On Moving Men – Sunday, July 24, 1949
The pattern of the past suggests that there are many ways of moving men, but only one way that may be depended upon to bring about permanent improvement and dependability. You can push people around with a strong arm. You can overwhelm them with authority. You can stampede them with fear. You can confuse them with falsehood. You can wear them down with endless argument.
But the only way of keeping men moving willingly and effectively and of keeping them moving in the right direction, is to show them sound ways which they will pursue of their own free will, without being bullied or threatened, or deceived. When asked how he governed, one leader of a pioneering people replied: “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.” To push people around, to enslave them, to coerce them, to regiment them, is a thankless and unending job, and one that holds difficulty for all and satisfaction for none. But to touch their hearts, to open their understanding, to move them from within rather than to force them from without, is glorious satisfaction for all concerned.
No one has ever been able to force the world to permanent and complete conformity by strong-arm methods or by the sheer weight of authority or by deception. There isn’t enough policing power in the world to regulate all men in all things. And all men who have any measure of responsibility for the character or conduct of other men would do well to remember this brief and basic principle of procedure: Teach them correct principles, and let them govern themselves.
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, July 24, 1949, 11:30 to 12:00 noon, Eastern Time. Copyright 1949
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July 24, 1949
Broadcast Number 1,040