Elmer, 1980s"I learned conventional Lutheran theology, the stuff of confirmation class and the catechism. The lessons were simple: faith, trust, service to others. Those ideas have affected my whole life. I trust people, and when I find people I cannot trust, I do not react against them. I just avoid them. I learned at church that every human being has great potential. There is a great deal of good in everybody, and there is potential for evil in everybody. What makes the difference is the environment in which people are placed. In all my relationships, particularly in business, I have tried to place people in situations in which it is easy for them to be at their best."
"To me, religious faith is the marching song of life. It is what appeals to something deep within you that you do not quite fully understand but that holds the potential of making something finer or nobler of you."
"The Lutheran Church taught more than theology. From it I learned a way of life that has stayed with me longer than some church doctrines have. It was a life that required a great deal of people. One was always to be honest, decent, kind, generous, civil. Those strictures were so imbedded in me that I did not think of behaving any other way."
Courtesy H. B. Fuller Company
"A Man's Reach -- A Transforming Life" is on display through August 15 in the Exhibit Gallery, Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus.
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