"In reflecting on my forty-nine years of public service, I find that the precepts of the Order of DeMolay have been invaluable to me. This was particularly true the two times I was just a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States and faced very difficult decisions. My public life, as well as my private life, has been guided by the DeMolay vow... to love and serve God, my country, and my fellow man."

"The young men of the DeMolay organization are taught responsibility, integrity, and honesty, and those have been the central values in my life. All of us who were involved in DeMolay in my time benefited tremendously from it. There are hundreds of thousands of examples of men whose adult careers were greatly enhanced because of their participation in DeMolay. The sad part of it is that it is such a brief period in our lives that we are able to be a part of it, but it occurs at a time of great change in a young man's life. DeMolay's lessons last a lifetime."

"DeMolay played an important role during the formative years of my life. It gave me one of my earliest opportunities to learn about leadership and brotherhood. The values taught in DeMolay continue to be highly relevant and necessary to character development in young people in the difficult world of today."

"The DeMolay experience lasts a lifetime. It begins with the inspired and ever-inspiring ritual. The wisdom behind those words gives each new member a moral North Star to guide him for all the years ahead. Practical opportunities abound in DeMolay to learn teamwork - the true foundation of leadership. Is it any wonder that DeMolay develops so many outstanding leaders in all the important fields of human endeavor?"

"DeMolay meant a great deal to me in my late adolescent years in Sanford, Florida. My high school principal, G.E. McKay, guided us in our DeMolay work. Those influences taught me about character, about holding your faith, about truth, and keeping your word. I shall always be grateful to Professor McKay and to DeMolay. I was blessed to have such guidance at such a period in my life. I pray such good influences may come to more and more teenagers today in these troublesome times."

"DeMolay gave me another set of values... that have helped me work with young men through my coaching years, and their response was more than gratifying."

"The Order of DeMolay instilled in me a feeling of worthiness, dedication, and loyalty, and an unshaken belief in a God whose hand is always there when you reach for it. Early in my life, DeMolay precepts laid the foundation for me to set realistic goals and enabled me to win when I needed to win. These same precepts have given me the inner strength to face adversity and tragedy, and to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. I will be eternally grateful to the Order of DeMolay for having invited me into its fellowship and for having given me the spiritual direction and counsel that are so vital in forming the cornerstones of character."

"I have been a member of DeMolay for sixty-three years. I thank God and DeMolay for helping me become kind and thoughtful to my parents and all my friends. I had many opportunities to do the wrong things, and I might have done them, if it were not for DeMolay. God bless them."

"My DeMolay experience was a very positive part of growing up. I remember it with pleasure and I recommend a similar experience to every young man."

"DeMolay's positive values and high standards improved my moral and patriotic awareness and that has served me as a fountain for later life. I will always remember the friendship and good times, too."

"DeMolay was the first step on the path to fraternal comradeship that has been an intricate part of my life. The vast majority of the persons who shaped my life and contributed to my success have had an involvement in the Masonic fraternities."

"In our time, as perhaps never before, young men everywhere need the positive influence of the Order of DeMolay. In the Vows and Cardinal Virtues of the Order, any young man may find a straight and clear path to manhood; to honor, to dignity, to self respect, to accomplishment, and success in his most difficult undertakings. In the face of all the challenges and all the obstacles one must confront in life, the lessons and the ideals of the Order of DeMolay are a source of wealth beyond price, and of truth which will endure forever."

"The values of the DeMolay brotherhood are essential to building leadership skills, creating self-esteem, developing collaborative experiences, and instilling the sense of individual responsibility that is essential to a healthy republic."

"I have many fond memories of my time as a DeMolay member. Along with my home and my church, DeMolay was one of the major influences on my life during those early formative years. One of the most important lessons I learned from DeMolay was the need for respect - respect for your parents, respect for women, respect for your family and friends, and respect for your community. I also appreciated the many wonderful friendships I was able to make within my chapter. DeMolay provides young men with the tools they need to assume leadership roles and accept the many civic and personal responsibilities that lie ahead of them. Most important of all, DeMolay builds strong character and instills the values that will continue to make this country a great one. I want to thank DeMolay for the difference its organization has made in my life, and I am confident that its principles will continue to inspire young men to realize their potential."

