Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Wheeler Large Print Compass Series) - Hardcover

Hinckley, Gordon Bitner

4.6

14,438 ratings by Goodreads

9781568959245: Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Wheeler Large Print Compass Series)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568959249 ISBN 13: 9781568959245

Publisher: Wheeler Publishing Inc, 2000

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Read by George Grizzard With an introduction read by Mike Wallace No nation can be greater than the strength of its individual homes or the virtue of its people. Sadly, many today would say ours is a nation in crisis. Families are splintering around us, our children are becoming alienated from their great cultural heritage, and our leaders seem increasingly out of touch. Yet, according to Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one cannot lose hope. The solution lies not within our government, schools, or symbols of popular culture, but rather within ourselves, our families, and our faith. In the tradition of William Bennett's "Book of Virtues," Hinckley has created a classic look at the values that can change our world -- and how to stand up for them. Drawing on anecdotes from his own life, as well as from our nation today, he examines ten virtues that have proven through the ages to provide the most profound path to a better world: love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness and mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism, and faith. "Standing for Something" is an inspiring blue-print for what we can all do -- as individuals, as a nation, and as a world community -- to rediscover the values that make us strong and by which all of us can work toward a brighter future.

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Review:

"Virtue is too often neglected, if not scorned or ridiculed as old-fashioned, confining and unenlightened," laments author Gordon Hinckley, a 90-year-old ordained leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Even as he enumerates all of America's social ills (including 482 billion dollars a year spent on gambling, rampant child neglect and abuse, school massacres, a pervasive deterioration of values) Hinckley believes there is a remedy. Chapter by chapter Hinckley presents 10 old-fashioned virtues that will return America to the glory envisioned by its founding fathers. These virtues include: Love, Honesty, Morality, Civility, Learning, Forgiveness, Thrift and Industry, Gratitude, Optimism and Faith.

Hinckley makes a compelling case for every one of these virtues, quoting extensively from the Bible but mostly using convincing personal anecdotes (after all, he is an elder with 90 years' worth of stories and wisdom). In his glowing foreword, Mike Wallace (of 60 Minutes fame) writes that Gordon Hinckley is an "optimistic leader of the Mormon Church who fully deserves the almost universal admiration that he gets." Clearly, Hinkley has struck a resounding chord with the American populace, including dyed-in-the-wool New York cynics such as Wallace. Word of this book is rapidly spreading across America as simple folk clamour to steer their lives and country with a more virtuous compass.

Review:

-We live in an age in which traditional beliefs have been attenuated, ridiculed, and mocked. We desperately need leaders who will defend them -- and just as important, we need leaders who can explain why they are worth defending. Which is why Gordon Hinckley's book is so valuable. Timely, intelligent, practical, and readable, Standing for Something is an important contribution to the national discussion.-
--William J. Bennett, editor, The Book of Virtues
-I absolutely love this book! Every chapter breathes profound wisdom, insight, and optimism. Articulated by one of the inspired leaders of our day, these ten timeless values, if lived, will literally heal our hearts, our homes, our country, our world.-
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
-President Gordon B. Hinckley has written a wise and inspiring book. He looks at all that ails our society today and offers the most powerful cure: faith in God and the virtues that emanate from it. His voice in this book is prophetic and full of love. People of all religions will benefit from reading Standing for Something, and society will gain too, because this book should lead its readers to stand for something.-
--Senator Joseph I. Leiberman

From the Hardcover edition.

"We live in an age in which traditional beliefs have been attenuated, ridiculed, and mocked. We desperately need leaders who will defend them -- and just as important, we need leaders who can explain why they are worth defending. Which is why Gordon Hinckley's book is so valuable. Timely, intelligent, practical, and readable, Standing for Something is an important contribution to the national discussion."
--William J. Bennett, editor, The Book of Virtues

"I absolutely love this book! Every chapter breathes profound wisdom, insight, and optimism. Articulated by one of the inspired leaders of our day, these ten timeless values, if lived, will literally heal our hearts, our homes, our country, our world."
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

"President Gordon B. Hinckley has written a wise and inspiring book. He looks at all that ails our society today and offers the most powerful cure: faith in God and the virtues that emanate from it. His voice in this book is prophetic and full of love. People of all religions will benefit from reading Standing for Something, and society will gain too, because this book should lead its readers to stand for something."
--Senator Joseph I. Leiberman

From the Hardcover edition.

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