Marlin K. Jensen

“Contemplate the advantages of life in a society in which considerations of status were only secondary, where citizens were more concerned with their responsibilities than their rights, and where those in authority might even occasionally step forward and humbly acknowledge, “I could be wrong.” Must our need to be “right” be so all-consuming? Surely this intolerance of others and their viewpoints is nothing less than the hubris the Greeks viewed and warned against as the suicidal sin. One wonders how differently even recent world history might be written if its principal participants had yielded to the gentle nudgings of humility.”

Marlin K. Jensen  |  “To Walk Humbly with Thy God,” Ensign, May 2001, p. 10

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“The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism.’ ” That thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention of the principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite naturally as we live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship.”

Marlin K. Jensen  |  Friendship: A Gospel Principle, Ensign, May 1999, 64

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“Twelve years ago President Ezra Taft Benson delivered a powerful conference address declaring that pride is “the universal sin, the great vice.” (“Beware of Pride,” Ensign, May 1989, p. 6) He taught that pride is essentially competitive in nature and made reference to his quote from C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, cleverer, or better-looking than others. If every one else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. (Mere Christianity, 1960, p. 95 [or 109-110])”

Marlin K. Jensen  |  “To Walk Humbly with Thy God,” Ensign, May 2001, p. 10

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“The greatest act of courage and love in the history of mankind – Christ’s atoning sacrifice – was also the greatest act of humility and submissiveness. Some may wonder if those seeking to become humble must forever defer to the strongly held opinions and positions of others. Certainly the Savior’s life evidences that true humility is anything but subservience, weakness, or servility.”

Marlin K. Jensen  |  “To Walk Humbly with Thy God,” Ensign, May 2001, p. 10

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