Outside Quotes on Boasting

This is my last post on this topic for now, so if you’ve read to the end, thanks for having patience with me.

You might be interested to know that there are some useful quotations out in the world about boasting.  Some are witty and funny, others are just plain pithy.  I hope you enjoy them.

Boasting forgets what made it possible

A clever commentator says that when he hears some folk blow and brag, he is reminded of the story of the flea who said to the elephant, “Boy, how we shook that bridge when we crossed.” Boasting is seldom associated with real greatness.

—Frank Francis, Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah, March 7, 1938.

Whatever we do for the Lord’s kingdom, we are the flea and He is the elephant.  No matter what miracles are done or what mountains are moved, He is the doer and we the weak instruments.

He who boasts loudest of his achievements is generally most forgetful of those whose aid made such achievements possible.

—The Sunny South, Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 26, 1901.

“No one can take credit for inspiration or creativity.”

― Ron Brackin

If it was inspiration, it didn’t come from me, it came to me from elsewhere.  If it was creativity, then the pieces came together in a new way I hadn’t seen before, and that was inspiration too.  So what is there left to boast about?  My work ethic to make it happen?  What about the conditions that bless me with the time to put in the work?  What about the strength to push through all that work?  Is that all me?  The grace of God counts for something, probably more than I think. So I still can’t boast of the work I put in.)

Boasting of ancestors

The Jews of John the Baptist’ day had this problem.  They would say, “We are children of Abraham” as though that guaranteed the favor of God, and John had to tell them that God was able to raise up children to Abraham from the stones.

Do we boast of pioneer ancestry? Of Founding Fathers ancestry? Of Mayflower ancestry? Of European royalty ancestry?  If so, read on.

The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry is like the potato - the best part under ground.

--Thomas Overbury

Those who boast of their descent [ancestors], brag on what they owe to others.

--Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I have often noticed that ancestors never boast of the descendants who boast of ancestors. I would rather start a family than finish one. Blood will tell, but often it tells too much.

--Don Marquis

Boasting in Wisdom

People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.

--Stephen Hawking

You get the idea that Stephen Hawking has met a lot of people who have told him proudly of their IQ because they felt obliged to make themselves look good in front of him. You can tell he wasn’t as impressed as they hoped he would be.

A true history of human events would show that a far larger proportion of our acts are the result of sudden impulse and accident than of that reason of which we so much boast.

--Peter Cooper

Boasting of Ignorance

It has become almost a cliche to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics.

--Richard Dawkins

I perceive two things in Scotland of the most fearful omen: ignorance of theological truth, and a readiness to pride themselves in and boast of it.

--Edward Irving

This boasting in ignorance is really weird. Why would someone boast of something like that? 

Let’s take the case of Richard Dawkins. He’s very pro-science.  When people boast to him of their ignorance of science and math, at bottom they are still trying to make themselves appear better than him. It is as if they say, “I know very little of what is so important to you, and yet I am getting along just fine. Therefore I am better than you. Therefore I don’t need to know that stuff.”

The reality? The penalty of ignorance is susceptibility to charlatans of science and false prophets of religion.

Boasting in Strength and Performance

To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

--Emil Zatopek

No athlete was ever victorious because he did his boasting in advance.

—Roy L. Smith, Tampa Morning Tribune, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 1, 1940.

Maybe the fellow who boasts that he is just as good as he used to be, didn't used to be as good as he thinks he was.

—Pocatello Tribune, Pocatello, Idaho, Dec. 16, 1936.

Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.

--Louis L'Amour

Boasting in the Military

Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order and increasing by staying in port; but know he finds, I fancy, if Emperors hear the truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night than ours in one year.

--Horatio Nelson

Valiancy is never boastful. Boasting is usually the coward's bluff.

—H.W. Knickerbocker, Houston Post-Dispatch, Houston, Texas, June 17, 1929.

Boasting in Goodness

Hollywood likes to boast that it can elevate the national conscience.

--Mike Royko

Baaaa-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!  (Michaela shakes her head and tsks.)

It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church.

--Matthew Henry

He knows no good who boasts he does no harm.

—Henry F. Cope, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill., Dec. 17, 1905.

Boasting on social media

“No job is complete until the selfie is posted.”

