Men Are Alike—and Different – Sunday, March 09, 1947
In dealing with the problems of men there are two approaches that might be made. One is that all men are alike; the other, that all men are different. Both together are true; either without the other is false. All men are alike in many things, and all men are different in many things. Men are different partly because of differences in environment and experience, partly because of differences in opportunities; but beyond all this they are different because of differences at birth, and before birth, concerning which we know little, but the results of which we see dramatically and unmistakably.
From earliest infancy differences become as apparent as likenesses. It might sometimes seem that it would be easier or more efficient or more convenient for some purposes, if we didn’t have to take these differences into consideration; if we could push men all into the same pattern, but no matter whose plan or purpose it would serve to do so, men are different. And anyone who thinks that life would be either simplified or enriched by forcing men into a fixed pattern is running contrary to the nature of things as they are. We would do well to start at the point of recognizing the differences as well as the likenesses, knowing that the world is enriched by both.
One difference that becomes apparent early in life is that some are better able to take care of themselves than others. And if we were to discourage those who can take care of themselves, they would be less able to make provision for those who cannot. To destroy the incentive or to revoke the right of an able person to do his best is to impede the progress of the world and of all who live in it. Let him who can run faster, do so; and let him who cannot, stand by and applaud the performance; for standards are never raised as high as they could be except as men are allowed to use their greatest gifts in free and fullest measure. Let him who can, do the best he can; and he who can’t will still live in a world that is richer than if he had restrained someone else from doing his best.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, March 9, 1947. 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EST. Copyright 1947.
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March 09, 1947
Broadcast Number 0,916