Prov. 16:18; 2 Tim. 3:7; refer in this text to 2 Ne. 9:28-30, 42, 50-51; Jacob 2:13-17; 4 Ne. 1:24-26
“Pride gets no pleasure out of possessing something but, possessing more of it than the next man… . It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pp. 109-110)
“Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion… . Pride is ugly; it says if you succeed I am a failure… . Pride is basically competitive in nature, when competition ends, pride ends.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, Apr. 1989, pp. 3-7)
“The best educated man in the world may not be able to comprehend the simple truths of the Gospel because his soul is not in tune; he has not been enlightened by the Spirit of the Lord.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 1:296-297)
“You who find schooling easily available must remember this: ‘God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.’ (Acts 10:34-35; see also Moro. 8:12; D&C 1:35; 38:16). The Lord does not, and the Church cannot, admit to favoritism toward those who are able to obtain professional degrees as compared to those who seek training in a practical field or those who have little or no schooling at all.” (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 72)
“The two groups who seem to have the greatest difficulty with pride are the learned and the rich.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, Apr. 1986, p.6)
“Social commentators almost unanimously refer to the 1980’s as ‘America’s Age of Greed.’ … The Census Bureau reports that the richest one-fifth of American households now receive almost 10 times the average income of the poorest one-fifth, which is the highest ratio of inequality since they began keeping records following World War II… . How can anyone in a position to help simply sit back and enjoy a life of ease? Is not the lack of social action in this regard an indictment of American society? … It is not impossible for the recipient of a high income to live a modest lifestyle and use the money to benefit others. But as the scriptures repeatedly remind us, a high income represents a temptation that very few can withstand… . How long will Church members join mainstream America in not only condoning, but promoting and admiring materialistic self-aggrandizement.” (Richard E. Johnson, BYU Today, Sept. 1990, pp. 47-58)
“And what has this to do with the environment? That whole economy was based on seizing and selling the treasures of the earth beyond one’s own personal needs—the land itself, the minerals, water, soil, forests, grass; all are converted into means of making or purchasing the long list of unnecessary wares… . In the process, their beauty and value are destroyed, the short-lived finished product soon joining the earlier industrial wastes to cumber the earth with refuse. Why are we so foolish? For the same reason the Nephites were, because ‘Satan had great power, … tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world’ (3 Nephi 6:15). The ‘love of this world’ is not an appreciation of the wonderful things that are in it but the desire to possess it here and now, before we have shown that we can deal lovingly and wisely. The voice of Brother Brigham [Young, Journal of Discourses 8:125] still pleads: ‘Do not obey the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the grovelling grasping after property.’” (Hugh Nibley, Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, p. 48)
“How did education enter into this negative scenario? Education to the Nephites brought wealth, and wealth was needed to obtain an education. This process created an inner circle that allowed the upper class to serve itself while at the same time separating it by a wall of pride from those who had little hope of obtaining ‘the good life.’ Mormon described that wall well: ‘Some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches’ (3 Nephi 6:12). Wealth was the key to education, and education was the key to wealth. The lower classes never held either of the keys. It is amazing to think that education could have proven so destructive to their society.” (K. Douglas Bassett, Doctrines of the Book of Mormon, 1991 Sperry Symposium, p. 20)
“Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction.” (Thomas Jefferson, quoted by Ezra Taft Benson, A Nation Asleep, p. 45)