2 Ne. 8:25; 9:45; 26:22; Alma 5:7; 12:6; 3 Ne. 20:37; Isa. 5:20; Moses 7:26; refer in this text to 2 Ne. 28:19-22
“Shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound indicates the need to overcome bad habits, even the seemingly little habits that grow into strong ‘chains of hell.’” (Carlos E. Asay, Ensign, May 1992, p. 41)
“When I was a little boy, somebody gave me a cucumber in a bottle. The neck of the bottle was small, the cucumber large. I wondered how it got there. Then, out in the garden one day, I came upon a bottle slipped over a little green fellow. Then I understood. The cucumber had grown in the bottle. Often I see men with habits I wonder how any strong, sensible man could form. Then I reflect that likely they grew into them when young, and cannot now slip out of them. They are like the cucumber in the bottle.” (Anonymous, Jewels of Thought, p. 85)
“Who among us hasn’t felt the chains of bad habits? These habits may have impeded our progress, may have made us forget who we are, may have destroyed our self-image, may have put our family life in jeopardy, and may have hindered our ability to serve our fellowmen and our God. So many of us tend to say. ‘This is the way I am. I can’t change… .’ Lehi warned his sons to ‘shake off the chains’ because he knew that chains restrict our mobility, growth, and happiness. They cause us to become confused and less able to be guided by God’s Spirit… . Samuel Johnson wisely shared, ‘The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken’ (International Dictionary of Thoughts, p. 348)… . Living a life of righteousness is a chainbreaker. Many of us today are shackled by the restrictive chains of poor habits. We are bound by inferior self-images created by misconduct and indifference. We are chained by an unwillingness to change for the better… . Shaking off restrictive chains requires action… . It requires commitment, self-discipline, and work. Chains weigh heavily on troubled hearts and souls. They relegate us to lives of no purpose or light. They cause us to become confused and lose the spirit… . These chains cannot be broken by those who live in lust and self-deceit. They can only be broken by people who are willing to change. We must face up to the hard reality of life that damaging chains are broken only by people of courage and commitment who are willing to struggle and weather the pain… . To change or break some of our chains even in a small way means to give up some behavior of habits that have been very important to us in the past… . Even if our present way of life is painful and self-destructive, some of us … become comfortable with it. Those who are committed to improvement break chains by having the courage to try.” (Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, Nov. 1985, pp. 13-15)
“There is so much of the good and the beautiful and the uplifting in literature and art and life that there should be no time for any man who holds the priesthood of God to patronize, to watch, to buy that which only carefully leads him down to hell.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Conference Report, Oct. 1983, pp. 67-68)
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.” (Alexander Pope, as quoted by Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1993, p. 76)
“Some foolishly try and justify conduct they know is wrong with, ‘It’s such a little sin; it won’t matter.’ While it may be true that the particular conduct is not at the top of the scale, the more dangerous part is the road that it puts you on. ‘Little wrongs’ just seem to have a way of leading into ‘bigger wrongs.’ The words of the American clergyman Harry Emerson Fosdick provide further instruction here: ‘The tragic evils of our life are so commonly unintentional. We did not start out for that poor, cheap goal. That aim was not in our minds at all… . Look to the road you are walking on! He who picks up one end of [a] stick picks up the other. He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to’ (Living Under Tension, 1941, pp. 110-111).” (W. Eugene Hansen, Ensign, May 1996, p. 39)