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

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages
• Published by: Three Rivers Press March 20, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0609807250
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0609807255
• Book Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 7.2 ounces

Product 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 ten 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 ninety 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 sixty 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 sixty 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Standing for Something: ten Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes (Hardcover) With their lack of objectivity vis-à-vis this book, many of the previous reviewers make me wonder if they've read it at all. In possible contrast to some of them, I actually did read the book this weekend at a friend's house. Readers who would praise self-improvement books of other stripes have no reason to demur at this "light read" by the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Judge the values Hinckley espouses for yourself: love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness and mercy, thrift and industry, order, gratitude, optimism, faith. Not only are they not exclusive to Mormons or Christians, but I would posit that even most irreligious people would find little fault with any of those attributes, save perhaps faith. Hinckley himself repeats two or three times that he is "a churchman", so finding faith on the list is no surprise. Hinckley had an extensive public relations background within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before and after accepting leadership responsibilities so no one should doubt his capacity to author this book. That being said, it is also patently clear that Hinckley chose to write "Standing for Something" at about a Reader's Digest level--which in itself is no bad thing. Most casual readers aren't looking for Augustine or Aquinas. If they were, then Chopra and Covey wouldn't sell. It is naïve and highly myopic to suggest that this is one of the best books ever written, but it is equally dishonest to pan it as sheer pablum. The truth is that the book is an accessible and straightforward review of principles presented in a manner that is for the most part engaging, if not particularly complex. If you are looking for a more intellectual treatment of ethics or morality, then you should already be aware that you are shopping in the wrong department. If you are looking for a casual read that reinforces principles of good living, then this will meet your needs. Comment | | (Report this)