Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes, by Gordon B. Hinckley is a very inspiring book about how to live an provident life.#

On love and marriage:#

One of the grand errors we tend to make when we are young is supposing that a person is a bundle of qualities, and we add up the individual's good and bad qualities, like a bookkeeper working on debits and credits. If the balance is favorable, we may decide to take the jump [into marriage]. . . . The world is full of unhappy men and women who married because . . . it seemed to be a good investment. Love, however, is not an investment; it is an adventure. And when marriage turns out to be as dull and comfortable as a sound investment, the disgruntled party soon turns elsewhere. . . . Ignorant people are always saying, "I wonder what he sees in her," not realizing that what he sees in her (and what no one else can see) is the secret essence of love. [p. 4]

On trust and resisting temptations:#

I once overheard a man--a strong and wise man whom I admired greatly--gently counsel his daughter, who was leaving on a date: "Be careful. Be careful of how you act and what you say."

"Daddy, don't you trust me?" she quickly asked.

"I don't entirely trust myself," he responded. "One never gets so old or so wise that the adversary gives up on him." [p. 32]

More on marriage:#

For, unfortunately, all in marriage is not bliss. Jenkins Lloyd Jones said it well:

There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and ravishing wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear, the divorce courts are jammed. . . . Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around and shouting that he has been robbed. . . . Life is like an old-time rail journey--delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride. [p. 151-152]

Some things I noticed about this book: Hinckley quotes scripture often, but rarely quotes scripture from the Book of Mormon. I think this is a bit of a dishonest attempt and being ecumenical. Also, he quotes Lincoln often, which makes my skin crawl.#