"I never said it would be easy. I only said it would be worth it."
Don't waste your time looking for the scriptural reference, because Jesus never said it. What? How can that be? I can purchase this lovely picture and quote at Deseret Book - that makes it doctrine, right?
Nope. He never said it. Either part. I wonder how He feels about being misquoted. Actually, He did say something almost exactly opposite. That it could be easy.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:29-30
So, as a service to you, I decided to try and figure out where the saying actually came from. There are several possibilities.
1) It is taken from a much larger quote - author unknown:
‘I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. I never said there wouldn't be tears, I just promised to be there if there was. I never said it would be true love, I only said you'd know if it was. I never promised it would be forever, I only said to love unconditionally and generously with no recognition of time. I never said to hold on at all costs, I only said one day you'd have to let go and be free. I never said you'd get the rainbow without getting through the rain, I only said the sun is always brighter than the storm. I never said you wouldn't cry, or feel like your heart had died. I never said you wouldn't change inside. And if I had, I'd have lied...”
2) It was said by Mae West. Yup. That Mae West. (Makes you wonder how many LDS homes display Mae West quotes.)
Good Reads attributes the quote to her on their website. (link here)
3) The internet Q&A website ChaCha said that it was Moroni quoting Malachi. (here)
Oops! At least they know who Moroni and Malachi are! Funny how even ChaCha associates the quote with the LDS Church.
Since the search has been somewhat inconclusive. If any of you have absolute knowledge of where this quote came from, let me know.
I’ll admit, whether Jesus or Mae West said it, it is a reassuring thought. Especially when trying to get through a bumpy night.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon Humorist, LDS Comedy, Daddy Blog
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon Humorist, LDS Comedy, Daddy Blog
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I think I heard Him say it while he was carrying me through the sand.
ReplyDeleteHilarious!
DeleteI think a careless and quick misreading of comment 2 in this old T&S thread may be the source of the stupid ChaCha "Moroni quoting Malachi" miscredit. Ironic, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Another Mormon myth debunked. Actually I thought it was Steve Martin that said it after he was baptised in the early 80's
ReplyDeleteThanks for addressing this mis-quote. It drives me crazy that everyone thinks it is scriptural. For the longest time I have joked about this and said it just needs to be shortened to say "I didn't say it"
ReplyDeleteIn the Doghouse's comment is classic! Thanks for the laugh!
ReplyDeleteWait... does this mean Satan never said "I never said it would be worth it, I only said it would be easy"?!
ReplyDeletethat quote drives my husband crazy!
ReplyDeleteevery time he see's it, he always says the same thing..
"He did not say that."
Newcomer here and I love it. We are of the same mind... I take the gospel very seriously, but hopefully not life. That being said, i wrote an entire 12 page paper on this misquote in college because it drove me so nuts!! :)
ReplyDeleteTami: I would love to see the paper you wrote - email me a copy - if you dare!
ReplyDeletesure! i would love to. so much so that i found a hard copy and scanned it for you since my college days were long long ago in the land of floppy disks. :) i am not quite as middle aged as you are, but close. your email address?
ReplyDeletemiddleagedmormonman@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteOut of everything anybody ever says to me, you can be assured that this 'quote' drives me nuts!! Any chance of being able to share this on FB to get the message across??
ReplyDeleteVery late to this party but...hysterical. "In the doghouse" had practically my exact reaction. Could you do an expose' on the "someday when you get to heaven people will bow when you walk by and whisper their feelings of awe that YOU were saved for the last days, to be on the earth with Gordon B. Hinkley etc...."? Or the variations of that "quote".
ReplyDeleteI just read this to my husband, we are now getting a picture of Christ at the gates of heaven...the quote is: "why don't you come up and see me sometime?"
ReplyDeleteThat is FUNNY! I wish I had thought of that.
DeleteOK, I am finally digging into the archives because my wife, Christy (who has a crush on your blog), said you had already blogged about the "Mormon Moment" and so I had to check and make sure I hadn't inadvertently plagiarized. (I did find a reference or two to "Mormon Moment" but so far nothing super close to what I wrote.)
