Chapter XXI
HAPPINESS AND SOCIAL ENJOYMENTS
Saints Should be Happy--Then learn to be happy when you have the privilege. 5:294.
The whole world are after happiness. It is not found in gold and silver, but it is in peace and love. 12:314.
What will give a man joy? That which will give him peace. 7:3.
If the heart is cheerful, all is light and glory within; there is no sorrow. 6:41.
When man is industrious and righteous, then is he happy. 9:244.
The person who enjoys the experience of the knowledge of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and at the same time has the love of God within him, is the happiest of any individuals on the earth. 18:236.
What principal object have human beings in view? Happiness. Give me glory, give me power, give me wealth, give me a good name, give me influence with my fellowmen, give me all these, and it does not follow that I am thereby made happy; that depends altogether upon what principle those acquisitions were gained. 7:3.
The only heaven for you is that which you make yourselves. My heaven is here--(laying his hand upon his heart). I carry it with me. When do I expect it in its perfection? When I come up in the resurrection; then I shall have it, and not till then. 4:57.
You never saw a true Saint in the world that had sorrow, neither can you find one. If persons are destitute of the fountain of living water, or the principles of eternal life, {363} then they are sorrowful. If the words of life dwell within us, and we have the hope of eternal life and glory, and let that spark within us kindle to a flame, to the consuming of the least and last remains of selfishness, we never can walk in darkness and are strangers to doubt and fear. 6:41.
If this is the work of God, let us understand its beauty and glory. I do not say that all are like myself; but from the day I commenced preaching the Gospel to this present moment, I never had a feeling in my heart to occupy much time in preaching hell to the people, or in telling them much about being damned. There are the kingdoms and worlds which God has prepared, and which are waiting for the just. There are more beauty, glory, excellency, knowledge, power, and heavenly things than I have time to talk about, without spending my time in talking about the hells prepared for the damned. I have not time to talk much about them. 8:42.
It does make the Devil mad. That is true, it makes him mad that he cannot afflict this people so as to make them have a sad countenance. 4:299.
To make ourselves happy is incorporated in the great design of man's existence. I have learned not to fret myself about that which I cannot help. If I can do good, I will do it; and if I cannot reach a thing, I will content myself to be without it. This makes me happy all the day long. 2:95.
Where is happiness, real happiness? Nowhere but in God. By possessing the spirit of our holy religion, we are happy in the morning, we are happy at noon, we are happy in the evening; for the spirit of love and union is with us, and we rejoice in the spirit because, it is of God, and we rejoice in God, for he is the giver of every good thing. Every {364} Latter-day Saint, who has experienced the love of God in his heart, after having received the remission of his sins, through baptism, and the laying on of hands, realizes that he is filled with joy, and happiness, and consolation. He may be in pain, in error, in poverty, or in prison, if necessity demands, still, he is joyful. This is our experience, and each and every Latter-day Saint can bear witness to it. 18:213.
Truly happy is that man or woman, or that people, who enjoys the privileges of the Gospel of the Son of God, and who know how to appreciate his blessings. 1:309.
Men and women, for slight causes, make shipwreck of faith, lose the spirit of the Gospel, losing the object for which they left their homes and their friends. We are all searching for happiness; we hope for it, we think we live for it, it is our aim in this life. But do we live so as to enjoy the happiness we so much desire? There is only one way for Latter-day Saints to be happy, which is simply to live their religion, or in other words believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every part, obeying the gospel of liberty with full purpose of heart, which sets us free indeed. If we will, as a community, obey the law of God, and comply with the ordinances of salvation, then we may expect to find the happiness we so much desire, but if we do not pursue this course we cannot enjoy the unalloyed happiness which is to be found in the Gospel. To profess to be a Saint, and not enjoy the spirit of it, tries every fibre of the heart, and is one of the most painful experiences that man can suffer. 12:168.
Social Amusements--There is no true enjoyment in life--nothing that can be a blessing to an individual or to a {365} community, but what is ordained of God to bless his people. 6:143.
We want to see every countenance full of cheerfulness, and every eye bright with the hope of future happiness. 12:314.
We are made to enjoy all that God enjoys, to inherit all he inherits, to possess all the power that he possesses, all the excellency with which he is endowed--all things are to be brought into subjection to him by his faithful children, that they may enjoy all things with him; these considerations bring peace to the heart that is opened to understanding. 10:171.
A gathering and social spirit seems to be the order of heaven--of the spirit that is in the Gospel we have embraced. Though it may be esteemed as a fault--as an unwarrantable act to separate ourselves from those who do not believe as we believe, yet such is the nature of a portion of our religion pertaining to the performance of outward duties. If the Latter-day Saints can associate together, free from the contaminating influences that are in the world, it is a blessing and a great privilege. What would induce a child to grow up in the wickedness of the wicked world, if it never saw or heard any of it? 7:267.
Is there anything immoral in recreation? If I see my sons and daughters enjoying themselves, chatting, visiting, riding, going to a party or a dance, is there anything immoral in that? I watch very closely, and if I hear a word, see a look, or a sneer at divine things or anything derogatory to a good moral character, I feel it in a moment, and I say, "If you follow that it will not lead to good, it is evil; it will not lead to the fountain of life and intelligence; follow, only, the path that leads to life everlasting." {366}
It is the privilege of the Saints to enjoy every good thing, for the earth and its fulness belong to the Lord, and he has promised all to his faithful Saints; but it must be enjoyed without spirit of covetousness and selfishness--without the spirit of lust, and in the spirit of the Gospel; then the sun will shine sweetly upon us; each day will be filled with delight, and all things will be filled with beauty, giving joy, pleasure, and rest to the Saints. 8:82.
We are to learn how to enjoy the things of life--how to pass our mortal existence here. There is no enjoyment, no comfort, no pleasure, nothing that the human heart can imagine, with all the spirit of revelation we can get, that tends to beautify, happify, make comfortable and peaceful, and exalt the feelings of mortals, but what the Lord has in store for his people. He never objected to their taking comfort. He never revealed any doctrine, that I have any knowledge of, but what in its nature is calculated to fill with peace and glory, and lift every sentiment and impulse of the heart above every low, sad, deathly, false and grovelling feeling. The Lord wishes us to live that we may enjoy the fulness of the glory that pertains to the upper world, and bid farewell to all that gloomy, dark, deathly feeling that is spread over the inhabitants of the earth. 8:128-129.
Our organism makes us capable of exquisite enjoyment. Do I not love my wife, my son, my daughter, my brother, my sister, my father, and my mother? And do I not love to associate with my friends? I do, and love to reflect and talk on eternal principles. 7:138.
We say to the Bishops and to everybody, exercise yourselves, provide innocent amusement for the youth, attract the minds of the children, and get the upper hand of them {367} and be on the lead. I see mothers right among us whose course is very imprudent with their children. You ought always to take the lead of your children in their minds and affections. Instead of being behind with the whip, always be in advance, then you can say, "Come along," and you will have no use for the rod. They will delight to follow you, and will like your words and ways, because you are always comforting them and giving them pleasure and enjoyment. If they get a little naughty, stop them when they have gone far enough. We say to the brethren, humor your wives and children as far as you can, but when they transgress, and transcend certain bounds we want them to stop. If you are in the lead they will stop, they cannot run over you; but if you are behind they will run away from you. Husbands, always be in advance of your wives, and then if they undertake to do something that is very displeasing to you they will run right against you, and then stop and sit down because they can't go any further. Do you know how to do this? "No," says one, "I don't know that I do." Well, then, learn by searching after truth, according to the revelations given in this book. Search after truth in all good books, and learn the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God, and put them together and you will be able to benefit yourselves. 12:313.
