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Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes
 
 
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Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes [Hardcover]

Gordon B. Hinckley (Author), Mike Wallace (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 22, 2000
An invitation to stand up and be counted . . .

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 governments, 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. He then shows how the two guardians of virtue -- marriage and the family -- can keep us on that path, even in difficult times.

Standing for Something is an inspiring blueprint for what we can all do -- as individuals, as a nation, and as a world community -- to rediscover the values and virtues that have historically made us strong. At once masterful and illuminating, it is a work for our time: a reflection from one man's long and productive life that dwells not on the past but on the means by which all of us can work toward a brighter future.


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Virtue is too often neglected, if not scorned or ridiculed as old-fashioned, confining, unenlightened," laments author Gordon Hinckley, a 90-year-old ordained leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Even as he enumerates all of America's social ills (including $482 billion 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 clamor to steer their lives and country with a more virtuous compass.

From Publishers Weekly

Ordained in 1995 as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hinckley projects a warm, good-humored and tolerant persona, qualities that have been showcased in national media appearances and have served the church well in its efforts to grow internationally. (Fellow octogenarian Mike Wallace, who interviewed Hinckley for 60 Minutes in 1996, provides the foreword.) Yet this book, the first that Hinckley has published with a secular house, is less a Mormon work than a manifesto of traditional values. Hinckley expresses concern that the "secularization of America" has led to moral decay. A belief in God and the power of prayer inform his inspirational essays--on honesty, forgiveness, gratitude, thrift and civility--which are peppered with personal anecdotes and examples from religious history. Few will take issue with such moderate and compassionate statements as "helping hands can lift someone out of the mire of difficulty" or "because we live in a world where there is much harshness, hostility and meanness, there is also much need for all of us to be more merciful." However, Hinckley's rigid stance against divorce, abortion, extramarital sex and homosexuality may alienate those who disagree with his conservative vision of morality. Married for 60 years himself, the author believes that marriages between men and women, with the male partner at the head of the family, will ensure the health of society. 20-market TV satellite tour. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Crown; 1 edition (February 22, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812933176
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812933178
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #581,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

122 Reviews
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (122 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars More of the Same, April 26, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Hardcover)
I wasn't sure about this book, so I read all the reviews. Some folks liked the message (from the readership profile, mostly in Mormon strongholds), others appeared to object to the message because the author is a Mormon leader. I found the message to be simple and direct, sincere and uplifting.

It wasn't particularly original, but I'm not sure that's really a fault...the principles were already ancient when Jesus was quoting them during his time, and they are shared by most religions. There's a great hunger for this kind of message (even presented as chicken soup for the soul). Why fight about the messenger? Besides, it seems to me that any 90 year old guy who has been in the public eye for a long time but hasn't been attached to a major scandal and is still going strong might have something to say. I think he says it alright. Reminds me of what my grandfather used to tell me. I'm approaching grandfather status myself, and I'll probably say the same things to my grandkids. Seems right to me.

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62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is what America needs, June 8, 2000
This review is from: Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Hardcover)
I finished reading this book yesterday.

After 25 years in law enforcement, I have seen the "dark side" of America. Any person, Christian, Jew, Athiest, Buddist or of whatever belief or non-belief, could do well in living the principles presented in this book.

I had thousands of negative contacts while working the streets of Phoenix as a police officer. Every one of those negative contacts can be attributed to a violation of one or more of these principles. The prisons are full of people who have not been taught, or, who have failed to live, the principles in this book.

What would the world be like if starting here in America, we could live these virtues.

I read the previous reviews and it seems many are hung up on the messenger. Why should it matter who delivers the truth. Either we would be better off being honest or not. Either we would be better off being morally clean or not. Either we would be better of being civil to each other or not.

Is it possible to live these principles every day. I don't think so. Would we all be better off trying to live them every day. Yes. If we fail to live them today, we can try again tomorrow. After all, forgiveness and mercy are virtues. If we forgive ourselves for our shortcomings today, we can try again.

Will Rogers once spoke about money and getting interest for money placed in a bank. He said "Them that gets it, gets it, and them that don't, don't."

This book is that way.

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96 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, March 20, 2000
By 
Jason N. Harris (Idaho State University) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Hardcover)
"Standing for Something" is a masterpiece. Hinckley not only writes amazingly well, but what he has to say is truly amazing. While others focus pessimistically on many of the problems of society, Hinckley shares proven solutions that anyone can implement. A must read for all those willing to make a difference in the world.
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United States, Jesus Christ, New York, Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, Wall Street Journal, Golden Rule
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