Learn to be Refined

I read the article "Our Refined Heavenly Home" by Elder Douglas L. Callister in the June 2009 Ensign. It talks about how we should learn to be refined in language, literature, music, art, appearance and attitude. I hope you will all take some time to read it. Here are some of my favorite quotes from it.

"Refinement in speech is reflected not only in our choice of words but also in the things we talk about. There are those who always speak of themselves; they are either insecure or proud. There are those who always speak of others; they are usually boring. There are those who speak of stirring ideas, compelling books, and inspiring doctrine; these are the few who make their mark in this world."

"The nearer we get to God, the more easily our spirits are touched by refined and beautiful things."

"I don't know whether our heavenly home has a television set or a DVD player, but in my mind's imagery it surely has a grand piano and a magnificent library."

"When some music has passed the tests of time and been cherished by the noble and refined, our failure to appreciate is is not a condemnation of grand music. The omission is within."

"David Starr Jordan, former president of Stanford University, wrote: "To be vulgar is to do that which is not the best of its kind. It is to do poor things in poor ways, and to be satisfied with that...It is vulgar to wear dirty linen when one is not engaged in dirty work. It is vulgar to like poor music, to read weak books, to feed on sensational newspapers,...to find amusement in trashy novels, to enjoy vulgar theatres, to find pleasure in cheap jokes."

This was one of those articles that really made me think. This is one of those things that I would have made my roommate Emily stay up late at night to discuss! I just absolutely LOVED it.