Our work, our every-day labor, our whole lives are within the scope of our religion. This is what we believe and what we try to practice. Yet the Lord permits a great many things that he never commands. I have frequently heard my old brethren in the Christian world make remarks about the impropriety of indulging in pastimes and amusements. The Lord never commanded me to dance, yet I have danced: you all know it, for my life is before the world. {368} Yet while the Lord has never commanded me to do it, he has permitted it. I do not know that he ever commanded the boys to go and play at ball, yet he permits it. I am not aware that he ever commanded us to build a theater, but he has permitted it, and I can give the reason why. Recreation and diversion are as necessary to our well-being as the more serious pursuits of life. There is not a man in the world but what, if kept at any one branch of business or study, will become like a machine. Our pursuits should be so diversified as to develop every trait of character and diversity of talent. If you would develop every power and faculty possessed by your children, they must have the privilege of engaging in and enjoying a diversity of amusements and studies; to attain great excellence, however, they cannot all be kept to any one individual branch of study. I recollect once while in England, in the district of country called the "Potteries," seeing a man pass along the street, his head, perhaps, within sixteen or eighteen inches of the ground. I inquired what occupation he had followed for a living, and learned that he had never done anything in his life but turned a tea cup, and he was then seventy-four years of age. How do we know but what, if he had had the privilege, he would have made a statesman or a fine physician, an excellent mechanic or a good judge? We cannot tell. This shows the necessity of the mind being kept active and having the opportunity of indulging in every exercise it can enjoy in order to attain to a full development of its powers. 13:61.
Little boys play with their wagons, tops, marbles, etc.; little girls with their dolls, cradles, and skipping ropes. They are in the height of their enjoyment, while there sits the mother whose mind comprehends all the children can {369} enjoy, and then she can see enjoyment far beyond what they are then capable of enjoying. Perhaps her vision is open to see forward into the eternity before her, and that she will be able to preserve her identity in her future existence. Do you not see how easy it is for her to circumscribe all those little children can enjoy? Her feeling is, "I am delighted: it is a great satisfaction to see my children enjoy themselves." But how would she like to engage in their plays? "It is my joy to see them enjoy themselves." Do you like to get together in your parties? How are you looked upon by beings in the eternal worlds? Precisely as a mother looks upon her children when they are enjoying themselves and passing their time so kindly with each other. Says the mother, "I do delight in seeing my children enjoy themselves." I also delight in enjoying myself with the brethren and sisters, and giving to my natural organization the food that the natural body requires. The body requires food, and the immortal spirit requires food; the whole organization requires something to feast upon, and we get up amusements to satisfy it. 8:358-9.
I repeat that it is not your lawful privilege to yield to anything in the shape of amusement, until you have performed every duty, and obtained the power of God to enable you to withstand and resist all foul spirits that might attack you, and lead you astray; until you have command over them, and by your faith, obtained, through prayer and supplication, the blessings of the Holy Spirit, and it rests upon, and abides continually with you. 1:113.
In all your social communications, or whatever your associations are, let all the dark, discontented, murmuring, unhappy, miserable feelings--all the evil fruit of the mind, {370} fall from the tree in silence and unnoticed; and so let it perish, without taking it up to present to your neighbors. But when you have joy and happiness, light and intelligence, truth and virtue, offer that fruit abundantly to your neighbors, and it will do them good, and so strengthen the hands of your fellow-beings, even though you may be looked upon as an outcast, vile people, not worthy of the society of what are commonly deemed the intelligent portion of the world. 7:269.
I have frequently told the people at our places of recreation, if they cannot go there with the Spirit of the Lord, they had better stay at home. 11:283.
On every such occasion, it is right, reasonable, and necessary, that every heart be directed to the Lord. When we have had sufficient recreation for our good, let that suffice. It is all right; then let our minds labor instead of our bodies; and in all our exercises of body and mind, it is good to remember the Lord. 1:30.
I am most perfectly satisfied to associate with those whose hearts are filled with peace, with praise and adoration to our God, and whose lives are full of good works. Their voices to me are like sweet music. I have not the least desire to mingle with or look upon the faces of those who hate God and his cause. 8:57.
We are now enjoying our pastimes. We often meet together and worship the Lord by singing, praying, and preaching, fasting, and communing with each other in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Now we are met in the capacity of a social community--for what? That our minds may rest, and our bodies receive that recreation which is proper and necessary to keep up an equilibrium, to promote healthy action to the whole system. {371}
Let our minds sing for joy, and let life diffuse itself into every avenue of the body; for the object of our meeting is for its exercise, for its good.
This party was gotten up by the members of the Legislature, to rest their minds, to convene in a social capacity, and enjoy the society of each other, with their families, and to give renewed activity and energy, which will invigorate and strengthen them in the discharge of the arduous duties devolving upon them. 1:29.
Our present situation, and the enjoyments of this evening, will become subjects of pleasant and agreeable reflection, when we shall be separated from this community, and go to the right and to the left; then these moments of festive joy will be remembered with pleasing emotions, and cherished in fond memory in after years. 1:30.
Is there any harm in Sunday school parties? No! It is one of the most harmless kinds of enjoyment when conducted aright. If they wish to dance, let them dance; let them talk and play; but not do any wrong. They must not get angry with each other; and if any do wrong instruct them to do right. If our children are thus taught, they will be patterns of piety and their conduct will be worthy of imitation. 12:239.
One of the most useful amusements we could have would be for the Seventies and High Priests to meet here, instead of in their small halls, and lecture. Which is the most delightful, to satisfy the wants of the natural body, or those of the intelligent part within us? Which is the most precious? Both. 8:358.
My first remarks will be concerning such exercises as we have seen here this morning. The Latter-day Saints have many pastimes, and they enjoy themselves in social {372} society with one another. Yet I think, in my reflections, that we should have an increase--and we are having partially an increase of recreation for our youth. We have very few holidays. When the 4th of July comes, we have our amusements and exercises. When the 24th of July comes, we hail it as the anniversary of a day of deliverance. On reflection, I have come to the conclusion that it would be better if we would pay more attention to these public exercises, and direct the minds of our children by observing them, taking a course to have them avoid getting into the habit of drinking and every kind of rowdyism, and other things that are unbecoming; and in all of our amusements have objects of improvement that are worthy of pursuit. We should have more of the children attend Sunday school, and the teachers should continually place objects before them that will lead them to study to improve in their manners, in their words, in their looks and in their behavior; and that will guide their minds aright. You will find we can place before them objects that will do them much good in their thoughts and reflections, that will improve their young and tender minds, and have an influence upon their future lives for good; and we can thus bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord by taking a course to lead their minds. 12:238-9.
I am satisfied that those persons who stamp, clap hands, whistle, and make other noisy and boisterous demonstrations in the theaters, so untimed and uncalled for, have but little sense, and know not the difference between a happy smile of satisfaction to cheer the countenance of a friend, or a contemptuous sneer that brings the curses of man upon man. 9:290.
Never give way to vain laughter. I have seldom {373} laughed aloud for twenty or thirty years without regretting it, and I always blush for those who laugh aloud without meaning. 9:290.
Dancing--Those that have kept their covenants and served their God, if they wish to exercise themselves in any way, to rest their minds and tire their bodies, go and enjoy yourselves in the dance, and let God be in all your thoughts in this as in all other things, and he will bless you. 6:149.
There are many of our aged brethren and sisters, who, through the traditions of their fathers and the requirements of a false religion, were never inside a ball-room or a theater until they became Latter-day Saints, and now they seem more anxious for this kind of amusement than are our children. This arises from the fact they have been starved for many years for that amusement which is designed to buoy up their spirits and make their bodies vigorous and strong, and tens of thousands have sunk into untimely graves for want of such exercises to the body and the mind. They require mutual nourishment to make them sound and healthy. Every faculty and power of both body and mind is a gift from God. Never say that means used to create and continue healthy action of body and mind are from hell. 9:244.
