Elder Boyd K. Packer on the influence of good thoughts

President Packer (1924- ) was called to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1970.  He currently serves as the president of that Quorum.

"No good thought is ever lost. No turn of the mind, however brief or transitory or illusive, if it is good, is ever wasted. No thought of sympathy, nor of forgiveness, no reflection on generosity or of courage or of purity, no meditation on humility or gratitude or reverence, is ever lost. The frequency with which they are experienced is the measure of you. The more constant they become, the more you are worth, or, in scriptural terms, the more you are worthy. Every clean thought becomes you. Every clean thought becomes you." 

- Boyd K. Packer, "Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts," BYU Devotional, Sept. 26, 1967; "That All May Be Edified" [Bookcraft 1982], p. 39

In 1967, Elder Packer gave a landmark address at BYU about the importance of thoughts, controlling our thoughts, and being blessed by appropriate and virtuous thoughts. This paragraph comes near the end of that address, which included the well-known analogy about the mind being a stage that only one actor can occupy. I love this testimony about the power of "good thoughts" and how they bring strength and blessings.

What a powerful goal, to help us increase in worth and worthiness as we fill our minds with virtue!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2021)

January 13, 2015