― Ashok Kallarakkal

“How different would people act if they couldn't show off on social media? Would they still do it?”

― Donna Lynn Hope

Boasting and Insecurity

“Perhaps the less we have, the more we are required to brag.”

― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Quoting an old proverb: "An empty cart rattles loudly." she said. meaning, One who lacks substance boasts loudest.”

― Alan Brennert, Honolulu

How Boasting Relates to Deception

Vanity degrades. Boastfulness depreciates the moral character. You notice every day the exhibitions of vanity, boastfulness and pomposity. ... That spirit leads to exaggeration and to the use of such superlative expressions that we lose sight of the positive and of the comparative; and by and by, the words lose their power of the highest expression and cannot make any effect on our dulled senses. We lose the moral sense to such an extent that things which appeared hurtful to us one time now seem entirely acceptable.

—Beverley E. Warner, The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, La., Jan. 25, 1904.

Hmmm.  How often do we hear the word “awesome” in common conversation?

“I can cross the boundless ocean just to save you, I cannot eat or sleep without you, I can take you on a journey to heaven and show you to the angels. All these are fake and absurd promises; Be sincere, walk up to your lover and say, honestly, darling, i can only do the best i can for you.”

― Michael Bassey Johnson

You can take most of a man's boasts of good qualities as advertisements for missing ones.

—Henry F. Cope, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill., Oct. 22, 1905.

A man boasting of his honesty is generally a rogue–of his courage generally a coward; of his riches, generally not wealthy–of his democracy, generally an aristocrat–of his intimacy with great men, generally despised by him who may chance to know him–of his wit, popularity and high standards, always a fool.

—Catholic Telegraph, Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1838.

Boasters are cousins to liars!

—Youth's Companion, Boston, Mass., Oct. 25, 1860.

Why there’s no need to boast

The more one knows about himself the less he has to boast about.

—Dewey O. Miller, The Wesleyan Youth, Marion, Ind., April 1963.

“After awhile you realize that putting your actions where your mouth is makes you less likely to have to put your money where your mouth is.”

― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“There is no need to boast of your accomplishments and what you can do. A great man is known, he needs no introduction.”

― CherLisa Biles

“The most beautiful women I have known had one thing in common apart from beauty: humility. It's a shame that those with less to boast about do it the most.”

― Donna Lynn Hope

“Protestations of happiness could sound almost boasting to those whose happiness is incomplete. One did not boast of perfect skin to one affected by dermatitis; for the same reason, perhaps, one should take care in proclaiming one's happiness.”

― Alexander McCall Smith, The Right Attitude to Rain

Boasting Hurts Us

Boasting never made a man successful–it frequently hinders his progress in life.

—Phil Conley, Daily Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Miss., July 5, 1950.

People who are always boasting seldom have time for much performance.

—Roy L. Smith, Tampa Morning Tribune, Tampa, Fla., June 19, 1936.

“When you claim to be what you're not, you're deliberately killing opportunities, because those who would have help[ed] will shun you, thinking that you had it all already.”

― Michael Bassey Johnson

“A session of boasting won't attract any real friends.  It will set you up on a pedestal, however, making you a clearer target.”

― Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year

A Few Instances of Boasts Proved Wrong

My all-time favourite political promise - more a boast than a promise, really - came from former Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, who said in the lead-up to the 1976 Olympics, 'The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby.'

--Martin O'Malley

(For the financial problems that hosting Olympics has become, see http://www.cnbc.com/id/34844120)

I used to boast that Whole Foods was sort of recession-proof. And obviously I've been proven wrong. So I'm not boasting about that any longer.

--John Mackey

One final quotation..

“The truest human is the one whose conduct proceeds from goodwill and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.”

― Markesa Yeager

More Principles for Avoiding Boasting

-->

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

If we keep the perspective that the grace of God helps us as we do all we’re asked to do we can see better that we really are saved by our faith in Christ and not of ourselves, and then we’re less likely to preen and boast.

See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength. (Alma 38:11) 

After all we’ve read before, we see now why Alma gives these instructions.  Alma didn’t want his son Shiblon to fall into the same sins his son Corianton had.

Later, Helaman gives these instruction to his sons:

And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers. (Helaman 5:8, emphasis added) 

After reading some of the previous scriptures about boasting, we can see exactly why Helaman said that having an opportunity to boast is not the best reason to do good. If we were to do good and then to boast about it, that would negate any spiritual benefit we got from it by eventually bringing about our fall. 