I want it distinctly understood, that fiddling and dancing are no part of our worship. The question may be asked, What are they for, then? I answer, that my body may keep pace with my mind. My mind labors like a man logging, all the time; and this is the reason why I am fond of these pastimes--they give me a privilege to throw everything off, and shake myself, that my body may exercise, and my mind rest. What for? To get strength, and be renewed and quickened, and enlivened, and animated, so {374} that my mind may not wear out. Experience tells us that the most of the inhabitants of the earth wear out their bodies without wearing their minds at all, through the sufferings they endure from hard labor, with distress, poverty, and want. While on the other hand, a great portion of mankind wear out their bodies without laboring, only in anxiety. But when men are brought to labor entirely in the field of intelligence, there are few minds to be found possessing strength enough to bear all things; the mind becomes overcharged, and when this is the case, it begins to wear upon the body, which will sink for want of the proper exercises. This is the reason why I believe in and practice what I do. 1:30.
There is no music in hell, for all good music belongs to heaven. Sweet harmonious sounds give exquisite joy to human beings capable of appreciating music. I delight in hearing harmonious tones made by the human voice, by musical instruments, and by both combined. Every sweet musical sound that can be made belongs to the Saints and is for the Saints. Every flower, shrub and tree to beautify, and to gratify the taste and smell, and every sensation that gives to man joy and felicity are for the Saints who receive them from the Most High. 9:244.
It you happen to be in a party where I am and wearing dresses made with your own hands, I shall take pleasure in dancing with you in preference to the lady dressed in silks and satins. 9:190.
I am opposed to making a cotillion hall a place of worship. 9:194.
I am opposed to having cotillions or theatrical performances in this Tabernacle. I am opposed to making this a fun hall, I do not mean for wickedness, I mean for the {375} recuperation of our spirits and bodies. I am not willing that they should convert the house that has been set apart for religious meetings into a dancing hall. 9:195.
[IMAGE: THE OLD TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY]
[IMAGE: THE PRESENT TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY]
Those who cannot serve God with a pure heart in the dance should not dance. 6:148.
If you want to dance, run a foot race, pitch quoits, or play at ball, do it, and exercise your bodies, and let your minds rest. 6:149.
If you wish to dance, dance; and you are just as much prepared for a prayer meeting after dancing as ever you were, if you are Saints. If you desire to ask God for anything, you are as well prepared to do so in the dance as in any other place, if you are Saints. Are your eyes open to know that everything in the earth, in hell, or in heaven, is ordained for the use of intelligent beings? 6:148.
The Theater--Is there evil in the theater; in the ball room; in the place of worship; in the dwelling; in the world? Yes, when men are inclined to do evil in any of these places. There is evil in persons meeting simply for a chit chat, if they will allow themselves to commit evil while thus engaged. 9:243.
I built that theater to attract the young of our community and to provide amusement for the boys and girls, rather than have them running all over creation for recreation. Long before that was built I said to the Bishops, "Get up your parties and pleasure grounds to amuse the people." 12:312-313.
Upon the stage of a theater can be represented in character, evil and its consequences, good and its happy results and rewards; the weakness and the follies of man, the magnanimity of virtue and the greatness of truth. The stage can be made to aid the pulpit in impressing upon the minds {376} of a community an enlightened sense of a virtuous life, also a proper horror of the enormity of sin and a just dread of its consequences. The path of sin with its thorns and pitfalls, its gins and snares can be revealed, and how to shun it. 9:243.
Tragedy is favored by the outside world; I am not in favor of it. I do not wish murder and all its horrors and the villainy leading to it portrayed before our women and children; I do not want the child to carry home with it the fear of the fagot, the sword, the pistol, or the dagger, and suffer in the night from frightful dreams. I want such plays performed as will make the spectators feel well; and I wish those who perform to select a class of plays that will improve the public mind, and exalt the literary taste of the community. 9:245.
Excursions--If the people should conclude to take short excursions with their families, except the smallest children, it would be much to their comfort, and would cheer them up. 2:283.
I would be very pleased to learn that your Bishop, Brother Miller, was preparing a place for parties; with a little pond to float boats on, and other means of enjoyment, where the people could assemble to have their exercises. Get the young minds to follow after you in these things, and they will follow after you in every precept that is good. And I would like to hear of other Bishops taking steps to prepare suitable places for the same purpose. 12:239. {377}
Chapter XXII
EDUCATION
Knowledge and Intelligence--Education is a good thing, and blessed is the man who has it, and can use it for the dissemination of the Gospel without being puffed up with pride. 11:214.
When we speak upon education, it is not to be understood that it alone consists in a man's learning the letters of the alphabet, in being trained in every branch of scholastic lore, in becoming a proficient in the knowledge of the sciences, and a classical scholar, but also in learning to classify himself and others. 1:66.
Find a true philosopher and you find one who has the true principles of Christianity. He delights in them; and sees and understands the hand of Providence guiding and directing in all the affairs of this life. 14:82.
A firm, unchangeable course of righteousness through life is what secures to a person true intelligence. 8:32.
Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods, and become associated with the highest intelligencies that dwell in eternity. We are now in the school, and must practice upon what we receive. 8:160.
When we have faith to understand that he must dictate, and that we must be perfectly submissive to him, then we shall begin to rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion. All the knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the nations of the earth, from the {378} days of Adam till now, must be gathered home to Zion. 8:278.
This people have embraced the philosophy of eternal lives, and in view of this we should cease to be children and become philosophers, understanding our own existence, its purpose and intimate design, then our days will not become a blank through ignorance, but every day will bring with it its useful and profitable employment. God has placed us here, given us the ability we possess, and supplied the means upon which we can operate to produce social, national, and eternal happiness. 9:190.
When a man is capable of correcting you, and of giving you light, and true doctrine, do not get up an altercation, but submit to be taught like little children, and strive with all your might to understand. 1:47.
Learning a, b, c, d, does not hinder me learning e, f, g. 16:27.
A Religion of Improvement--Ours is a religion of improvement; it is not contracted and confined; but is calculated to expand the minds of the children of men and lead them up into the state of intelligence that will be an honor to our being. 10:290.
Every art and science known and studied by the children of men is comprised within the Gospel. Where did the knowledge come from which has enabled man to accomplish such great achievements in science and mechanism within the last few years? We know that knowledge is from God, but why do they not acknowledge him? Because they are blind to their own interests, they do not see and understand things as they are. Who taught men to chain the lightning? Did man unaided of himself discover that? No, he received the knowledge from the Supreme {379} Being. From him, too, has every art and science proceeded, although the credit is given to this individual, and that individual. But where did they get the knowledge from, have they it in and of themselves? No, they must acknowledge that, if they cannot make one spear of grass grow, nor one hair white or black without artificial aid, they are dependent upon the Supreme Being just the same as the poor and the ignorant. Where have we received the knowledge to construct the labor-saving machinery for which the present age is remarkable? From Heaven. Where have we received our knowledge of astronomy, or the power to make glasses to penetrate the immensity of space? We received it from the same Being that Moses, and those who were before him, received their knowledge from; the same Being who told Noah that the world should be drowned and its people destroyed. From him has every astronomer, artist and mechanician that ever lived on the earth obtained his knowledge. By him, too, has the power to receive from one another, been bestowed, and to search into the deep things pertaining to this earth and every principle connected with it. 12:257.
It is highly gratifying to the Lord, to angels, and to all good men, to see intelligent beings organized to receive a great amount of intelligence--seeking to possess eternal life. 8:136.
