The footnotes for Matt 5:3 state, "The Latin beatus is the basis of the English 'beatitude,' meaning 'to be fortunate,' 'to be happy,' or ' to be blessed.'" The blessings of the Beatitudes come not from natural law but from a higher law. Indeed, the blessings of the Beatitudes don't seem to follow a natural or logical pattern in the least.
The gospel is full of irony. Nowhere are these doctrinal ironies more appreciated than in the Beatitudes. The concept that those who are least in worldly things will be made great in heavenly things is a constant theme. The poor in spirit will be rich in the kingdom of heaven, the mourner shall receive comfort, the meek will become great by inheritance, and those who suffer the most spiritual hunger are those who will receive the greatest spiritual feast. Neal A. Maxwell remarked, "Whereas the natural man covets praise and riches, the men and women of Christ know that such things are but the 'drop' (D&C 117:8). Human history's happiest irony will be that the covenant-keeping, unselfish individuals will finally receive 'all that [the] Father hath'! (D&C 84:38.)." (Men and Women of Christ, p. 14) The Beatitudes remind us that the last shall be first, and the first last…And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matt 20:16; 23:12).
Harold B. Lee
"May you make the Beatitudes the constitution of your own lives and thus receive the blessedness promised therein." (Stand Ye In Holy Places, p. 348)
Blessed Are All They Who Do Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness
Russell M. Nelson
"I was with Elder Mark E. Petersen in the Holy Land in October 1983, during his last mortal journey. Elder Petersen was not well. Evidences of his consuming malignancy were painfully real to him, yet he derived strength from the Savior he served. Following a night of intense suffering, exacerbated by pangs of his progressive inability to eat or to drink, Elder Petersen addressed throngs assembled at the Mount of the Beatitudes to hear his discourse on the Sermon on the Mount. After he recited 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,' he departed from the biblical text and pleaded this question: 'Do you know what it is to be really hungry? Do you know what it is to really be thirsty? Do you desire righteousness as you would desire food under extreme conditions or drink under extreme conditions? [The Savior] expects us to literally hunger and thirst after righteousness and seek it with all our hearts!'
"I was one of the few present on that occasion who knew how hungry and thirsty Elder Petersen really was. His encroaching cancer had deprived him of relief from physical hunger and thirst, so he understood that doctrine. He withstood the trial. He thanked the Lord, who lent him power to preach his last major sermon at the sacred site where Jesus himself had preached." (The Power Within Us, p. 21)
Robert E. Wells
"How many people strive for higher spiritual levels as though they truly hungered and thirsted after them? To hunger and thirst for something involves strife, struggles, work, sacrifice, and a host of other efforts…Perhaps you have heard the story of the philosopher who held a young disciple's head under water until the latter gasped for air. The philosopher then told the disciple, 'When you want knowledge as much as you wanted air while you were under water, you are ready to study with me.'
"The highest blessings of the gospel are not for the faint-hearted, coolly rational, theoretical philosopher, nor for the person who is merely intellectually curious. Those great blessings are reserved for stouthearted souls who hunger and thirst for greater personal righteousness and who are willing to pay the price to achieve it.
"…The blessings promised are immeasurable. Remember the woman of Samaria at the well? The Savior told her (and this applies to all of us), 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life…He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.' (Jn 4:14; 6:35)" (The Mount and the Master, pp. 42-3)
Bruce R. McConkie
"Filled with the Holy Ghost! As starving men crave a crust of bread, as choking men thirst for water, so do the righteous yearn for the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a Revelator: he is a Sanctifier; he reveals truth, and he cleanses human souls. He is the Spirit of Truth, and his baptism is one of fire; he burns dross and evil out of repentant souls as though by fire. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest of all the gifts of God, as pertaining to this life; and those who enjoy that gift here and now, will inherit eternal life hereafter, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God in eternity." (The Mortal Messiah, Book 2, p. 122)