Hugh Nibley
“The tragedy of the Book of Mormon is not what became of the Nephites but what the Nephites became.” (Since Cumorah, as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 477)
Ezra Taft Benson
“Great nations do not fall because of external aggression; they first erode and decay inwardly, so that, like rotten fruit, they fall of themselves. The strength of a country is the sum total of the moral strength of the individuals in that country.” (This Nation Shall Endure, p. 95 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 477)
Hugh Nibley
“The fog and horror of battle pursue us right up to the end—the nation completely in arms at Cumorah with trained, experienced warriors, all a splendid sight marching forward. Alas, there’s nothing heroic about it. How could they have been such fools? Pity was Mormon’s only reflection on the splendid sight (Mormon 6:17-22). His last word to the survivors in the land is that they must lay down their arms and never take them up again, for they will never prevail by force. The only way they can prevail, he says (Mormon 7:3), is by repenting. Cumorah was no solution; the war went right on among the victors.” (Prophetic Book of Mormon, p. 524)