Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the LDS Church has a gift for taking tidbits of truth and serving them up with wit and goodwill. And his "hors d'oeuvres for the soul" nourish more than many full-course meals.
Fellow writers quote him often. I do. And during his tenure on the Deseret News board, he'd sometimes respond with a memo. When we hit the mark, he was gracious. When we missed the mark, he was even more gracious. "I was boosted by the mention in your column of something I tried to say but should have said more effectively," he once wrote to me.Now, getting his words and meanings will be simpler for all of us. Bookcraft has brought out "The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book" (395 pages; $19.95) - a collection of the apostle's thoughts on nearly 300 topics.
My first thought on seeing the book was "I expect there'll be more wisdom where this came from." I was right. After a long illness, Elder Maxwell was able to stand and deliver at general conference just as he's done for decades. My second impulse was to dip into the book whenever I could - not for snack food, but for vitamin tablets. And I'm a healthier man myself for doing that.
This, for instance, on one of the apostle's signature subjects, "Meekness:"
We admire boldness and dash, but boldness and dash can so easily slip into pomp and panache. By contrast, the meek are able with regularity to peel off the encrustations of ego that form on one's soul like barnacles on a ship.
Cory Maxwell, the author's son and editorial manager at Bookcraft, pulled the project together. And he did it the old-fashioned way: By reading everything. No typing in key words and watching the screen light up with references. He carefully worked through 5,000 pages, panning for nuggets. He found a mother lode.
"A lot of time was spent looking through conference talks and devotional talks," he says. "We also had access to talks that were given in private settings. I've been working on the book for four or five years now. Hoyt Brewster did a lot of the spade work."
And the initial feedback?
"Very positive," he says. "But then that's the kind of feedback people would likely give me."
Some of the entries are classic Maxwell. It's hard to imagine another religious leader devoting chunks of space to "irony" and "sophistry." And the famous Maxwell rhetoric is on full display. One can see an evolution in style, from the enchantment of language and poetry in the late '70s ("There are certain mortal moments and minutes that matter - certain hinge points in the history of each human.") to a startling directness - an urgency - in more recent times ("There should be less wringing of hands and more loving arms around our families.")
In short, when brought together, the quotes form the outline of our times and the profile of a man. Says editor Maxwell of writer Maxwell:" "It would be very hard to do a bad quote book based on his material. As I've gone through, I've wondered how one person could speak so well on so many topics. It's really quite remarkable."
And if you're like me, you'll learn a lot about yourself by noting which sections catch your attention. I found myself hovering an extra moment or two over the "anxiety" entries. And I was anxious - though curious - to see what I'd find under "pride." I found this:
In their resentment, those who worry that someone will "rule over" them rationalize their resistance to repentance. They resist because they are already well along in self-pleasing. Ironically, even as they fret about being ruled over, they are actually being ruled over by an aristocracy of appetites or by the stern sovereignty of selfishness.
Bang! He got me right between the eyes.
"The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book" is a book obviously conceived in love.
But I'm here to tell you, it's not for the faint of heart.