The Lord has chosen the poor of this world,--rich in faith--and the time will come when he will give the earth to his poor for an everlasting inheritance. I speak this for the comfort of my brethren and sisters who have been poor. They have come here, and what do we see? The youth, the middle-aged and the old improving in letters, in mechanism and in the arts and sciences. We bring them {380} here to improve them, and if the Lord will bless us sufficiently, and the people will bless themselves, we will have a nation that understands all things pertaining to the earth that it is possible for man to grasp. Will this people be praiseworthy? Yes, and honored and honorable. Will they be looked to as examples? Yes; and it is the duty of the Latter-day Saints to live their religion so that all the world can say there is a pattern for us, not only in our business and worship, but in our knowledge of things that are, things that have been and of things that are yet to come, until the knowledge of Zion shall reach the uttermost parts of the earth, and the kings and great men shall say, "Let us go up to Zion and learn wisdom." 12:257.
The greatest difficulty we have to meet is what may be termed ignorance, or want of understanding in the people. 7:63.
Not only does the religion of Jesus Christ make the people acquainted with the things of God, and develop within them moral excellence and purity, but it holds out every encouragement and inducement possible, for them to increase in knowledge and intelligence, in every branch of mechanism, or in the arts and sciences, for all wisdom, and all the arts and sciences in the world are from God, and are designed for the good of his people. 13:147.
Knowledge to be Sought--The religion embraced by the Latter-day Saints, if only slightly understood, prompts them to search diligently after knowledge. There is no other people in existence more eager to see, hear, learn, and understand truth. 8:6.
Let there be a mutual desire in every man to disseminate knowledge, that all may know. I have always followed {381} out the rule of dispensing what I know to others, and been blessed in so doing. 9:370.
Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then distribute your knowledge to the people. 8:146.
We, who believe in and have obeyed this Gospel, look forward with the anticipation of obtaining a great amount of knowledge and wisdom. When we embraced the Gospel, the spirit opened up to our minds the fact that the wisdom, the knowledge and the power of God would increase in the midst of the Saints. This is our experience, knowing for myself, what the Spirit of the Lord brings to the understanding, testify what it reveals to others. 18:236.
Let us train our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely and holy, seeking continually after that intelligence which will enable us effectually to build up Zion, which consists in building houses, tabernacles, temples, streets, and every convenience and necessity to embellish and beautify, seeking to do the will of the Lord all the days of our lives, improving our minds in all scientific and mechanical knowledge, seeking diligently to understand the great design and plan of all created things, that we may know what to do with our lives and how to improve upon the facilities placed within our reach. 10:177.
If we wish to be taught, to receive, and understand, we must train ourselves. 6:99.
We are in a great school, and we should be diligent to learn, and continue to store up the knowledge of heaven and of earth, and read good books, although I cannot say that I would recommend the reading of all books, for it is not all books which are good. Read good books, and extract {382} from them wisdom and understanding as much as you possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God. 12:124.
Every man and woman that has talent and hides it will be called a slothful servant. Improve day by day upon the capital you have. In proportion as we are capacitated to receive, so it is our duty to do. 7:7.
It is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists, or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church (Jesus, their Elder Brother, being at their head) to gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we preach, to mechanism of every kind, to the sciences, and to philosophy, wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and bring it to Zion. 7:283.
Continuous Education--This is our labor, our business, and our calling--to grow in grace and in knowledge from day to day and from year to year. 6:268.
I shall not cease learning while I live, nor when I arrive in the spirit-world; but shall there learn with greater facility; and when I again receive my body, I shall learn a thousand times more in a thousand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, but shall still continue my researches. 8:10.
We shall never see the time when we shall not need to be taught, nor when there will not be an object to be gained. I never expect to see the time that there will not {383} be a superior power and a superior knowledge, and, consequently, incitements to further progress and further improvement. 10:221.
If I do not learn what is in the world, from first to last, somebody will be wiser than I am. I intend to know the whole of it, both good and bad. Shall I practice evil? No; neither have I told you to practice it, but to learn by the light of truth every principle there is in existence in the world. 2:94.
We need constant instruction, and our great heavenly Teacher requires of us to be diligent pupils in his school, that we may in time reach his glorified presence. If we will not lay to heart the rules of education which our Teacher gives us to study, and continue to advance from one branch of learning to another, we never can be scholars of the first class and become endowed with the science, power, excellency, brightness and glory of the heavenly hosts; and unless we are educated as they are, we cannot associate with them. 10:266.
And inasmuch as the Lord Almighty has designed us to know all that is in the earth, both the good and the evil, and to learn not only what is in heaven, but what is in hell, you need not expect ever to get through learning. Though I mean to learn all that is in heaven, earth, and hell. Do I need to commit iniquity to do it? No. If I were to go into the bowels of hell to find out what is there, that does not make it necessary that I should commit one evil, or blaspheme in any way the name of my Maker. 2:94.
The extent of knowledge incorporated within the salvation extended to the children of men, will vastly exceed the researches of the human family, and when they have {384} passed the veil, they will then understand that they have but just commenced to learn. Brother Morley says he never expects to be too old to learn; I believe that doctrine.
Could we live to the age of Methuselah, and eat the fruits which the earth would produce in her strength, as did Adam and Eve before the transgression, and spend our lives in searching after the principles of eternal life, we would find, when one eternity had passed to us, that we had been but children thus far, babies just commencing to learn the things which pertain to the eternities of the Gods.
We might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it: never, never. 3:202.
If we continue to learn all that we can, pertaining to the salvation which is purchased and presented to us through the Son of God, is there a time when a person will cease to learn? Yes, when he has sinned against God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost--God's minister; when he has denied the Lord, defied him and committed the sin that in the Bible is termed the unpardonable sin--the sin against the Holy Ghost. That is the time when a person will cease to learn, and from that time forth, will descend in ignorance, forgetting that which they formerly knew. They will cease to increase, but must decrease. These are the only characters who will ever cease to learn, both in time and eternity. 3:203.
I ask, have the great and learned men completed their education? No, they are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1:70.
I will not say, as do many, that the more I learn the more I am satisfied that I know nothing; for the more I learn the more I discern an eternity of knowledge to improve upon. {385}
One scholar in a school may far outstrip the rest; but give them sufficient time, and they can learn what the quick, bright scholar has learned so easily and quickly. If we are capacitated to learn one thing today, we can learn another tomorrow. It is the height of folly to say that a man can only learn so much and no more. The further literary men advance in their studies, the more they discern there is to learn, and the more anxious they are to learn.
We may live here year after year, and store up knowledge all the time, and yet not have an opportunity of exhibiting it to others; it is on hand; whenever the time comes it should be used. 6:274.
Experience has taught us that it requires time to acquire certain branches of mechanism, also all principles and ideas that we wish to become masters of. The closer people apply their minds to any correct purpose the faster they can grow and increase in the knowledge of the truth. When they learn to master their feelings, they can soon learn to master their reflections and thoughts in the degree requisite for attaining the objects they are seeking. But while they yield to a feeling or spirit that distracts their minds from a subject they wish to study and learn, so long they will never gain the mastery of their minds. 6:94.
No matter what your circumstances ate, whether you are in prosperity or in adversity, you can learn from every person, transaction, and circumstance around you. 4:287.
Effects of Education--The results of the education and traditions of the inhabitants of the earth, are interwoven with their feelings, and are like a cloak that envelops them, in the capacity of societies, neighborhoods, people, or individuals; they frame that kind of government and religion, {386} and pursue that course collectively or individually, that seemeth good to themselves. 3:88.
Every principle of true philosophy convinces a person who understands the spirit of the Gospel and has received the good word of life, that the darkness is in proportion to the light that has been forsaken. Rear a child in a cell which only admits a small glimmer of light, and the child will pass its time with some degree of satisfaction, when a person accustomed to the bright light of day could not at first see anything. And the greater the light bestowed upon an individual or upon a people, the greater the darkness when that light is forsaken. 8:121.
Will education feed and clothe you, keep you warm on a cold day, or enable you to build a house? Not at all. Should we cry down education on this account? No. What is it for? The improvement of the mind; to instruct us in all arts and sciences, in the history of the world, in the laws of nations; to enable us to understand the laws and principles of life, and how to be useful while we live. 14:83.
