contrast with Alma 8:10-15; Alma 26:27; Ensign, Oct. 1974, pp. 65-67
“Moroni taught that ‘despair cometh because of iniquity’ (Moroni 10:22). Those who are caught in immorality may be experiencing the devastating effects of despair. But there is an alternative. For those who pay the price required by true repentance, the promise is sure. You can be clean again. The despair can be lifted. The sweet peace of forgiveness will flow into your lives.” (Ezra Taft Benson, 1987-88 BYU Devotional & Fireside Speeches, p. 54)
“Satan, the great deceiver, would have us believe that there is joy in sin, and much of the world has gone along with his lies. A medical or psychological counselor who tells a person to overcome his guilt feelings for what he does wrong and to feel free to do whatever he wishes doesn’t understand this basic principle. Though there may be temporary pleasure in evil, there is no real joy. If a person is in a state of deep despair (which is more than sorrow over death and suffering) it is because he is in the bonds of iniquity.” (Book of Mormon 121-122 Student Manual, p. 527, out of print)
“A grumpy cynicism pervades politics in so many places on this planet. Holocausts, famine, pestilence, and tides of refugees have taken a terrible toll on human hope, with much of that toll coming from man-made, avoidable disasters. Causality can be assigned to one or another form of iniquity. No wonder, as the scriptures say, despair comes of iniquity! (Moro. 10:22)… . Henry David Thoreau correctly observed that ‘unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusement of mankind’ (Walden Pond, New York: Harper and Row, 1965, p. 7). No wonder so much hollow laughter emanates from the ‘lonely crowd.’ … Doubt, despair, and desensitization go together… . Despair, like dandelions, needs so little encouragement to sprout and spread. Despair comes so naturally to the natural man!” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 1994, pp. 34-35)