ReplyDeleteSo I just had to comment on this one because HOLY SCHNIKES I get disgusted every time I see that picture. I feel like taking a sharpie to it every time and posting "Matt 11:29-30" -- exactly as you mention above. They even had it hanging in the MTC in the early 90s when I was a missionary. (I am sure my memory is faulty but I think it was three feet over from the mirror with the "true" picture of Christ next to it featuring this guilt-inducing gem: "The Savior has done His part. Are you doing yours?" Of course, since that mirror/picture was hanging about every ten yards or so, I'm probably not far off the mark.)
Rant over. Now I'm off to comment on the President Uchtdorf post to make sure Mae West doesn't sneak up on him...
Bruce, Brother: Welcome to the party - finally! I complement you on marrying such a smart wife.
ReplyDeleteI have stayed away from the "Mormon Moment" per se, because I think we have been having one since about 1830.
Very interesting. I think people like this quote because life is often bumpy and there are plenty of hard days. They use this to help pull themself though.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether or not this is a quote from Christ, He did not say this word for word but many scriptures convey this idea. Example 1 in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:10-12): The idea conveyed is that it will not be easy, you will be reviled, etc., if you are a true disciple, but you will reap your reward in heaven (it will be worth it).
Also important to note when scrutinizing this quote is that there are 2 "it"s. In other words it can apply to many people in many different circumstances to help them.
In conclusion, Christ didn't say this word for word but the idea was conveyed and recorded in Matthew 5:10-12, and it will help people's lives and help them keep doing the very best they can.
Agreed. However, would the phrase, "Repent and come unto me."
ReplyDeleteThere's a similar one that is rampant in Spanish (well, at least in Ecuador and in Mexico City, where I and my husband served our missions, respectively): "Ayúdate, y yo te ayudaré". It means "Help yourself, and I will help you."
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it's kind of a lame saying. Second of all, despite the numerous people who claim otherwise, Jesus never said that.
So funny.
I didn't even realize that anyone thought it was a scriptural quote. It doesn't sound like scripture. I always thought it was just a comforting idea of how Christ might reassure us if He were to speak to us. Someone said it. Probably more than one person. I don't understand why this is such an issue.
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly, anyone who is looking for the footprints in the sand story in the scriptures, obviously doesn't even read their scriptures. None of these things sound scriptural at all.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS! Really and truly. I cringe when I hear that over the pulpit and I think that Sacrament talks should be screened for that very reason. :)
ReplyDeleteI have often "corrected" that quote...so we are on the same page.
Some of our more "colorful" moments in Sacrament meeting: A dear sister brought out a large container of bubble gum, blew some bubbles for effect, and promised a gumball to each kid who could quote her talk after church.
Another? Poor sister missionary shared very graphic details of how her son was killed...with a chainsaw...and how they had to wait for the police to gather enough of his remains to bury him.
Bishops need a "censor" button...or access to the microphone volume in an instant. :)
The earliest recorded quote from lds.org shows it from an article by Walter Swan in 1986
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/02/i-couldnt-find-a-good-excuse
Which could have been a rephrasing of Spencer W Kimball in 1977 when he said "The Lord never promised an easy road, nor a simple gospel, nor low standards, nor a low norm. The price is high, but the goods attained are worth all they cost."
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1977/10/the-power-of-forgiveness
Makes since as Spencer W Kimball was president when the church membership spiked. Many connect their first experiences with the gospel to him.
lds.org doesn't go back any further than 1970..
It doesn't necessarily say it's quoted by Jesus, it is only implied (with a STRONG implication). That being said, this quote bothers me; not because it's implied that Jesus said it, but rather because I don't agree with it. I find the things in life most "worth it" are actually the easiest. I also have found that this quote (whoever created it) LIMITS a person's perspective. For the longest time growing up in the Mormon church, I felt like EVERYTHING had to be HARD, especially the GREATEST things. But why? Once I questioned that & had the opposite perspective, suddenly, everything in my life became EASY AND WORTH IT.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog...I felt like the only one who was bothered by this quote.