Citation for a Good Man – Sunday, September 24, 1944
The institutions of men confer an infinite variety of honors, titles, degrees, and awards of one kind or another. Almost every organization of any description that has brought two or three or more together in a common purpose, issues its credentials, its recognition’s, its citations, to which often much publicity is given, and for which there is much demand and much acclaim. From the highest honors conferred by the most exclusive of learned societies, from the most sought-after titles, to Simple certificates of merit and commendation—all are in one form or another recognition’s from one man to another of some degree of excellence, or supposed excellence, in some field of thought or action.
But amid all this variety and multiplicity of citations and honors, of awards and medals, of fame and notoriety, some genuine and some spurious, there is one achievement of highest distinction, seldom mentioned, and yet, happily, not so rare. It is a distinction that receives little of the world’s publicity, good or bad; and for which perhaps no medal was ever made, no citation ever written, no degree ever conferred, but which enables him who has it to take from life its greatest enjoyment—gives him the approval of his own conscience, the confidence of children, the respect of neighbors, the trust of friends.
In short, it is the high distinction of having earned the right to be called “a good man.” He it is who is the steadying influence of neighborhoods and communities. He is the backbone of all nations that endure. He it is who makes life worth while, and the world worth saving—and even though he may never see his name in lights or in print merely for being “a good man”—yet he is the reason people can live in decency; he is the factor that makes property safe; that makes virtue possible; that has made civilization as good as it is, despite all its weaknesses. And so, to the youth of our generation, and to all men everywhere who desire peace in their hearts, joy in living, and the assurance of things to come, we give this reminder: greater than brilliance, greater than cleverness, greater than “knowing all the answers and all the angles,” more to be sought after than glamour or wealth, than title or acclaim, is the right to be called “a good man.” A good man may have all these other things besides; he may have received many other honors and citations, but the quality of goodness transcends them all. Of this the ancient philosopher spoke when he said: “In goodness there are all kinds of wisdom.” (Euripides-Alcestis).
Heard over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Sept. 21, 1944. Copyright – 1944.
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September 24, 1944
Broadcast Number 0,788