Instead, Helaman advises taking a longer view—doing good in order to lay up a treasure in heaven.  It’s nice to know that a treasure in heaven is not going to go anywhere and it can’t be stolen and it can’t decay like things on earth.

I suppose Helaman thought his sons might boast of good works in order to quickly get a social reward of praise rather than waiting for the full eternal reward.  This makes me think that maybe we have a nasty tendency to fall into the trap of thinking that the good we do in life guarantees our reward will come in mortality with some kind of increased status and that’s one reason why we boast.  

One way we might apply Helaman’s counsel today is by not doing good just so we can put it in our resume or our author biography or curriculum vita or so that we can mention it to other people or do a Facebook status post on it.  At the very least, if we mention it to others, we can try to make it a way to convey spiritual principles to help them rather than to raise our image.  Do it like King Benjamin did.

Paul had some instructions for the gentile converts who might have boasted that they were more faithful than the Jews.  He used imagery like that of the allegory of the olive tree to make this point:

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.

20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (Romans 11:18-22)

Paul essentially said that conversion to the truth is not a win-lose proposition; one person’s conversion is not at the expense of another person’s unbelief.  Nor does one person’s unbelief enable another person’s conversion.  If the Jews had accepted the gospel instead of rejecting it, the gospel would still have gone to the gentiles eventually.

In the end, God is no respecter of persons; anyone who believes can lay hold on His mercy, whether Jew or gentile.  Likewise, anyone who falls into unbelief will be cut off.

Essentially, conversion is not something to boast about, nor by extension is continued faithfulness.

 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. (Prov. 27:2)

Here’s something interesting—why is it that when others praise us it is embarrassing but it’s not so embarrassing when we praise ourselves?  The reality may be that it is just as embarrassing, but we can’t see it because we are doing it.

17 But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

18 For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

(2 Cor. 10:17-18) 

If we have to glory in anything, glory in the Lord.  And of course, Ammon and David and King Benjamin have showed us samples of how to do that.

 There’s another awesome principle there too—just because we commend ourselves doesn’t mean that God commends us.  And God’s approval is what really counts forever.  So that gives us something to look for, something to ask for, something to strive for.

As a random personal exercise while I was working on these posts, I decided to make a list of all the things I’d done recently or that I’d been involved in recently that I had gloried in or had boastful feelings about. 

Afterwards I looked at that list and began to suspect that maybe my complacent, boastful attitude had kept me from having important revelation on how to improve in those things.  And maybe when I’d thought I’d been successful I wasn’t as successful as I thought or as I could have been if I’d been more humble.  It was pretty sobering.

Try this for yourself. Make a list of everything in your life that you’re proud of.  Odds are that those things may be things that you boast about, either vocally or internally. 

Here some patterns of what I have tended to take credit for and boast about (even if only internally):

--Other people’s good choices if I feel I had a hand in it.  (By the same token, this may lead me to blame myself when others make bad choices.)

--Others’ good choices even if I had nothing to do with it. (This is nothing more than wishful thinking.)

-- Successful outcomes (and often I might blow them out of proportion and consider them more significant than they really are)

--Capability to do others’ jobs (I might think, “If they put me in that position, there wouldn’t be this problem.”)  This is, of course, ignorance of the actual challenges.

--The good things I do.  (But do I really understand and appreciate all the supports that Heavenly Father gave me so that I could do those things?  Do I acknowledge the promptings, the energy, the knowledge, the uplift, the way things were orchestrated where I couldn’t see?  Do I grasp how the atonement was compensating for my weaknesses when I needed it, even weaknesses I may not have known I had?  Usually not.)

--Things I have become which involved developing diligence, patience. (Unfortunately I tend to be blind to the favorable circumstances and absence of handicap and the help of others that enabled my development.)

Only after brainstorming these things and writing them down and looking at them squarely have I been able to see just how utterly pathetic my boasting has been, how completely unmerited it was. 

Sad to say, I’ve lived a lot of life recently trusting in my own _______ and now I have to learn how to think without internal boasting or complacency.  I need to learn or re-learn to boast in the Lord and to stay meek and contrite. 