What is the religion of the day? What are all the civil laws and governments of the day? They are merely traditions, without a single exception. Do the people realize this--that it is the force of their education that makes right and wrong with them? It is not the line which the Lord has drawn out; it is not the law which the Lord has given them; it is not the righteousness which is according to the character of him who has created all things, and by his own law governs and controls all things; but by the prejudice of education--the prepossessed feeling that is begotten in the hearts of the children of men, by surrounding objects. 3:86.
If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous principles {387} he had imbibed through education, and oppose those principles, some might imagine that I was opposed to that man, when, in fact, I am only opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances. 6:331.
There is not a law of God, nor a law of any nation that exercises so strong an influence upon us as do our traditions at times, to, bind us to certain customs, habits and ceremonies. 8:58.
Educate our Children--Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, obey his doctrine, cease your warring and contention, beat your swords into ploughshares and your spears into pruning hooks; make railroads, build colleges, teach the children, give them the learning of the world and the things of God; elevate their minds, that they may not only understand the earth we walk upon, but the air we breathe, the water we drink, and all the elements pertaining to the earth; and then search other worlds, and become acquainted with the planetary system, the dwellings of the angels and the heavenly beings, that they may ultimately be prepared for a higher state of being, and finally be associated with them. I wish we would do it; I pray the Lord to do it, but he will not, unless we help him. 14:210.
The education of our children is worthy of our attention, and the instruction of the Elders from this stand. It is a subject that should be thoroughly impressed upon the minds of parents and the rising generation; and those who wish to preach from this text may do so. 13:262.
It is a duty we owe to our children to educate and train them in every principle of honor and good manners, in a knowledge of God and his ways, and in popular school education. I am happy to hear the little children sing, and {388} hope they are also learning to read and write, and are progressing in every useful branch of learning. 11:111.
See that your children are properly educated in the rudiments of their mother tongue, and then let them proceed to higher branches of learning; let them become more informed in every department of true and useful learning than their fathers are. When they have become well acquainted with their language, let them study other languages, and make themselves fully acquainted with the manners, customs, laws, governments and literature of other nations, peoples, and tongues. Let them also learn all the truth pertaining to the arts and sciences, and how to apply the same to their temporal wants. Let them study things that are upon the earth, that are in the earth, and that are in the heavens. 8:9.
I wish this people to pay particular attention to the education of their children. If we can do no more, we should give them the facilities of a common education, that when our sons are sent into the world as ministers of salvation and as representatives of the Kingdom of God in the mountains, they can mingle with the best society and intelligibly and sensibly present the principles of truth to mankind, for all truth is the offspring of heaven, and is incorporated in the religion which we have embraced.
Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment in mathematics, music, and in all science and art belongs to the Saints, and they should avail themselves as expeditiously as possible of the wealth of knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and persevering scholar. 10:224.
The education of youth is an important text for the brethren to preach from. A very high value should be {389} placed upon it by the Saints. We have the privilege of enjoying the spirit of revelation and the knowledge which comes from above, and in addition to this, every branch of education known in the world should be taught among and acquired by us. 13:263.
My policy is to keep everybody busy in building up this Kingdom; in building houses; in breaking up land; in setting out fruit and ornamental trees; in laying out fine gardens, pleasant walks, and beautiful groves; and in building academies and other places of learning.
There are hundreds of young men here who can go to school, which is far better than to waste their time. Study languages, get knowledge and understanding; and while doing this, get wisdom from God, and forget it not, and learn how to apply it, that you may be good with it all the days of your lives. 2:145.
Establish Schools--Is it not a blessing to have schools in our community, where our teachers can teach our children correct principles, and impart to them education that will be useful? 8:92.
Let a few schools be started by those who are capable of teaching the sciences. The science of architecture, for instance, is worthy the attention of every student. It yields a great amount of real pleasure to be able to understand the grand architectural designs of those magnificent structures that are scattered over Europe and other countries. 9:173.
Go to work and start some schools, go to school and study; have the girls go, and teach them chemistry, so that they can take any of these rocks and analyze them. The sciences can be learned without much difficulty. I want to have schools to entertain the minds of the people and draw {390} them out to learn the arts and sciences. Send the old children to school, and the young ones also; there is nothing I would like better than to learn chemistry, botany, geology, and mineralogy, so that I could tell what I walk on, the properties of the air I breathe, what I drink, etc. 16:170.
Let our teachers ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to bestow upon them and upon their scholars the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence from heaven; ask for skill to control and ability to teach on the part of the teacher, and willingness to be controlled and adaptability to be taught on the part of the scholars. Let parents aid the teacher in his labors, by seeing that their children attend school punctually, with a proper supply of books, slates, pencils, etc., and permit not a good diligent, faithful school-teacher to suffer for the common necessaries of life, while he is laboring to educate and bless their children. 9:369.
I will now urge it upon the people--the young men and middle-aged--to get up schools and study. If they are disposed to study physic or surgery, all right; they will know then what to do if a person is sickly, or has his elbow, wrist, or shoulder put out of joint, or his arm or any bone broken. It is just as important to learn such things as it is to learn to plant potatoes. Pay more attention to arithmetic and other things that are useful, instead of acquiring a little French and German and other fanciful studies that are not of so much practical importance. I do not know how long it will be before we call upon the brethren and sisters to enter upon business in an entirely different way from what they have done. I have been an advocate for our printing to be done by females, and as for men being in stores, you might as well set them to knitting stockings as to sell tape. Such business ought to be done by the sisters. It would {391} enable them to sustain themselves, and would be far better than for them to spend their time in the parlor or in walking the streets. Hardy men have no business behind the counter; they who are not able to hoe potatoes, go to the canyon, cut down the trees, saw the lumber, etc., can attend to that business. Study arithmetic and bookkeeping. Introduce stenography into every school; it is an excellent thing to learn. By its means we can commit our thoughts and reflections to paper with ease and rapidity, and thus preserve that which will be of benefit to ourselves and others, and which would otherwise be forever lost. Introduce every kind of useful studies into our schools. Get up classes for the study of law. The laws of this Territory, of the United States, of the different States, of England, and foreign lands. Do this instead of riding over the prairies hunting and wasting your time, which is property that belongs to the Lord our God, and if we do not make good use of it we shall be held accountable. 12:31-32.
Let good schools be established throughout all the settlements of the Saints in Utah. Let good teachers, who are Latter-day Saints in principle and at heart, be employed to educate our children. A good school teacher is one of the most essential members in society; he relieves parents, in part, of a great responsibility and labor; we should, therefore, make the business of school teaching a permanent institution, and the remuneration should be in amount and in kind equal to the receipts of our best mechanics; it should also be promptly and willingly paid, and school commissioners and trustees should see to it that teachers are properly qualified and do earn their pay. Could I have my wish, I would introduce into our system of education every real improvement. 10:225. {392}
Understand men and women as they are, and not understand them as you are. 8:37.
What to Study--It is our privilege and our duty to search all things upon the face of the earth, and learn what there is for man to enjoy, what God has ordained for the benefit and happiness of mankind, and then make use of it without sinning against him. 9:243.
Learn everything that the children of men know, and be prepared for the most refined society upon the face of the earth, then improve upon this until we are prepared and permitted to enter the society of the blessed--the holy angels that dwell in the presence of God, for our God, because of his purity, is a consuming fire. 16:77.
We should be a people of profound learning pertaining to the things of the world. We should be familiar with the various languages, for we wish to send missionaries to the different nations and to the islands of the sea. We wish missionaries who may go to France to be able to speak the French language fluently, and those who may go to Germany, Italy, Spain, and so on to all nations, to be familiar with the languages of those nations.