"For sixty-nine years, the Order of DeMolay has prepared young men to become better citizens and leaders for our country. My DeMolay experience gave me the confidence to develop my skills as a speaker, team member, and leader, and then to realize and accomplish my dreams. I will always be thankful for the guidance given to me by my friends in DeMolay."

"Needless to say, DeMolay had a profound effect on me. It arrived at a critical point in my life. For at fourteen, the issues of fraternity, faith, and trust were insignificant. The example of Jacques DeMolay's courage helped me to see that there was another dimension to one's life and that the attempt to reach a worthy goal could give so much more meaning to one's life. Of course, the opportunity to go through the chairs was an honor and certainly nurtured whatever leadership qualities I might possess today."

"I feel a great sense of obligation and gratitude toward the Order of DeMolay for the important part it played in my life. Its precepts have been invaluable in making decisions, facing dilemmas and crises. DeMolay stands for all that is good for the family and for our country. I feel privileged to have enjoyed membership in DeMolay."

"For over fifty years, I have regularly thought about my Creator and His gifts of good life, family, and friends. This occurred whenever something made me aware that it was nine o'clock in the evening. This is the hour when, as a DeMolay, I learned to interrupt whatever I was doing, kneel, and bow my head in a prayer of thanks during interpolation."

"I credit my family and business success to the values that I was taught; values that include respect from everyone, trusting others, and working as a team. Those values came from my parents, my school, and organizations such as DeMolay. I have always enjoyed and benefited from interaction with others - DeMolay was one of my first experiences in that regard. I would encourage all young people to listen and learn - your values are with you all your life."

"'As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.' Often the values of the influences imposed on us by our mothers and fathers, our teachers and certain friends, are not realized until years later, when we, as a sailor does, look back at our wakes to determine the course we have steered that got us to where we are. Today when I look back, then look around me to see with whom I am standing, I fully realize the influence on my life that must be credited to DeMolay."

"DeMolay and Frank Land had a profound influence in my entire life."

"Any success I've been able to achieve in my life - from building my business to my Masonic and Shrine activities - I owe to DeMolay."

"Toss a pebble in a pond. The waves may spread far beyond what you expect. The life of a DeMolay may be like that pebble. I learned that taking a stand for what is honorable can make a difference and spread out to influence the lives of many. In this way, DeMolay builds better citizens and better lives."

"It seems that today, many young Americans flock to gangs. They are starved for a surrogate family. They don't have to be. In my generation, and in this one, there is DeMolay to funnel the energies of young Americans into building challenging, inspiring, rewarding, and constructive lives for themselves. Young Americans, it's all here in DeMolay. Come and get it!"

"The foundations of this great Nation are embodied in the very principles of DeMolay Brotherhood. I have found DeMolay to be an inspiration in my public life and I am honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame."

"I was fortunate to be born into a family of Masons. Indeed, my older sister, Audrey was Grand Matron of the Order of Eastern Star in Illinois. My DeMolay experience came very naturally because of my father and brothers. Thus was my youth enhanced."

"The more things change, the more they are the same. Regardless of the great changes in our society, there is something immutable about DeMolay. The molding of the character and the integrity of young men, that's the greatest accomplishment of DeMolay. By serving the Order of DeMolay, we can bring the light of ideals into the lives of young men."

"DeMolay gives every young man the opportunity to grow in a moral and healthy way."

"I believe the principles taught by DeMolay are invaluable to young people and are something that can be carried out and used throughout a person's entire life. DeMolay can help mold a person's character and leadership skills through their activities."

"The DeMolay movement was important to me from the date it was founded. It made a strong contribution to my character at a very formative period of my life. It showed me that I could set and achieve a high standard of ethics and morals, although at the time I doubt that I ever used those words."

