Today he is still a mix of city and country. But he is also a man of letters and language, a person who is well acquainted with good literature.

He loves the outdoors and has always spent time planting trees and flowers he enjoys home repairs and projects and doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Hinckley’s childhood and young adulthood exemplify twin characteristics that are so much a part of him today. It was a place for Gordon to follow the habits of his parents in reading and pondering good books. The city home had a library with a thousand volumes. Some nights were spent lying in the grass sleeping under the stars. It was a place to tend animals, plant trees, and explore. The summer home was a place of work and outdoor adventure. Upon their doctor’s recommendation, the Hinckleys purchased several acres of farmland in the East Millcreek area, where they lived during the summer and where Gordon could breathe fresh air free from the smoke of the city. Hinckley, first child of Bryant and Ada Hinckley, was a “spindly, frail boy susceptible to earaches and other illnesses.” He had allergies, hay fever, and whooping cough, which were aggravated by the smoke of Salt Lake City’s coal-burning stoves. 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.Lloyd Newell was an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University when this was written.īorn June 23, 1910, Gordon B. Drawing on anecdotes from his own life, as well as from our nation today, he examines 10 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. 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.

The solution lies not within our government, schools, or symbols of popular culture, but rather within ourselves, our families, and our faith. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one cannot lose hope. Families are splintering around us, our children are becoming alienated from their great cultural heritage, and our leaders seem increasingly out of touch.

Sadly, many today would say ours is a nation in crisis. No nation can be greater than the strength of its individual homes or the virtue of its people.

Gordon b hinckley 10 virtues