The following quotes are from Richard G. Scott’s talk entitled “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge”:

“My message is centered in a statement of principle that is then illustrated by examples from the scriptures, the lives of prophets, and the crucible of personal experience.

That statement of principle is:

To acquire spiritual knowledge and to use it with wisdom, one must:In humility, seek divine light.Exercise faith in Jesus Christ.Strive diligently to keep his commandments.As knowledge unfolds it must be understood, valued, used, remembered, and expanded.” Richard G. Scott

“Analogies with physical light help us understand the power of spiritual light. A bulb illuminated in a dark room overpowers darkness. Yet if the darkness is too intense, it can overpower light, as with a bulb plunged into a bucket of black printer’s ink. Spiritual light overcomes the darkness of ignorance and disbelief. When transgression severely clouds a life, the focused spiritual truths of repentance cut the blackness as a laser penetrates the darkest ink.” Richard G. Scott

“In my judgment, so much effort and personal investment is required to gain and use worthwhile knowledge that one cannot sample from every fascinating area of life but must select carefully the few vital areas where focused energy can be applied to bless our lives and those we serve. My personal experience confirms that to gain knowledge of great worth requires extraordinary effort through personal involvement. This is particularly true when our desire is to gain spiritual knowledge.” Richard G. Scott


“Understood: As each element of truth is encountered, it should be carefully examined in the light of prior knowledge to determine where it fits. It needs to be twisted, turned inside out, and studied from every vantage point to discover any hidden meaning. It must be viewed in perspective to confirm that you have not jumped to false conclusions. Prayerful pondering engenders further understanding. Such evaluation is particularly important when the truth comes as an impression from the Spirit.” Richard G. Scott


“During the years of my life, and often in my present calling, and especially during a recent Gethsemane, I have gone to my knees with a humble spirit to the only place I could for help. I often went in agony of spirit, earnestly pleading with God to sustain me in the work I have come to appreciate more than life itself. I have, on occasion, felt the terrible aloneness of the wounds of the heart, of the sweet agony, the buffetings of Satan, and the encircling warm comfort of the Spirit of the Master.

I have also felt the crushing burden, the self-doubts of inadequacy and unworthiness, the fleeting feeling of being forsaken, then of being reinforced an hundredfold. I have climbed a spiritual Mount Sinai dozens of times seeking to communicate and to receive instructions. It has been as though I have struggled up an almost real Mount of Transfiguration and upon occasion felt great strength and power in the presence of the Divine. A special sacred feeling has been a sustaining influence and often a close companion.” James E. Faust – Quoted by Elder Scott.

“Now the Lord would give us gifts. He will quicken our minds. He will give us knowledge that will clear up all difficulties, and put us in harmony with the commandments that he has given us, and with a knowledge that will be so deeply rooted in our souls that the knowledge can never be rooted out, if we will just seek for the light and the truth and the understanding which is promised to us, and which we can receive if we will only be true and faithful to every covenant and obligation pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Joseph Fielding Smith, CR, October 1958, p. 22

“I believe that we often do not learn the truths the Lord would freely share because we do not in humility earnestly seek light. We also can leave the most precious personal direction of the Spirit unheard because we do not strive to understand, value, use, remember, and expand the first promptings that come to us when we are in need or when impressions come in response to earnest, intense prayer.
You can see the things that I have been teaching you are not theory. I have learned them in the crucible of personal experience. I am sorry I cannot communicate them more clearly, but I know how you can also receive that kind of direction: Ask the Lord, seek the light, have faith in the Savior, strive to obey his commandments. He will bless you with light to lead you as you walk through this treacherous world in which we live.” Richard G. Scott, Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, BYU Devotional Address, 8/93