He was a symbol to millions of young men of the ideals and teachings of our Order. He wore the mantle of this stewardship with dignity and grace. He never forgot the responsibility that was his. The ethics of leadership taught him in DeMolay flowered in countless fields of endeavor. He was a man of ideals ... He loved God, his home, and his country. He was a knight errant in his daily life although he would never admit it—but it was there." — Frank S. Land

"My experiences in DeMolay most certainly were greatly beneficial in my career in sports, politics, and now, in the business world. I am grateful that DeMolay helped me learn many important values that have always remained with me."

"I enjoyed my association with DeMolay in my youth and believe that DeMolay has served the young people of the United States well over a long period of time."

"Aside from my home, DeMolay has been more helpful and made a greater contribution to my life than any other single thing or activity. That is true from the standpoint of spiritual understanding as well as the brotherhood, and wherever I have been or whatever activity in which I have been engaged, somewhere along the line, DeMolay was there."

"As a kid growing up, DeMolay was one of the few organizations of which I was a part that helped me think about responsibility outside of sports. That is something that has been a part of me over the years and I can thank DeMolay for making it part of my life."

"DeMolay was an anvil on which character issues of great consequence to young men were hammered out. The impact upon me at the time of active membership was immense. I can only hope that my subsequent actions have been faithful lessons that I was privileged to learn in the DeMolay environment."
 

"As a young boy who had lost his father, the interest taken in me by the men of DeMolay provided encouragement, leadership, and opportunities which, in hindsight, seem impossible. The vision of the Order of DeMolay kept me focused on the truly important things in life and taught me a morality which remains with me today. As the Director of our Nation's primary support system for America's alienated children, I am mindful of the old adage that says, 'as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.' We must join together to bend our children toward what is right and good and necessary to make them productive citizens of the future."

"Working in the Order of DeMolay filled in much of my spare time, never realizing how I would (later) draw on that experience. (Five Years to Freedom, 1971) Thanks for showing me that patriotism and faith in God are not dead in the United States. (Cordon, April 1969) DeMolay can and should provide our (Nation's) leaders, today and tomorrow."

"Fatherless, I joined DeMolay in 1929 at the suggestion of my Masonic employer. DeMolay taught me to accept my own and others' strengths and weaknesses, achievements and failures, likenesses and differences, as I grew from a boy into manhood."

"Family and country mean everything to me. A person is taught values such as these during the early years of growing up, and I am tremendously grateful to DeMolay for what I have learned and treasured all my life."

"My experiences with DeMolay were invaluable in providing me with a guiding path to success in every aspect of my life, including as a husband, father, and businessman. For that I am eternally grateful."

A quote from the DeMolay Cordon in March 1969 says it all. "Although Dad Steinbeck was an unwilling celebrity who zealously guarded his privacy, modestly took little part in the public literary life of his time, and rarely served on committees, he retained interest in and regard for the Order of DeMolay. At the time of his death, he was serving on the Executive Advisory Committee of our 50th Anniversary."

"Born in the heart of America, DeMolay now spans the world, opening the door for aspiring youth about to seek success in a tough world. It is a key to the kind of future we all desire."

"It is a great honor to be inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame. In today's society where there is so much violence and heartache, it's a gratifying feeling to know there is such a fine organization as DeMolay to look up to and lean on for guidance and support. I am proud to be a member!"

"I was overwhelmed by the feeling of friendship, comradeship, and brotherhood... DeMolay will always hold a deep spot in my heart."

"I have learned a great deal in my life, and DeMolay helped me to learn that character and integrity should be cornerstones in your life. As a Senior DeMolay, as a father, the best advice I could ever give would be to take the high road in life, and you will be able to build trusting relationships."

"In this world of changing values that seem to shift as sand in the wind, DeMolay instills into many thousands of young men an enduring ethical bedrock. The example of Jacques DeMolay returns again and again to remind us in the quiet recesses of our souls that expediency is no moral substitute for principle."

Images and information courtesy http://www.Demolay.org and various other online resources