A little more than ten years ago, I compiled a list of what I called “Greatest Talks, Etc.” This is a selection of 25 talks given by General Authorities of the LDS Church that I found particularly inspiring at the time. They are mostly, and possibly all, culled from issues of the Ensign magazine that I found in various apartments while on my mission and from General Conference talks given during the same timeframe. The moniker “Greatest Talks, Etc.” is an homage to Paul Simon’s 1976 album “Greatest Hits, Etc.” Most of the talks are from various General Conferences, with a few being from other speeches given at different times and locations.
I always meant to continue to add to the collection with new discoveries as the years progressed, but I never did. Now ten and more years later, I am revisiting this group of talks with my ten-and-more-years-older eyes and mind, to discover what value and wisdom I still find in them—if they are, indeed, the greatest. I may also offer commentary on the speaker if I have any to give, and the reasons why a particular talk stood out to me, if I can remember them.
The entries in this series will be ordered alphabetically by the last name of the speaker, then chronologically by year where there is more than one discourse for the given person.