We also wish them to understand the geography, habits, customs, and laws of nations and kingdoms, whether they be barbarians or civilized. This is recommended in the revelations given to us. In them we are taught to study the best books, that we may become as well acquainted with the geography of the world as we are with our gardens, and as families with the people--so far at least as they are portrayed in print--as we are with our families and neighbors. 8:40.
How gladly would we understand every principle pertaining to science and art, and become thoroughly acquainted {393} with every intricate operation of nature, and with all the chemical changes that are constantly going on around us! How delightful this would be, and what a boundless field of truth and power is open for us to explore! We are only just approaching the shores of the vast ocean of information that pertains to this physical world, to say nothing of that which pertains to the heavens, to angels and celestial beings, to the place of their habitation, to the manner of their life, and their progress to still higher degrees of perfection. 9:167.
Our education should be such as to improve our minds and fit us for increased usefulness; to make us of greater service to the human family; to enable us to stop our rude methods of living, speaking, and thinking. 14:83.
Learn to be good for something. 11:298.
If we could only learn enough to be self-preserving and self-sustaining, we should then have learned what the Gods have learned before us, and what we must eventually learn before we can be exalted. 9:169.
Learn all you can. Learn how to raise calves, chickens, lambs, and all kinds of useful fowls and animals; learn how to till the ground to the best advantage for raising all useful products of the soil; and learn how to manufacture molasses and sugar from the sugar-cane. Raise flax, husbands, and let your wives learn to manufacture fine linen. 9:173.
Let the boys from ten to twenty years of age get up schools to learn sword exercise, musket and rifle exercise, and, in short, every act of war. Shall we need this knowledge? No matter; it is good to be acquainted with this kind of exercise. 9:173.
If I could get my own feelings answered I would have law in our school books, and have our youth study law at {394} school. Then lead their minds to study the decisions and counsels of the just and the wise, and not forever be studying how to get the advantage of their neighbor. This is wisdom. 16:9.
I have a few things to lay before the Conference, one of which is--and I think my brethren will agree with me that this is wise and practicable--for from one to five thousand of our young and middle-aged men to turn their attention to the study of law. I would not speak lightly in the least of law, we are sustained by it; but what is called the practice of law is not always the administration of justice, and would not be so considered in many courts. 16:9.
Every Elder should have at least one trade, and if possible more than one. 10:77.
I am happy to see our children engaged in the study and practice of music. Let them be educated in every useful branch of learning, for we, as a people, have in the future to excel the nations of the earth in religion, science and philosophy. Great advancement has been made in knowledge by the learned of this world, still there is yet much to learn. The hidden powers of nature which give life, growth, and existence to all things have not yet been approached by the wisdom of this world. There exists around us, in the works of God, an everlasting variety--no two leaves, no two blades of grass are alike. Natural philosophy, so far as known, marks these phenomena of nature, and reveals her wonders, but is incapable of revealing the modus operandi of the production.
Let the children in our schools be taught everything that is necessary with regard to doctrine and principle, and then how to live; and let mothers teach their daughters regarding themselves, and how they should live in their {395} sphere of existence, that they may be good wives and good mothers. Let the sisters study economy in the labor and management of their homes. I am satisfied that more than one-half of the labor that is done in our houses can be saved by a judicious exercise of thought and good judgment Then be wise in these things, and we shall not need tea and coffee, or any other stimulant stronger than our natural food. 12:122-123.
Study to apply your labor to advantage, and you will accomplish much more, without wearing yourselves out so fast. If you have to roll a log, cut down a tree, etc., study how to take advantage of the work. Contrive to accomplish your work with the least expenditure of strength. 8:297.
I would advise you to read books that are worth reading; read reliable history, and search wisdom out of the best books you can procure. 9:173.
"Shall I sit down and read the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Covenants all the time?" says one. Yes, if you please, and when you have done, you may be nothing but a sectarian after all. It is your duty to study to know everything upon the face of the earth in addition to reading those books. We should not only study good, and its effects upon our race, but also evil, and its consequences. 2:93-94.
All men should study to learn the nature of mankind, and to discern that divinity inherent in them. A spirit and power of research is planted within, yet they remain undeveloped. 7:1.
Novel reading--is it profitable? I would rather that persons read novels than read nothing. 9:173.
I hope to see the time when we shall have a reformation {396} in the orthography of the English language, among this people, for it is greatly needed. Such a reformation would be a great benefit, and would make the acquirement of an education much easier than at present. 12:174.
I long for the time that a point of the finger, or motion of the hand, will express every idea without utterance. When a man is full of the light of eternity, then the eye is not the only medium through which he sees, his ear is not the only medium by which he hears, nor the brain the only means by which he understands. When the whole body is full of the Holy Ghost, he can see behind him with as much ease, without turning, his head, as he can see before him. If, you have not that experience, you ought to have. It is not the optic nerve alone that gives the knowledge of surrounding objects to the mind, but it is that which God has placed in man--a system of intelligence that attracts knowledge, as light cleaves to light, intelligence to intelligence, and truth to truth. It is this which lays in man a proper foundation for all education. I shall yet see the time that I can converse with this people, and not speak to them, but the expression of my countenance will tell the congregation what I wish to convey, without opening my mouth.
Religious Education--We have established a school in Salt Lake City for the instruction of the Elders of Israel in the doctrines which are contained in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and book of Doctrine and Covenants, etc., and that is also the place where questions may be asked, and instructions given touching all doctrines and principles that may be entertained by them. That is also the place where correction may be given and explanations be made upon all matters which pertain to the temporal and spiritual lives {397} of the Saints. It is about two months since that school was established. 12:159.
We are starting the School of the Prophets. We have been in this school all the time. The revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ to the human family are all the learning we can ever possess. Much of this knowledge is obtained from books, which have been written by men who have contemplated deeply on various subjects, and the revelation of Jesus have opened their minds, whether they knew it or acknowledged it or not. We will start this School of the Prophets to increase in knowledge. 12:1106.
There are a great many branches of education: some go to college to learn languages, some to study law, some to study physic, and some to study astronomy, and various other branches of science. We want every branch of science taught in this place that is taught in the world. But our favorite study is that branch which particularly belongs to the Elders of Israel--namely, theology. Every Elder should become a profound theologian--should understand this branch better than all the world. 6:317.
The Christian world is actually coming to the point that they will dismiss the Bible from their schools; and by and by they will dismiss it from their pulpits and get one to suit themselves; they will hew out for themselves cisterns that will hold no water. 13:213.
Science and Religion--I am not astonished that infidelity prevails to a great extent among the inhabitants of the earth, for the religious teachers of the people advance many ideas and notions for truth which are in opposition to and contradict facts demonstrated by science, and which are generally understood. You take, for instance, our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has been in existence {398} for thousands and millions of years. They think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has; and they say, "If the Lord, as religionists declare, made the earth out of nothing in six days, six thousand years ago, our studies are all vain; but by what we can learn from nature and the immutable laws of the Creator as revealed therein, we know that your theories are incorrect and consequently we must reject your religions as false and vain; we must be what you call infidels, with the demonstrated truths of science in our possession; or, rejecting those truths, become enthusiasts in, what you call, Christianity."
In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is true science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are; they are facts--they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by which the worlds were, are, or will exist. There is an eternity before us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the Lord and his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and organized this earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not for me to say, and I do not care anything about it. As for the Bible account of the creation we may say that the Lord gave it to Moses. If we understood the process of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would be all reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to {399} the ignorant. This we know by what we have learned naturally since we have had a being on the earth. We can now take a hymn book and read its contents; but if we had never learned letters and knew nothing about type or paper or their uses, and should take up a book and look at it, it would be a great mystery; and still more so would it be to see a person read line after line, and give expression therefrom to the sentiments of himself or others. But this is no mystery to us now, because we have learned our letters, and then learned to place those letters into syllables, the syllables into words, and the words into sentences.
