Posted by:
elderolddog
(
)
Date: April 29, 2021 10:03PM
I don't know the exact genesis of David O. McKay's popular aphorism, "What e'er thou art, act well they part!" but I really did take it to heart as a youngster.
Later on in life, I was told of his appropriation of the saying, without accreditation.
Of course, it's possible that he read it, it got buried in his subconscious and then later in life, when it bubbled to the surface, he thought it was either original or a gift from Holy McGhost.
Or he said, "Screw it! Who's going to call me out on this?"
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Okay, so I looked it up. A story I'd never heard before, despite being alive for Dave's entire reign as THE prophet, unfolded before me:
He was a missionary in Scotland and things were tough and he was getting discouraged. But then he saw a stone 'placard' set into a wall, with that saying inscribed, credited to "James Allen - Architect, 1896"
And it was like a direct message from ghawd and from that moment on he dedicated his life to looking and acting the part.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2018-07-06/elder-holland-honors-president-mckay-with-phrase-what-eer-thou-art-act-well-thy-part-in-scotland-10296(if you follow the link, you'll see a photo of Jowlly R. Holland trying to act like a normal human being with an obviously very outgoing Member of Parliament, who obviously had not yet caught on to Jowlly being a mostly piece of crap human being. I wonder how long it took?)