I don’t really have many illusions about my ability to remember this long term. (Man is quick to boast, after all.) But I can at least post this on my blog, try to practice it in my life, pray for help to retain the lesson, and when I need a refresher from time to time I’ll be able to go back and reread it.

Elder Marvin J. Ashton gave a good talk about boasting called “Neither Boast of Faith nor of Might Works” which is worth reading through. When you read it, you will recognize some additional ways that Latter-day Saints may boast. There’s also at least one really good story.

Examples of NOT Boasting

-->

Time to look at scriptural examples of not boasting.

The easiest way to not boast is to simply say nothing or be brief.  Shamgar’s story in the Book of Judges of slaying 600 Philistines with an oxgoad is extremely short with no hoopla whatsoever and takes up a single verse (see Judges 3:31). 

In Alma 26, Ammon rejoices over their success and his brother Aaron understandably gets a bit nervous that Ammon might be boasting.  But after what we’ve learned so far, we can read what Ammon says and know he’s really not boasting in himself at all.  Notice where his focus is. It’s very much on God. 

8 Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever.

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. . . .

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen. (Alma 26:8-12, 35-37)

(I put Ammon’s boast in God in blue, and his acknowledgment of his weakness in orange.)

Ammon boasts in God for God’s

·      Righteous works

·      Strength to help Ammon do all things

·      Ability to help Ammon do miracles

·      All-power

·      All-wisdom

·      All-understanding

·      All-comprehension

·      Mercy and salvation to those who repent and believe

·      Awareness of those who wander in strange lands

·      Awareness of every people

·      Numbering those who become His people

About the only thing that Aaron seems to have objected to is where Ammon says, “if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred.” 

It seems Aaron feels like Ammon made it seem like their little group were the only ones who could have done what they did.  Aaron seems to have preferred to believe that anyone could have done what they did.  And if other groups of missionaries had felt called to go to the Lamanites, quite likely Aaron would have been proven right.

Another place that escapes being boasting is King Benjamin’s speech to his people.  Look for how he avoids it.

11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.

12 I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;

13 Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you—

14 And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day.

15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day.

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. (Mosiah 2: 11-17)

King Benjamin takes great pains at the beginning to show that he is no less weak and human than anyone else, even in his position of king.  He realized that what he had to say about his life could be taken as boasting, but he wanted to call attention to the life lesson he learned through his experience of service. So he has to mention the service he’s done, but he specifically mentions he’s not saying it to boast, but to instruct.  He uses it to point to the importance of serving God by serving our fellow men.

Thus, he shows by his example that there are ways to talk about our good works without boasting, such as in order to instruct others, but we have to find a way to do it so that we don’t call undue attention to ourselves.  We need to put more emphasis on the lesson to be learned from the experience, rather than on making ourselves look good.

The caveat “I’m not saying this to boast” is useful, but it has to be heart-felt because people will know when we’re just faking humility.  

When he tells what he’s done, he also says they are witnesses of it. They have all seen it, so they know he’s not claiming any extra.  Also, he doesn’t tell it to them to claim special righteousness, but to state his conscience is clear and he’s done what he could.  (And we know that he was probably very aware that he had to have God’s help with all of that anyway.)

Here’s a much lesser known example of someone boasting in God—David in Psalms 34.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalms 34:1-8)

If you notice, David boasts in the Lord’s mercy in answering prayers, the Lord’s revelatory power, knowledge, deliverance.  The ending is an invitation to everyone else to “taste and see” the goodness of God for themselves, so it is given an instructive purpose.

Boasting in Future Plans and some Patterns of Punishment

-->

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. (James 4:13-16)

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)

I don’t think this is telling us not to make plans for the future.  But I think it tells us that when we communicate our plans to others we need to keep in mind the possibility that Heavenly Father might have something else in mind for us besides our purposes. The completion of our plans as desired happens at Heavenly Father’s will or sufferance.

A case study how the Lord’s purposes were served by one king’s success but only to a certain point is seen in Isaiah 10.

Ancient Israel was under threat from the invading King of Assyria, who hoped to conquer it and add it to the list of all the countries he’d already conquered.  In Isaiah 10:12-17, Isaiah revealed that the King of Assyria boasted his success had been because of his great strength and wisdom.  The king said he was so strong that no nation protested his conquest, like they were hens that never peeped when someone gathered eggs out from under them. 

