Friendship

I read the quotes tonight & I'm thinking, "I know I just read this about Joseph Smith saying friendship is a fundamental principle of 'Mormonism.' I didn't like it then & it still bugs me." So, I proceeded to search for Jensen, friendship & Joseph Smith in every one of my blogs. No result for that quote. Then I wondered if maybe someone else had used the same quote & there it was. Kathleen Hughes used it in her conference talk in 2005. Here it is: different talk, different speaker, same quote.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism.' " That thought ought to inspire and motivate all of us because I feel that friendship is a fundamental need of our world. I think in all of us there is a profound longing for friendship, a deep yearning for the satisfaction and security that close and lasting relationships can give. Perhaps one reason the scriptures make little specific mention of the principle of friendship is because it should be manifest quite naturally as we live the gospel. In fact, if the consummate Christian attribute of charity has a first cousin, it is friendship."

--Marlin K. Jensen, "Friendship: A Gospel Principle", Ensign, May 1999, 64

 And another one about friendship,

"It takes courage to be a real friend ... A friend is a person who will suggest and render the best for us regardless of the immediate consequences. Sir Winston Churchill became Great Britain's greatest friend in his country's darkest hour because he was courageous enough to call for "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" when some would have accepted him more readily as a friend had he advocated peaceful surrender. President Abraham Lincoln was once criticized for his attitude toward his enemies. "Why do you try to make friends of them?" asked an associate. "You should try to destroy them." "Am I not destroying my enemies," Lincoln gently replied, "when I make them my friends?"

--Marvin J. Ashton, "What Is a Friend?", Ensign Jan. 1973, 41

I have always liked Abraham Lincoln. I hope some day to meet him & not be tongue-tied in his presence.