Hugh Nibley - "The Human Condition"

Wikipedia:

Hugh Winder Nibley (March 27, 1910 – February 24, 2005) was an American author, Mormon apologist, and professor at Brigham Young University (BYU).

A prolific author and professor of Biblical and Mormon scripture at BYU, he was fluent in numerous languages, including Classical Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Coptic, Arabic, German, French, English, Italian, and Spanish. He studied Dutch and Russian during World War II. He also studied Old Bulgarian and Old English, and his fluency in Old Norse was reportedly sufficient to enable him to read an entire encyclopedia in Norwegian.

Nibley wrote and lectured on LDS scripture and doctrinal topics, publishing many articles in LDS Church magazines. His An Approach to the Book of Mormon was adopted in 1957 as a religious lesson manual by the LDS Church.

Video Title: Hugh Nibley, "The Human Condition" (Pearl of Great Price Lectures Series - 11). Source: themaxwellinstitute. Date Published: January 28, 2014. Description:

Lecture 11 from Hugh Nibley's Pearl of Great Price Lectures Series at Brigham Young University, Winter Semester, 1986.

"What we are and what we could be are so different. . . we don't use one thousand, one-tenth thousand of our brain power. We have it, we never use it. Think of the capacity we have for enjoyment. I lie on my bed and fret when I look up and see all the books on the wall there I would just love to read, but I don't have time. . . Well, it's pretty sad, isn't it? That you can't begin to use it. There must be a reason for this. The solution must be found in other times and places because the time is too short here. We can't play a game of baseball in three minutes, or in a closet. We don't have time enough in three minutes, and the closet doesn't give us space enough. And that's the situation we're in here. We're time-bound, we're in a time box. . . We can't think of everything at once. One thing at a time. We must always concentrate, this is what we're condemned to do in this life, is to concentrate always on just one thing at a time. And the rest, if you see it all, makes this sort of a background, side issues and so forth. You're aware of it of course, but you concentrate on only one object. And you concentrate on the object you choose to. That makes this life a time of probation. That shows what the desire of your heart is. For with the possibility of thinking of a billion things, you prefer to think of one particular thing." - Hugh Nibley. [7:17 - 8:57].