Finally! On to another talk - but certainly enjoying the journey. Each General Conference quote is like a new little treasure to open, yielding surprising new insights.
Today's quote comes from Elder Franklin D. Richard's talk in the April 1971 General Conference, entitled "The Law of Abundance".
Immediately this title caught my eye, as I've been thinking about abundance quite a bit lately, having been reminded of all of Sterling W. Sill's great works and doing some rereading of them, particularly his book on the laws of success. His first chapter is, in fact, titled, "The Law of Abundance". Other quotes come from Brigham Young's Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
I guess the concept was in the air at the time.
The talk only contains one quote that isn't scripture, and it's sparked so many thoughts in my head.
The Quote
Andrew Carnegie, one of this country’s great philanthropists, stated his attitude toward wealth as follows:
“This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth:
First, to set an example of modesty,
unostentatious living,
shunning display or extravagance;
to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him;
and after doing so
to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds,
which he is called upon to administer,
and strictly bound as a matter of duty
to administer in the manner which, in his judgment,
is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community—
the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent
for his poorer brethren,
bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability
to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.”
(The Gospel of Wealth.)
This very thick quote certainly coincides with the gospel principle of consecration - those in our faith who are blessed with such abundance are encouraged to humble themselves and to consider their wealth as a stewardship for the Lord to direct in its use.
To a certain extent, Andrew Carnegie did do that, ultimately giving away most of his money before he died to many different charities. The guy almost single-handedly invented the public library, which has blessed my life tremendously. Carnegie Hall in New York City is named after him, as is Carnegie Deli, where I worked as a cashier during a short stint in college.
Would I recommend everything he said and read as gospel? Not really, but that's with any source quoted in Conference. The quote itself becomes part of our scriptural canon, not everything they ever said or did by association. There were some things that happened in history that tainted his legacy somewhat. The same could be said for most of us. Only one perfect Man ever lived on the earth, and Carnegie was not Christ.
That being said, his little autobiographical depiction of his life is great reading, if for no other reason than to illustrate how different life is for someone super-wealthy compared with a normie like me. His early life also provided lots of lessons for how he became so.
I would say that my personal home is comfortable and not ostentatious. Were I to visit his homes (homes plural) on both the Upper East Side of Manhattan, or his Scottish castle, I would have to stretch a little to call that 'unostentatious' living.
But, thinking from the point of view of a billionaire, who has need of a private place to receive important visitors and conduct important business, perhaps a museum-sized house in Manhattan and a Scottish castle could be considered modest, I suppose. This was a man who met with Theodore Roosevelt and tried to buy the Philippines.
I can't even conceive of buying a country. Still working on buying my one house myself, and I do give on the regular, and I try to help people worse off than myself when I can. It's all relative, I suppose.
Speaking of relative...I don't suppose being his seventh cousin four times removed means anything inheritance-wise?
No?
Oh well...Carnegie wasn't into letting relatives inherit money, so I'll just take the bragging rights. And the Scottish nobleman from the 1500s we both have in common! Yay - I'm part Scottish! I have proof now.
Plus, I already have Castle Moil at Kyle of Loch Alsh, that I claimed for my very own when I was 19 years old and visiting Scotland, the most beautiful land I've ever seen anywhere on earth. Where my life nearly ended when I tried to cross a bog in sneakers to go see it.
I saved my shoes, and my memories.
Now that I think about it, I agree with Carnegie - castles definitely lend an air of abundance. Everyone should have one.
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| My Castle - Castle Moil |
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