In response to the Assyrian king’s boasts, Isaiah proclaimed that all the Assyrian king’s success was because the Lord intended to use the Assyrian king to chastise Israel for wickedness, and once that work was done, the Lord would figuratively burn down the Assyrian empire in a day.

If we apply this to ourselves and learn a lesson from the Assyrian king, any success we achieve is not because of our strength and wisdom, but because the Lord has a particular work for us to do.  His purpose may be quite different from ours.  If we boast in our success, the Lord can burn down our empire in a day too.

Here’s another case study of boasting about the future:

10 And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. (1 Kings 20:10-11) 

Ben-hadad essentially makes an oath that Samaria’s spoils will not be enough to satisfy his armies, even if dust or land was part of the spoil. Clearly there is an implicit boast that his army will have no problem conquering Samaria.

The king of Israel told him though not to boast beforehand if he hadn’t done it yet. Again, plans can often be frustrated when we think they are a sure thing. 

As an interesting aside, I ran across a term on Wikipedia closely related to boasting among soldiers.  It is beot.  A beot is a ritualized boast, threat, or promise usually on the eve of battle that is used to gain glory of accomplishing something very difficult before one actually does it.  (see Wikipedia article on Beot.)  Oddly enough, it is an Anglo-Saxon term, but you can see the practice in various places in the scriptures, like with Ben-hadad in the Old Testament and when the Nephites boast in their army’s strength.

During the Book of Helaman, the wicked Nephites boast in the strength of their armies and it gets them in trouble and we see a pattern of punishment that they suffer.

And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands. (Hel. 4:13)

There are three different words to describe how the Nephites were left to themselves by the Lord:

1) Afflicted – The Lamanites made their lives difficult in a way they hadn’t been able to do before. This seems like persecution or cutting off opportunities or freedom.

2) Smitten – The Lamanites wounded the Nephites. Their defenses were not sufficient and it gives us a sense that Nephite armor had holes.

3) Driven – This implies a total rout and devastating defeat in battle when Nephite armies could not withstand an attack, but had to flee.

(Also note that the lack of prosperity was part of this too.)

Their boasting meant they lost the Lord’s help to bear afflictions, strengthen their defenses, and withstand large onslaughts. 

Let’s look at another instance of a Nephite army boasting--the armies of King Noah.

And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

(Mosiah 11:19) 

Boasting their 50 could stand against thousands of Lamanites was certainly extravagant, since they didn’t observe the Lord’s help in their deliverance.  They followed the D&C 3:4 pattern in that their boasting progressed to the point that they set the Lord’s counsel (as given by Abinadi) aside and followed their own carnal desires of bloodshed.

We also know what happened to them. Eventually their real weakness was proven when after Alma’s people leave, the people all fled from the surprise Lamanite invasion instead of standing and beating it off with just 50 men as they boasted they could do.

We can also see the punishment pattern of affliction, smiting, and driving in their history,  though it was in a different order. They were driven by ambushing Lamanite armies, they were smitten by task-masters in their bondage, and they were afflicted in many different ways, with hunger, with grievous taxes, with thefts, with loss of the main family providers.

I can point to different places in my life when I’ve been afflicted, smitten, and driven for my pride.  Maybe you can too.

Limhi’s people didn’t get out of their predicament until they humbled themselves and began again to keep the commandments.

This is certainly isn’t the most cheerful thing to read about, but it can give us real intelligence if we’ve fallen into the same predicaments.  The way they got out is the way we get out—humility and repentance and obedience.

Some Latter-day Saint Flavors of Boasting

-->

Are there Latter-day Saint flavors of boasting? 

What about boasting about miracles?

In D&C 84:66-72, there is a whole list of wonderful works and signs that believing members will be able to do through faith: cast out devils, heal the sick, open the blind eyes, unstop deaf ears, cause the dumb to speak, live after being given poison or being bit by venomous snakes.  But there is also a commandment associated with these miracles which the Lord wants the Saints to observe.

But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation. (D&C 84:73, emphasis added)

Why are the Saints not to boast of themselves of miracles or speak them before the world? 

