President Howard W. Hunter on developing character and continuing to learn

President Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995) was called to the Quorum of Twelve in 1959.  He served as Church President for only nine months, from June 5, 1994 to his death on March 3, 1995.

"At the end of your lives you will not be judged by academic successes, the degrees or diplomas earned, the positions held, the material wealth acquired, or power and prestige, but rather on the basis of what you have become as persons and what you are in conduct and character. Yours is the power individually to transform yourselves into the persons you want to be....

"Leave school with your books and your minds still open, and make your lives a quest for knowledge. Plato thought knowledge the highest human good, and Matthew Arnold thought the primary purpose of education was to help students to see things as they really are, to see the world about them as it really is. Only as we see the world as it really is can we hope to solve its problems. Only by knowledge can we banish ignorance, superstition, prejudice, fear, and hatred, the evils from which spring most of our world's problems. Therefore it is imperative that you continue to seek knowledge."

- Howard W. Hunter, "A Time for Wise Decisions." Commencement Address, BYU—Hawaii Campus, 23 June 1979; see THWH p. 177

It's important to remember what really matters "in the long run" in our lives. As he addressed a graduating class at BYU-Hawaii, who would naturally have their future careers and vocational aspirations in the forefront of their thoughts, President Hunter reminded them that recognition of men or accumulation of possessions are not the critical things in life; rather, the kind of character that is developed:

Part of the development of character occurs as we continue to gain knowledge throughout life. President Hunter gives the classic advice, "Leave school with your books and your minds still open." We need to continue to learn new things throughout our lives; and we need to have our minds open to new ideas, different approaches, changed opinions. This is a great key to ongoing success and happiness, individually and collectively: "Only by knowledge can we banish ignorance, superstition, prejudice, fear, and hatred, the evils from which spring most of our world's problems." That is a bold statement, one that we should all put to the test!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)