"God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only our availability and if we then prove our dependability, he will then increase our capability."

-Neal A. Maxwell

"Frequently it is not easy to face up to that which is expected of us.  Many think they cannot do it.  We need a little more faith.  We should know that the Lord will not give us commandments beyond our power to observe.  He will not ask us to do things for which we lack the capacity.  Our problem lies in our fears and in our appetites."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Self Reliance

"Independence and self-reliance are critical to our spiritual and temporal growth.  Whenever we get into situations which threaten our self-reliance, we will find our freedoms threatened as well.  If we increase our dependence on anything or anyone except the Lord, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act."

-L. Tom Perry, "Becoming Self-Reliant"  Ensign, Nov. 2016

"Man, learn what God wants you to be."

-Aulus Persius Flaccus, Satires, III, line 71

"We have not been blessed with moral agency to do whatever we want whenever we will.  Rather, according to the Father's plan, we have received moral agency to choose the right, to do good, and to become whatever God intends for us to become."

David A. Bednar
Act in Doctrine

I haven't posted lately due to internet malfunction and the flu, so here's a speech that has more than enough wisdom in it.  It was very thought provoking.  It's by Michael Wesch and it's titled, "The End of Wonder in the Age of Whatever."

Speeches

"The condition of our heart is a choice we make.  It is not a condition imposed upon us, not even by suffering and adversity."

Gerald N. Lund
Look Up My Soul:  The Divine Promise of Hope

“Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed. …

“Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

“Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.

“A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments.

“Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds.” 

^{Man's Search for Happiness (pamphlet, 1969), 4-5}

^{(Quote found in D. Todd Christofferson's talk, Reflections on a Consecrated Life)}

"I am going to preach a hard doctrine to you now.  The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar.  It is a hard doctrine, but it is true.  The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us.  But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our will be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him.  And that hard doctrine lies at the center of discipleship.  There is a part of us that is ultimately sovereign, the mind and heart, where we really do decide which way to go and what to do.  And when we submit to His will, then we've really given Him the one final thing He asks of us.  And the other things are not very, very important.  It is the only possession we have that we can give, and there is no lessening of our agency as a result.  Instead, what we see is a flowering of our talents and more and more surges of joy.  Submission to Him is the only form of submission that is completely safe."

Neal A. Maxwell
Ensign, August 2000 "Insights from My Life"