Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

Isn't it ironical that some of those who are most vigorous in taking the American family apart are also among those who are the first to complain because, then, the family does not work? Isn't it ironical that in an age when we are learning almost feverishly about what is most ecologically sound, what are the most efficient and economic ways to produce energy or protein in order to help other human beings, that we should be so incredibly blind—because like ancient Judah, we are "looking beyond the mark"—when it comes to pursuing those processes which are best for the production of good human beings? The relative spiritual, as well as the physiological efficiencies of systems are a justifiable concern. Beef cattle foraging on a poor range require twenty pounds of food in order to produce one pound of gain. Chickens with a good balanced diet produce one pound of gain for every two pounds of feed. One approach is many times more efficient than the other, just as (so far as human goodness is concerned) the social and spiritual sum of our political, educational, and economic institutions is usually not sufficient to offset the deficits in the home.

Is This a Coincidence?

Looking through P. Mil. Vogl. III today, I noticed a series of demotic contracts from Ptolemaic Egypt where various women appear to be selling themselves into slavery. In every single case the name of the woman's father is listed as "I don't know."

In modern times there is a clear connection between a lack of fathers and poverty. Is this ancient evidence for that same phenomenon?

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A Time to Choose (1975) :

Finding my father and mother kneeling together in sincere and agonizing parental prayers made me realize they really believed in God and loved the children over whom they were praying. Tactical errors by such parents are dissolved in the warmth of the realization of their love and in the presence of their faith. The young will often be able to understand that adults really do believe—long before they fully understand what the adults believe in!

Wisdom from Onchsheshonqy

My favorite proverb of Onchsheshonqy is this one:

Get married when you are twenty so that you can have children while you are still young (Onchsheshonqy 11/7).

Here is a story that indicates why Onchsheshonqy's advice might actually be wise.

Richard G, Wilkins (1952-2012)

I was saddened to hear that Richard G. Wilkins has passed away. He was a remarkably courageous person and a great legal advocate of the family in world law. He was responsible for extending an invitation for me to speak which resulted in one of my publications.


Go here for a speech he gave at BYU.