Thoughts From a Great Woman-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I've always admired Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley.  She was the wife of our previous Prophet-Gordon B. Hinckley.  They both have passed in recent years but they will never be forgotten.  It's always been said that "behind a great man is a great woman".  She was just that.  She was also very charasmatic, funny and witty.  Here are a few quotes from her that I love.

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead"

"The family is eternal. Love must be nurtured. It must be spoken. We must put away our pride, our haughtiness, our shyness, our misunderstandings, and with humility say, "I love you. Is there something I can do to help you?" You can never be completely happy under any other circumstances."

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are."

"Home is where you are loved the most and act the worst."

"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

"I know it is hard for you young mothers to believe that almost before you can turn around the children will be gone and you will be alone with your husband. You had better be sure you are developing the kind of love and friendship that will be delightful and enduring. Let the children learn from your attitude that he is important. Encourage him. Be kind. It is a rough world, and he, like everyone else, is fighting to survive. Be cheerful. Don't be a whiner."

These last two are my favorite!!

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.


I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.


I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.


I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.


I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

- Marjorie Pay Hinckley