I hope we can all overcome any differences of culture, race, and language.

We all enjoy giving and receiving presents. But there is a difference between presents and gifts. The true gifts may be part of ourselves-givin g of the riches of the heart and mind-and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store.

The depth of the love of parents for their children cannot be measured. It is like no other relationship. It exceeds concern for life itself. The love of a parent for a child is continuous, and transcends heartbreak and disappointment.

We learn about tithing by paying it.

There are times when each of us has to have some gumption to take a stand as to what we wish to preserve or change in order to maintain our self-respect and not be as "a reed shaken with the wind" (Matt. 11:7) . . . . We lose much credibility and strength, and we risk being weighed on an uneven balance, when, Don Quixote-like, we go around "tilting windmills".

One of the advantages of having lived a long time is that you can often remember when you had it worse. I am grateful to have lived long enough to have known some of the blessings of adversity.

Many years spent listening to the tribulations of man have persuaded me that the satisfaction of all desires is completely counterproductive to happiness. Instant and unrestrained gratification is the shortest and most direct route to unhappiness.