But the spirit it […]

I am delighted to be with you tonight, my brothers and sisters, to partake of the spirit that is here and of that marvelous music. I wish you knew how much as a generation you inspire those of us who have the privilege of working with you. I want you to know that I regard you highly—collectively and all here whom I know individually–and have great expectations for you. The highest compliment I can pay to you is that God has placed you here and now at this time to serve in his kingdom; so much is about to happen in which you will be involved and concerning which you will have some great influence. It is because you will face some remarkable challenges in your time; it is because the Church has ceased to be in the eyes of men a mere cultural oddity in the Mountain West and is now, therefore, a global church—a light which can no longer be hid; it is because you have a rendezvous with destiny that will involve some soul stretching and some pain that I have chosen to speak to you tonight about the implications of two things we accept sometimes quite casually. These realities are that God loves us and, loving us, has placed us here to cope with challenges which he will place before us. I’m not sure we can always understand the implications of his love, because his love will call us at times to do things we may wonder about, and we may be confronted with circumstances we would rather not face. I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know. He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like. And this will require us to accept with all our hearts—particularly your generation—the truth that there is divine design in each of our lives and that you have rendezvous to keep, individually and collectively. God knows even now what the future holds for each of us. In one of his revelations these startling words appear, as with so many revelations that are too big, I suppose, for us to manage fully: “In the presence of God, . . . all things . . . are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord” (D&C 130:7). The future “you” is before him now. He knows what it is he wishes to bring to pass in your life. He knows the kind of remodeling in your life and in mine that he wishes to achieve. Now, this will require us to believe in that divine design and at times to accept the truth which came to Joseph Smith wherein he was reminded that his suffering would be “but a small moment” (D&C 121:7). I’d like […]

Dallin H. Oaks, Feb 9, 1999

Bruce C. Hafen, Jan 9 1979