President Ezra Taft Benson on the Key to a Country's Greatness

"In the year 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French historian,
came to our country. . . . Here is his own stirring explanation of the
greatness of America:

" 'I sought for the greatness and
genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it
was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not
there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.
Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame
with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be
good, America will cease to be great' (Prophets, Principles and
National Survival, compiled by Jerreld L. Newquist, p.
60).

"How strong is our will to remain free--to be
good? False thinking and false ideologies, dressed in the most pleasing
forms, quietly--almost without our knowing it--seek to
reduce our moral defenses and to captivate our minds. They entice with
bright promises of security, cradle-to-grave guarantees of many
kinds. They masquerade under various names, but all may be recognized by
one thing--one thing they all have in common: to erode away
character and man's freedom to think and act for himself."

( "Watchman, Warn the Wicked," Ensign, July 1973, 39)