The Wit and Wisdom of Gordon B. Hinckley

   Lately I've been watching clips on YouTube of humorous moments from past General Conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You wouldn't think there would be many moments of laughter in a two day conference filled with addresses by church leaders, but there are. One of my favorites is Elder Jeffrey R. Holland saying,"That is like trying to stuff a turkey through the beak!"
  Many of the clips that I saw featured the late Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the LDS Church.  Most people wouldn't expect a church leader in any faith to have a sense of humour let alone demonstrate it. I'd like to share a few of my favourite quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley.
  At General Conference, he talked about being asked by television news reporter Mike Wallace for an interview. After talking a little bit about his reservations President Hinckley said, "I concluded that it was better to lean into the stiff wind of opportunity than to simply hunker down and do nothing." Another time he walked to the pulpit after another speaker was finished. He said that it was warm in the room and that he was sorry, but a person was going to be a lot warmer if he or she did not repent. I found that to be pretty funny. It was a little bit of fire and brimstone delivered by someone who doesn't look like he would say such things.
  I listened to the 60 Minutes interview of President Hinckley. I had to chuckle at the following exchange.
Mike Wallace: There are those who would say, that this is a gerontocracy, this is a church run by old men.
GBH: Isn't it wonderful? To have a man of maturity at the head, a man of judgment, who isn't blown about by every wind of doctrine?
MW: Absolutely, as long as he's not dotty.
GBH: Thank you for the compliment.
I have to admit that I really admire anyone who is that quick on his feet.
  “Anger is the mother of a whole brood of evil actions.”   Isn't that a good quote? One of the things I like about President Hinckley is that he could talk in what I call word pictures. It's clear to see what he's talking about. “Grudges, if left to fester, can become serious maladies. Like a painful ailment they can absorb all of our time and attention.” and “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” are a couple more word picture quotes.
   Another thing I like about many of President Hinckley's quotes is that you don't have to be LDS or even a member of a Christian faith to appreciate what he says. An example of this is, “Marriage in its truest sense, is a partnership of equals, with neither exercising dominion over the other, but, rather, with each encouraging and assisting the other in whatever responsibilities and aspirations he or she might have.”  “There are few things more pathetic than those who have lost their curiosity and sense of adventure, and who no longer care to learn.”  “When referring to an individual, including yourself, never use the word 'just'.” This is a particular favourite of mine. Few things annoy me more than someone saying things like I'm just a tech, I'm just a home maker I'm just a (insert job title here). There's no reason for anyone to demean themselves or others like that.
  “Happy is the man who can brush aside the offending remarks of another and go on his way," is another favourite of mine. Sometimes I think we are, as a nation, too easily offended. I will admit though, I do have trouble putting this quote into practice. “We’ve got to have a little humor in our lives. You had better take seriously that which should be taken seriously but, at the same time, we can bring in a touch of humor now and again. If the time ever comes when we can’t smile at ourselves, it will be a sad time.”   I know that C would agree with this one. Many times he thinks that I am way too serious.
  Since I've brought up humour I'd like to end with a couple of President Hinckley's more humorous quotes. "You can't plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind.”   A sensible thought and worth a chuckle. “I forewarn you, this will be a rather long talk. I am an old man. I do not know how much longer I will live, and so I want to say what I have to say, while I have the strength to say it. ...Having been warned, some of you will wish to get comfortable. Pleasant dreams.”   It's rare to see a religious leader make a joke at his own expense. I'll share one last quote.  "At the close of one particularly difficult day, I looked up at a portrait of Brigham Young that hangs on my wall. I asked, 'Brother Brigham, what should we do?' I thought I saw him smile a little and then he seemed to say: 'In my day I had problems enough of my own. Don't ask me what to do. This is your watch.'" Well said.




Most of the quotes were taken off www.goodreads.com  are from books written by Gordon B. Hinckley.