“It is so easy for humankind to blame somebody else for their own mistakes, and so easy for us, because of our human nature, to take credit when the thing that is accomplished is something that pleases and benefits. But we never want to shoulder a responsibility for our mistakes that do not please, and so we endeavor to place that kind of responsibility somewhere else and on others… Let us shoulder our own responsibilities, and not endeavor to place them somewhere else.”
– Joseph Fielding Smith
“The Latter-day Saints, I hold, will be held to stricter accountability than any other people on the face of the earth. Men wonder why we have suffered and been persecuted so much in the past. I think it was partly because of our hardness of heart. Not that the men who persecuted us were justified in so doing. They were tested and tried, the Lord left them their agency and they brought themselves under condemnation because of their conduct. But we never had anything descend upon us as a persecution or scourge that has not been intended for our good; and we are held to a stricter accountability than any other people because we have the Gospel taught unto us.”
“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame.”
– Erica Jong*
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
“It is not enough for us to know what is right and to believe it is good. We must be willing to stand up and be counted. We must be willing to act in accordance with what we believe under all circumstances. It is of little value for us to believe one way if we behave contrary to that belief in our private actions or in our public performance.”
– Dean L. Larsen
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
– Stephen R. Covey
“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.”