Fifty or a hundred years ago, if any one had told the people of the East Indies that water could be congealed, and form ice so thick and hard that you could walk on and drive teams over it, they would probably have said, "We do not believe a word of it." Why? Because they did not know anything about it. A proper reply for all mankind to make under similar circumstances would be, "We do not know anything about what you say, and do not know whether we should have faith in it or not. Perhaps we should, but we have no evidence at present on which to found such a belief." You go down south here among some of our native Indian tribes, where some of the very best of blankets are made, and you will find them twisting their yarn with their fingers and little sticks, and their loom attached to the limbs of trees for weaving purposes. Show them a loom such as white people use, and it would be a perfect mystery to them. Sixty or seventy years ago a loom worked by water power would have been a mystery to an American, but there is no mystery in that today, because the process is understood. So it is with the East Indians and ice, for the chemist now, by a chemical {400} process, will congeal the water and make ice of it before their eyes, and it is in this way, by testimony, evidence, and demonstration that ignorance and prejudice are removed, faith implanted and knowledge acquired. It is so with regard to all the facts in existence that we do not understand. 14:115.
There is no ingenious mind that has ever invented anything beneficial to the human family but what he obtained it from the one Source, whether he knows or believes it or not. There is only one Source whence men obtain wisdom, and that is God, the Fountain of all wisdom; and though men may claim to make their discoveries by their own wisdom, by meditation and reflection, they are indebted to our Father in Heaven for all. 13:148.
It has been observed here this morning that we are called fanatics. Bless me! That is nothing. Who has not been called a fanatic who has discovered anything new in philosophy or science? We have all read of Galileo the astronomer, who, contrary to the system of astronomy that had been received for ages before his day, taught that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of our planetary system? For this the learned astronomer was called "fanatic," and subjected to persecution and imprisonment of the most rigorous character. So it has been with others who have discovered and explained new truths in science and philosophy which have been in opposition to long-established theories; and the opposition they have encountered has endured until the truth of their discoveries has been demonstrated by time. The term "fanatic" is not applied to professors of religion only. How was it with Dr. Morse, when shut up in the attic of an old building in Baltimore for more {401} than a year, with a little wire stretched round the room, experimenting upon it with his battery, he told a friend that by means of that he could sit there and talk to Congress in Washington? Was he not considered a fanatic, and wild, and crazy? Certainly he was; and so it was with Robert Fulton, when he was conducting his experiments with steam and endeavoring to apply it so as to propel a vessel through the water. And all great discoverers in art, science, or mechanism have been denounced as fanatics and crazy; and it has been declared by their contemporaries that they did not know what they were saying, and they were thought to be almost as wild and incoherent as the generality of the people now think George Francis Train to be. 13:270.
How difficult it is to teach the natural man, who comprehends nothing more than that which he sees with the natural eye! How hard it is for him to believe! How difficult would be the task to make the philosopher, who, for many years, has argued himself into the belief that his spirit is no more after his body sleeps in the grave, believe that his intelligence came from eternity, and is as eternal, in its nature, as the elements, or as the Gods. Such doctrine by him would be considered vanity and foolishness, it would be entirely beyond his comprehension. It is difficult, indeed, to remove an opinion or belief into which he has argued himself from the mind of the natural man. Talk to him about angels, heavens, God, immortality, and eternal lives, and it is like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal to his ears; it has no music to him; there is nothing in it that charms his senses, soothes his feelings, attracts his attention, or engages his affections, in the least; to him it is all vanity. 1:2. {402}
True principles will abide, while all false principles will fall with those who choose and cleave to them. 7:65.
We should seek substantial information, and trust little to that kind of so-called learning that is based upon theory. We should pluck fruit from the tree of knowledge, and taste, then shall our eyes be open to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand. I would recommend the same course to those who have not embraced and tasted the sweets of "Mormonism." We should get wisdom by reading and by study. We should introduce the best books into our schools for the education and improvement of our children. Let our school teachers seek constantly to fasten upon the young mind useful information, and banish from their schools, every study that only tends to perplex the student and waste his valuable time. 9:369.
The Body and the Mind--Some think too much, and should labor more, others labor too much and should think more, and thus maintain an equilibrium between the mental and physical members of the individual; then you will enjoy health and vigor, will be active, and ready to discern truly, and judge quickly. Men who do much thinking, philosophers for instance, should apply their bodies to more manual labor in order to make their bodies more healthy and their minds more vigorous and active. 3:248.
Studies in Sunday Schools--We wish in our Sunday and day schools, that they who are inclined to any particular branch of study may have the privilege to study it. 13:61.
Wisdom--The person that applies his heart to wisdom, and seeks diligently for understanding, will grow to be mighty in Israel. 3:363.
Let wisdom be sown in your hearts, and let it bring forth a bountiful harvest. It is more profitable to you than {403} all the gold and silver and other riches of earth. Let wisdom spring up in your hearts, and cultivate it. 8:140.
After all our endeavors to obtain wisdom from the best books, etc., there still remains an open fountain for all; "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God." Let every Latter-day Saint constantly practice himself in the performance of every good word and work, to acknowledge God to be God, to be strict in keeping his laws, and learning to love mercy, eschew evil and delight in constantly doing that which is pleasing to God. This is the only sure way to obtain influence with God and all good men. 9:370.
As we prepare materials to build a house or temple, so man can prepare himself for the reception of eternal wisdom. We go where the materials for a house are, and prepare them to answer our purpose; so we may go to where eternal wisdom dwells and there diligently seek to possess it, for its price is above rubies. 9:250.
Who is it that understands wisdom before God? In some respects we have to define it for ourselves--each for himself--according to our own views, judgment and faith, and the observance of the Word of Wisdom or the interpretation of God's requirements on this subject, must be left partially, with the people. 14:20.
It is our privilege to be as wise in our generation as the children of this world; and not only so, but it is our duty to be as wise in our generation as the children of this world. We have the true light and knowledge and we ought to know as much as the philosophical world, or as any other people on the earth. We ought at least to know as much about politics as do the political world, or as do any other people. I expect that we do; and if we only apply our minds in the proper time and channel, we know as much {404} about the Christian world as do any other people, and we ought to know as much about the whole world as do any other people. In fact, we ought to know more upon all those matters than any other people; for we are privileged with far superior advantages, through faith and obedience to the Gospel. 4:356.
We pray for wisdom, but God will as soon put bread and meat in our cupboards without any endeavor of ours, as he will give us wisdom without our trying to get it. If a man wants a farm, let him make it; if he wishes an orchard he plants it; if he wants a house for his family to live in, he must gather the materials and build it. He will give us wisdom in these things, but he will not come down to do the manual labor. 9:250.
This people are increasing in the wisdom which cometh from God, and their power to organize the crude elements around them into the necessaries of life is in ratio to their increase of intelligence and application of labor. In this way we ought to understand these great principles. We need not seek for a revelation to know how to make cloth, when the mode is plainly marked before our eyes. Sheep produce a textile material, and how to make it into cloth has been known time out of mind; we can raise sheep in abundance. I do not look for power from the heavens that will produce for us wool, cloth, iron, food, or anything we need, without being made with hands. We should understand what is required of us to sustain ourselves. 9:255.
It is the privilege of man to search out the wisdom of God pertaining to the earth and the heavens. 9:242.
Real wisdom is a real pleasure; real wisdom, prudence, and understanding, is a real comfort. 19:96.
I want our children to go and hear all there is to hear, {405} for the whole sum of it will be wound up as I once heard one of the finest speakers America has ever produced say, when speaking on the soul of man. After laboring long on the subject, he straightened himself up--he was a fine looking man--and, said he, "My brethren and sisters, I must come to the conclusion that the soul of man is an immaterial substance." Said I, "Bah!" 14:198. {406}
Chapter XXIII
SELF CONTROL
The Will of Man--You call it will. It is the divinity God has placed in his intelligent creatures. 8:209.