I think it has something to do with the fact that when the miracles happen, it will be in response to a crying need of some sort.  So when the need has been filled, it would be awful to go out and say (or think) something like, “I opened the eyes of the blind! Aren’t I special and righteous?”

Verse 73 says these things are given to us “for your profit and for salvation.”  Profit there means it is meant for our growth.  And if it is given for our salvation, then it was given to save us from temporal and spiritual danger, not because we are anything great.  It was an act of mercy and deliverance, not a commendation or something to make us look good.  So we have no reason to boast of miracles.

It’s also why Alma says elsewhere, “This was not of any righteousness of myself” when he tells Helaman about his extraordinary conversion experience with the angel. That experience was only meant for his profit and salvation, not for boasting about.

How about casting out evil spirits?

31 Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that if you behold a spirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God.

32 And it shall be given unto you, power over that spirit; and you shall proclaim against that spirit with a loud voice that it is not of God—

33 Not with railing accusation, that ye be not overcome, neither with boasting nor rejoicing, lest you be seized therewith.  (D&C 50:33)

Evidently the Lord wanted to underline His warning against boasting in connection with casting out evil spirits, since He must have known that mankind has a tendency to feel over-pleased with themselves when they command something and it obeys.

Boasting is such a malignant thing, that if a person casts out an evil spirit and then boasts about it, that invites the evil spirit into them instead.  It’s a magnet for evil.

Sounds pretty serious, huh?

I take hope in the fact that these principles were given us to keep us safe so that we could be alert and avoid falling into sin out of ignorance.  The Lord wants us to avoid not just the big blatant sins, but also the sins that seem more culturally acceptable in our society.  Because even if they are culturally acceptable, they will still hurt us and block our progression.

Warning Principles about Boasting

-->

The Doctrine & Covenants has a really good warning about boasting and what eventually happens because of it. It’s so good, it gives us a pattern for discernment in ourselves:

For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him. (D&C 3:4)

I think this is so important because it shows us that having revelation and great power is no defense when someone starts to boast.  Anyone, no matter how great, who boasts in their strength and wisdom will then disregard the counsels of God and they will eventually fall and incur the vengeance of God.  The vengeance of God is merited because of sin committed when setting aside God’s counsels and following one’s own will and carnal desires.

There’s a great case study in the Book of Mormon of a particular person who made the mistake of boasting--Corianton.  Alma describes what happened:

2 For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the Zoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.

3 And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the harlot Isabel.  (Alma 39: 2-3)

After learning those principles from D&C 3:4, it is perfectly obvious that Corianton followed that negative pattern.  Because Corianton boasted in his strength and wisdom, he ignored counsel from Alma his father, set the counsels (and commandments) of God at naught, followed his own carnal desires for the harlot Isabel, and promptly fell to temptation.

See? Textbook case. And if any of us make the mistake of boasting, we will similarly get into trouble. 

I’ve boasted in my journal to keep from boasting out loud, but evidently it is just as proud. I’ve boasted sometimes in bearing testimony of what I’ve learned and then found that later I am weak again and fall into disobedience. It didn’t feel like boasting at the time, but the effect afterwards is the same as boasting, so it must have been that.

Unfortunately, it is only too true that boasting comes too easily to all of us.

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! (Helaman 12:5, emphasis added)

This is a great reminder. Simply because we are human and mortal and don’t know everything, we have this ridiculous tendency to turn quickly to boasting and iniquity, but we’re slow to remember the Lord.

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (James 3:5)

The tongue says, “I will go to a party,” but by itself it can’t go anywhere without the legs.  Likewise we boast things we are not even able to do without lots of help that we don’t even realize. 

Boasting also eventually leads to hurting others.

But it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions; (3 Ne. 6:10, emphasis added)

Note that pride and boasting in riches led directly to persecuting others greatly.  When we think we’re all that because of our success, we frequently look with scorn on others and eventually tell them more and more forcefully how pathetic they are.  Because if they would just get a grip and do what we do, they would not be such losers!  Right?  Right!

Hmm. I noticed myself wanting to do that in a particular respect a few days ago.  Not good…

Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities. (Hel. 13:22 emphasis added) 

The Nephites’ boasting of their riches without gratitude to God led to worse sins.  And now we know why because of D&C 3:4.  After boasting, they disregarded the counsel of God and followed their carnal desires, so they fell to temptation.