14 November 2011

Sunday Memorandum: Gordon B. Hinckley on Avoiding Cynicism, Negatism

Note: For whatever reason, this didn't publish when I posted it last July.

Sincere thanks to David Kenison for sharing the following. I'm just now reading this for the first time, and it is arguably even more relevant now than it was when it was first published in 1986.‎
"I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course. 
"What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: 'Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.'"
- Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Continuing Pursuit of Truth," Ensign, April 1986, p. 2

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