"The foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly." --Franklin

Benjamin Franklin had this to say about choice:

"We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices.  We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform.  Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we've selected to govern our lives.  In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.

"Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by his Providence will make many choices different from those who do not.  Those who hold in reverence that Being who gave them life and worship Him through adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will made many choices different from those who do not.  Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not.  Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not.  Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not.

"Since the foundation of all happiness is thinking rightly, and since correct action is dependent on correct opinion, we cannot be too careful in choosing the value system we allow to govern our thoughts and actions.  And to know that God governs in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayers, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, is indeed, a powerful regulator of human conduct."

Lord Chesterfield said, "Common sense (which, in truth, is very uncommon) is the best sense I know of: abide by it; it will counsel you best."

Quotes taken from an address given by M. Russell Ballard at BYU during the opening of the Marriott School's Center for Economic Self-Reliance, March 11, 2004.