President Hinckley

Gordon Bitner Hinckley, born 23 June 1910 was the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 12 march 1995 until his death. During Hinckley’s presidency he dedicated more temples than anyone else. He presided over the building of the 20,000 seat Conference Center, the issuance of the Proclamation on the Family, the creation of the Church’s Perpetual Education Fund and the reconstruction of the historic Nauvoo Illinois Temple. At the time of his death, 27 January 2008, almost one-third of the Church’s membership had joined under his leadership. Even with my rickety memory I can recall many of these epic quotations:

Stand A Little Taller

The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (“This Is the Work of the Master,” Ensign, May 1995, 69)

Hard Work

Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds. (“Farewell to a Prophet,” Ensign, Jul 1994, 37–40)

Death

All of us have to deal with death at one time or another, but to have in one’s heart a solid conviction concerning the reality of eternal life is to bring a sense of peace in an hour of tragedy and loss that can come from no other source under the heaven. (“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Jan 1998, 72)

Respect For Self

Respect for self is the beginning of virtue in men. (“In Opposition to Evil,” Ensign, Sep 2004, 2–6)

Watch Ourselves

Let us, each of us, watch ourselves. Whenever we have within us a little temper, go outside, breathe some fresh air, and come in with a smile and throw your arms around your companion and tell her you love her. Look to your children and let them know that you love them. Live with them kindly and graciously, as Latter-day Saints should do. (“Inspirational Thoughts,” Ensign, Aug 2000, 2)

Good Parents

[The Lord] expects us to be good parents, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives. He expects husbands to treat their wives with deference and respect. He expects wives to treat their husbands with kindness and helpfulness. He expects us to be good parents to our children. (“Latter-day Counsel: Selections from Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Apr 2001, 73)

Kindness

Our kindness may be the most persuasive argument for that which we believe. (“We Bear Witness of Him,” Ensign, May 1998, 4)

Houses In Order

I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. . . We are carrying a message of self-reliance throughout the church. Self-reliance cannot be obtained when there is serious debt hanging over a household. One has neither independence nor freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others. (“To the Boys and to the Men,” Ensign, Nov 1998, 51)

Mothers

It is the home which produces the nursery stock of new generations. I hope that you mothers will realize that when all is said and done, you have no more compelling responsibility, nor any laden with greater rewards, than the nurture you give your children in an environment of security, peace, companionship, love and motivation to grow and do well. (“Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 98)

Honesty

I think the Lord expects of his people that they will be absolutely honest in all of their dealings. In all that they do, they will be honest with others and honest with themselves. “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.” (Thirteenth Article of Faith) (“Latter-day Counsel: Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Apr 1999, 71)

Try Handing Out Compliments

There is a sad tendency in our world today for persons to cut one another down. Did you ever realize that it does not take very much in the way of brainpower to make remarks that may wound another? Try the opposite of that. Try handing out compliments. (“Strengthening Each Other,” Ensign, Feb 1985, 3)

Related posts:

1. Epic Excerpts: Horatio Nelson
2. Epic Excerpts: Winston Churchill
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Bjarne Stroustrup is a computer scientist and the College of Engineering Chair Professor of Computer Science at Texas A&M University. He is most notable for developing the C++ programming language. Stroustrup also wrote what many consider to be the standard text for the language, The C++ Programming Language, which is now in its third edition.

Management

I came across the name Bjarne Stroustrup while I was learning to develop rickety C++ and using his book The C++ Programming Language (Second Edition). One of the most interesting sections of the book is Chapter 11, Design and Development. The sub-section entitled Management was a real gem, filled with statements that are perfectly obvious once you think about it. Although his words are geared towards a programming environment, much of what he writes has general application. In the following excerpts a few sentences have been altered slightly to maintain the original meaning.

Provided it makes some minimum of sense, most people do what they are encouraged to do. (page 382).

On re-use of code: Most organizations reward individuals and groups that choose to re-invent the wheel. (page 382).

An organization that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only. (page 382).

If an organization has no mechanism for promoting and rewarding cooperation and sharing, cooperation and sharing will be rare. (page 383).

Common sense can be the first victim of a genuine and often ardent desire to improve the way things are done. Unfortunately, once common sense is missing there is no limit to the damage that can unwittingly be done. (page 384).

Managers often forget that organizations consist of individuals. A popular notion is that programmers are equal and interchangeable. This is a fallacy that can destroy an organization by driving out many of the most effective individuals. Individuals are interchangeable only if they are not allowed to take advantage of skills that raise them above the absolute minimum required for the task in question. (page 385).

Quality is far harder to measure than quantity of output, yet individuals and groups must be rewarded based on the quality of their output rather than by crude quantity measures. (page 386).

It is essentially impossible to judge the performance of an individual on the basis of a single year’s work. (page 386).

Naturally, there is often a fear of change among individuals. This can lead to an overestimate of the problems involved in a change and a reluctance to acknowledge problems with the old ways of doing things. Equally naturally, people arguing for change tend to overestimate the beneficial effects of new ways of doing things and to underestimate the problems involved in the change. (page 387).

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Victory

Westminister Abbey, or victory!
(In the battle off Cape St. Vincent, giving the order for boarding the San Josef. Life of Nelson Vol. I, Ch. 4)

A Glorious Victory

May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature of the British fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.
(Dispatches and Letters of Horatio Nelson: a diary entry on the eve of the battle of Trafalgar)

England Expects

England expects that every man will do his duty.
(Life of Nelson: A signal to the British fleet at the battle of Trafalgar)

Gain the Victory

First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.
(Before the battle of the Nile)

Ship before the Enemy

When I am without orders and unexpected occurrences arrive I shall always act as I think the honour and glory of my King and Country demand. But in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.

Related posts:

1. Epic Excerpts: Winston Churchill
2. Epic Excerpts: Gordon B. Hinckley
3. Giving Thanks The Pilgrims Left

Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many long months of toil and struggle.

You ask what is our policy. I will say, it is to wage war with all our might, with all the strength that God can give us, to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.

You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival.
(First statement as Prime Minister, House of Commons, 13 May 1940)

Be Ye Men of Valour

Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of Truth and Justice: “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the will ofGod is in Heaven, even so let it be.”
(First broadcast as Prime Minister, 19 May 1940. The quotation is from 1 Maccabees 3:58-60)

Their Finest Hour

What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may more forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their Finest Hour.”
(House of Commons, 18 June 1940, following the collapse of France)

The Few

The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
(A tribute to the Royal Air Force, House of Commons, 20 August 1940. Because of German bombing raids, Churchill said, Britain was “a whole nation fighting and suffering together.”)

Never Give In

This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
(Given at his first visit to his old school, Harrow, 29 October 1941)

Related posts:

1. Epic Excerpts: Horatio Nelson
2. Epic Excerpts: Gordon B. Hinckley