How do LDS leaders handle power?
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:01 pm
I like to ponder on this:
The full quotation is usually given as, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
In reality, Lincoln never uttered or wrote those words, or words to that effect. Rather, they were said about him. The original version of the quotation came on Jan. 16, 1883, during a speech in Washington, D.C., by the prominent writer and orator Robert Ingersoll.
According to newspaper reports, Ingersoll was introducing another speaker, who was scheduled to give a lecture on Lincoln, at an unspecified "auditorium" in the nation's capital. During the course of his introductory remarks (which were printed in full by the press), Ingersoll said:
"... If you want to know the difference between an orator and a speaker, read the oration of Lincoln at Gettysburg, and then read the speech of Everett at the same place. One came from the heart, the other was born only of the voice. Lincoln's speech will be remembered forever. Everett's no man will read. It was like plucked flowers. [Applause].
"If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. It is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the side of mercy. [Applause]. He was a perfectly honest man. When he had power, he used it in mercy ..." (From: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/linco ... ter-power/)
The full quotation is usually given as, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
In reality, Lincoln never uttered or wrote those words, or words to that effect. Rather, they were said about him. The original version of the quotation came on Jan. 16, 1883, during a speech in Washington, D.C., by the prominent writer and orator Robert Ingersoll.
According to newspaper reports, Ingersoll was introducing another speaker, who was scheduled to give a lecture on Lincoln, at an unspecified "auditorium" in the nation's capital. During the course of his introductory remarks (which were printed in full by the press), Ingersoll said:
"... If you want to know the difference between an orator and a speaker, read the oration of Lincoln at Gettysburg, and then read the speech of Everett at the same place. One came from the heart, the other was born only of the voice. Lincoln's speech will be remembered forever. Everett's no man will read. It was like plucked flowers. [Applause].
"If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. It is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the side of mercy. [Applause]. He was a perfectly honest man. When he had power, he used it in mercy ..." (From: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/linco ... ter-power/)