Marriage

Nurture and cultivate your marriage. Guard it and work to keep it solid and beautiful.... Marriage is a contract, it is a compact, it is a union between a man and a woman under the plan of the Almighty. It can be fragile. It requires nurture and very much effort.

Gordon B. Hinckley

General Conference, October 1998

Grudges, if left to fester, can become serious maladies. Like a painful ailment they can absorb all of our time and attention.

Gordon B. Hinckley

General Conference, October 2007

To appreciate—to say “I love you” and “thank you”—is not difficult. But these expressions of love and appreciation do more than acknowledge a kind thought or deed. They are signs of sweet civility. As grateful partners look for the good in each other and sincerely pay compliments to one another, wives and husbands will strive to become the persons described in those compliments.

Russell M. Nelson

General Conference, April 2006

Friendship in a marriage is so important. It blows away the chaff and takes the kernel, rejoices in the uniqueness of the other, listens patiently, gives generously, forgives freely. Friendship will motivate one to cross the room one day and say, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean that.” It will not pretend perfection nor demand it. It will not insist that both respond exactly the same in every thought and feeling, but it will bring to the union honesty, integrity. There will be repentance and forgiveness in every marriage—every good marriage—and respect and trust.

Marion D. Hanks

General Conference, October 1984

True love requires action. We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

General Conference, April 2010

Harmony in marriage comes only when one esteems the welfare of his or her spouse among the highest of priorities. When that really happens, a celestial marriage becomes a reality, bringing great joy in this life and in the life to come.

Russell M. Nelson

General Conference, October 2008

Perfect love is perfectly patient.

Neal A. Maxwell

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, 69

A happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Ensign, May 1991

Marriage relationships can be enriched by better communication.....We communicate in a thousand ways, such as a smile, a brush of the hair, a gentle touch, and remembering each day to say “I love you” and the husband to say “You’re beautiful.” Some other important words to say, when appropriate, are “I’m sorry.” Listening is excellent communication.

James E. Faust

General Conference, October 1977