Wishful Thinking* – Sunday, August 15, 1948
There is a prevalent practice from which few men are wholly immune, and that is—wishful thinking. Wishful thinking as defined for our present purpose is the practice of deciding what we would like to believe, what we hope might be true, and then settling down and complacently supposing that what would serve our comfort or convenience is true. Choosing to believe what we would like to believe regardless of the facts, makes final shocks all the harder to meet and reality all the more difficult to face.
There was a time, for example, when men wanted to believe that the world was flat, so that they wouldn’t have to adjust their accustomed ways of thinking. But the world and truth and reality moved on without them. Many men wishfully think that those rules which pertain to their health or their happiness, to their improvement or their eternal progress, may be ignored, and that by some good fortune or by some kind Providence they will not be held accountable for their disregard for facts. Sometimes also we may think we can ignore the laws of economics with immunity. But it is wishful thinking to suppose that we shall not somehow reap the rewards or pay the penalties of our own doing. It isn’t so much a question of what we want to believe as it is a question of what we have to believe. It isn’t so much a question of what we would like to be true, as it is a question of what is true.
A truth is often harder to face than a falsehood because you can manipulate falsehood; but you can’t manipulate truth, and all the wishful thinking in the world won’t change it. Truth is an exacting taskmaster. But it is a rich rewarder of those who respect its metes and bounds. There may be a thousand ways of doing a thing wrong—and only one way of doing it right. There may be a million wrong answers to a problem—and only one right one. But what point is there in arriving at a wrong answer. Even if, for the moment, it serves our comfort or convenience, it only means lost time and the ultimate facing of facts anyway. Where facts and figures and the laws of life are concerned, wishful thinking is a luxury we can’t afford.
*Revised.
“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, August 15, 1948, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, EDST Copyright 1942.
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August 15, 1948
Broadcast Number 0,991