- Mosiah 13: 23…Don’t give false testimony against your neighbor
- “Refuse to complain about your problems. Keep them to yourself. As speaker-humorist Ed Foreman says, “You should never share your problems with others because 80 percent of people don’t care about them anyway, and the other 20 percent are kind of glad that you’ve got them in the first place.” Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy, Page 86
- “I speak against verbal and emotional abuse of anyone against anyone, but especially of husbands against wives. These things ought not to be. Yet the sin of verbal abuse knows no gender. Wives, what of the unbridled tongue in your mouth, of the power for good or ill in your words? How is it that such a lovely voice, which by divine nature is so angelic, so close to the veil, so instinctively gentle and inherently kind, could ever, in turn, be so shrill, so biting, so acrid and untamed? A woman’s words can be more piercing than any dagger ever forged, and they can drive the people she loves to retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone would ever have imagined when such a verbal exchange was beginning. There is no place in that magnificent spirit of yours for acerbic or abrasive expression of any kind, including gossip or backbiting or catty remarks.” Broken Things to Mend (Jeffrey R. Holland) Kindle Loc. 624-30
- “…On occasion the biting of the tongue can be as important as the gift of tongues.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1990, 16)
- “How does pride affect our relationship with others? President Benson observed: “Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen. We are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them (see ; ). … “Pride … is manifest in so many ways, such as fault-finding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous. … “Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. ‘How everything affects me’ is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking. … “Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride” in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 4–5; or Ensign, May 1989, 4–6. Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, Lesson 10: “This Is My Voice unto All”
- “Edwin Markham’s “Outwitted”: He drew the circle that shut me out— Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!” Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success. Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. Kindle Loc. 1178-81
- Ecclesiasticus 28:17…The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones
- “Definition of a friend: someone who says nice things about you when you aren’t around.” Charlie Brown
- “Elder Jeffrey R. Holland told of a young man who was the brunt of his peers teasing during his school years. Some years later he moved away, joined the military, received an education, and became active in the Church. This period of his life was marked with wonderfully successful experiences. After several years he returned to his hometown. However, the people refused to acknowledge his growth and improvement. To them, he was still just old ;so-and-so; and they treated him that way. Eventually, this good man faded away to a shadow of his former successful self without being able to use his marvelously developed talents to bless those who derided and rejected him once again. What a loss, both for him and the community!” Ensign, 2016, General Women’s Session, I Will Bring the Light of the Gospel Into My Home
- “There is a terrible ailment of pessimism in the land. It’s almost endemic. We’re constantly fed a steady and sour diet of character assassination, faultfinding, evil speaking of one another. I come with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I’m suggesting that we accentuate the positive. I’m asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort.” Manual, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, Chapter 3, Cultivating an Attitude of happiness and a Spirit of Optimism