Weight Watchers, P. Diddy, "Criminal Minds" + Other Bizarre Places You Wouldn't Expect Prophets to Be Quoted, but They Were

From violent TV shows to weight watching apps, here are a few bizarre places you wouldn't expect to hear quotes from our prophets and apostles. This just goes to show how pervasive and crucial their words are to all of us today.

Recently, the Weight Watchers app included an inspiring quote many Mormons might have found familiar:

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart." The quote, from President Gordon B. Hinckley, goes on to share insight into the Church: "Love life and look for its opportunities, and forever and always be loyal to the Church."

While motivating, the quote isn't the first thing you'd expect to see on an app meant to inspire users to eat smarter, exercise regularly, and live healthier lifestyles. But who better to inspire people to have healthier spiritual and physical lives than God's prophets?

And this isn't the first time a prophet has been quoted in unlikely places.

Remember when P. Diddy quoted Elder L. Tom Perry on Twitter?

The tweet went viral among Latter-day Saints, evoking responses from Sistas in Zion, LDS rapper James the Mormon, and so many others:

Just a few years later, a few other musicians decided to quote Latter-day apostles on Twitter, both of them in the same month of the same year:

Pharrell's tweet even got a follow-up with a subtle invite to talk with the missionaries.

But it seems musicians aren't the only ones quoting prophets and apostles. 

In the fall of 2015, viewers on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" were graced with some wise counsel from the prophet Joseph Smith.

Steve Young, an NFL Hall-of-Famer and Latter-day Saint, was asked to give his insight into why the Detroit Lions needed an independent locker room. He then provided a "famous quote," one given by Joseph Smith when he was asked by a member of the legislature how he governed so many people with such order: "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves."

It's wise counsel and something that applies to both saints and athletes, apparently, as Young says, "The greatest locker rooms in football, the ones that go to championships, live [by this] famous quote."

But quotes from prophets on popular television don't stop there. In 2016 CBS's Criminal Minds, a TV drama fraught with graphic violence that delves into the twisted psyches of criminals, unexpectedly quoted James E. Faust. 

The quote appears near the end of the episode, around 39 minutes in: "The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation."

There you have it, five powerful quotes from five powerful servants of God that have crossed cultural boundaries. It just goes to show how the wisdom from living prophets here on this earth is influencing people from around the world, even if they might not realize it.

Have you noticed quotes from prophets and apostles in unexpected places? Please share in the comments!

Lead image from Getty Images of Criminal Minds.