Have we a will? Yes. It is an endowment, a trait of the character of the Gods, with which all intelligence is endowed, in heaven and on earth,--the power to accept or reject. 9:106.
God has placed within us a will, and we should be satisfied to have it controlled by the will of the Almighty. Let the human will be indomitable for right. It has been the custom of parents to break the will until it is weakened, and the noble, God-like powers of the child are reduced to a comparative state of imbecility and cowardice. Let that heaven-born property of human agents be properly tempered and wisely directed, instead of pursuing the opposite course, and it will conquer in the cause of right. Break not the spirit of any person, but guide it to feel that it is its greatest delight and highest ambition to be controlled by the revelations of Jesus Christ, then the will of man becomes God-like in overcoming the evil that is sown in the flesh, until God shall reign within us to will and do of his good pleasure. 9:150.
Take people in every capacity of life, and their wills are first and foremost. You can gain and lead the affections of the people, but you cannot scare them, nor whip them, nor burn them to do right against their wills. The human family will die to gratify their wills. Then learn to rightly direct those wills, and you can direct the influence and power of the people. 8:363. {407}
There is no man or woman on the earth in the habit of stealing, but what can cease the practice right square if they are disposed. And so with the liar, he can stop lying, and lie no more, and tell the truth. It only wants the will to do it, and that will brought into exercise to enable the liar to be truthful, the thief to be honest, and the swearer to stop his evil speaking. 18:77.
We want the spirit, knowledge, power and principle within us to govern and control our tempers; there is no danger of having too much if we will only control them by the Spirit of the Almighty. Every intelligent being on the earth is tempered for glory, beauty, excellency and knowledge here, and for immortality and eternal lives in the worlds to come. But every being who attains to this must be sanctified before God and be completely under the control of his Spirit. If I am thus controlled by the Spirit of the Most High, I am a king. I am supreme so far as the control of self is concerned; and it also enables me to control my wives and children. And when they thus see that I am under the government and control of the good Spirit, they will be perfectly submissive to my dictates. 13:272.
Now I charge you again, and I charge myself not to get angry. Never let anger arise in your hearts. No, Brigham, never let anger arise in your heart, never, never! Although you may be called upon to chastise and to speak to the people sharply, do not let anger arise in you, no, never! 14:156.
Self Control Necessary--We are trying to govern ourselves, and if we continue trying and faint not, we shall assuredly conquer. 11:256.
Let the people study to bring their thinking or reflecting faculties into subjection. 6:94.
Learn to control yourselves; learn to be in the hands of {408} God as clay in the hands of the potter; and if he will turn our enemies away, praised be his name. But if it should become a duty to take the sword, let us do it manfully and in the strength of Israel's God. 5:229.
I answer, it is the absolute and imperative duty of the Elders of Israel to try and control themselves and their families and their brethren, until they can hold control over all things in righteousness. 10:333.
I have frequently said that the greatest endowment God ever gave to man is good, sound, solid sense to know how to govern ourselves. 9:250.
No man can ever become a ruler in the Kingdom of God, until he can perfectly rule himself; then is he capable of raising a family of children who will rise up and call him blessed. 9:334.
No man ever did, or ever will rule judiciously on this earth, with honor to himself and glory to his God, unless he first learn to rule and control himself. A man must first learn to rule himself rightly before his knowledge can be fully brought to bear for the correct government of a family, a neighborhood, or nation, over which it is his lot to preside. 3:256.
In this probation, we have evil to contend with, and we must overcome it in ourselves, or we never shall overcome it anywhere else. 6:99.
You have been taught the standard of right. Now subdue your rebellious passions, dismiss everything that you know or consider to be wrong, and embrace that which is better. 6:74.
Let each person be determined, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to overcome every besetment--to be the master of himself, that the Spirit God has put in your tabernacles {409} shall rule; then you can converse, live, labor, go here or there, do this or that, and converse and deal with your brethren as you ought. 8:139.
You cannot inherit eternal life, unless your appetites are brought in subjection to the spirit that lives within you, that spirit which our Father in Heaven gave. I mean the Father of your spirits, of those spirits which he has put into these tabernacles. The tabernacle must be brought in subjection to the spirit perfectly, or your bodies cannot be raised to inherit eternal life; if they do come forth, they must dwell in a lower kingdom. Seek diligently, until you bring all into subjection to the law of Christ. 4:200.
We often hear people excuse themselves for their uncouth manners and offensive language, by remarking "I am no hypocrite," thus taking to themselves credit for that which is really no credit to them. When evil arises within me, let me throw a cloak over it, subdue it, instead of acting it out upon the false presumption that I am honest and no hypocrite. Let not thy tongue give utterance to the evil that is in thine heart, but command thy tongue to be silent until good shall prevail over the evil, until thy wrath has passed away and the good Spirit shall move thy tongue to blessings and words of kindness. So far I believe in being a hypocrite. This is practical with me. When my feelings are aroused to anger by the ill-doings of others, I hold them as I would hold a wild horse, and I gain the victory. Some think and say that it makes them feel better when they are mad, as they call it, to give vent to their madness in abusive and unbecoming language. This, however, is a mistake. Instead of its making you feel better, it is making bad worse. When you think and say it makes you better you give credit to a falsehood. When the wrath {410} and bitterness of the human heart are moulded into words and hurled with violence at one another, without any check or hindrance, the fire has no sooner expended itself than it is again re-kindled through some trifling course, until the course of nature is set on fire; "and it is set on fire of hell." 11:255.
Be patient; do not murmur at the dealings of Providence. The Lord rules in the heavens and works his pleasure upon the earth. Can you comprehend the meaning of the Prophet Amos in the question: "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" His providences are constantly ruling and overruling, to a greater or less degree, in the affairs of the children of men. 7:237.
The sooner an individual resists temptation to do, say, or think wrong, while he has light to correct his judgment, the quicker he will gain strength and power to overcome every temptation to evil. 6:94.
I am trying to civilize myself. Are you trying to do the same? If we have succeeded in this, then we have control over our words and over our actions, and also, so far as our influence goes, over our associates. If we are civilized ourselves, we shall be partially prepared to receive the things that our Father and God has in store for all such as prepare themselves to become recipients of his choice gifts--for enlightenment, for intelligence, for glory, for power, and for every qualification he wishes to bestow upon his children here upon the earth, to prepare them to dwell in mansions of eternal light. 8:7.
Until we can subdue our own passions, and bring every human feeling and aspiration into subjection to the will of God, we are not really capable of guiding and dictating others to the full possession of victory in the Kingdom of God. {411} To conquer and subdue, and school ourselves until we bring everything into subjection to the law of Christ, is our work. 11:13.
The thousands and tens of thousands of incidents that make up the sum of human lives, whether for good or evil, depend on a momentary watchfulness and care. 8:52.
A righteous person will never be discouraged, but will constantly contend against his evil passions, and against evil in his family and neighborhood; and the Lord will utterly cleanse his thrashing floor as with the besom of destruction. 8:151.
Many men will say they have a violent temper, and try to excuse themselves for actions of which they are ashamed. I will say, there is not a man in this house who has a more indomitable and unyielding temper than myself. But there is not a man in the world who cannot overcome his passion, if he will struggle earnestly to do so. If you find passion coming on you, go off to some place where you cannot be heard; let none of your family see you or hear you, while it is upon you, but struggle till it leaves you; and pray for strength to overcome. As I have said many times to the Elders, pray in your families; and if, when the time for prayer comes, you have not the spirit of prayer upon you, and your knees are unwilling to bow, say to them "Knees, get down there;" make them bend, and remain there until you obtain the Spirit of the Lord. If the spirit yields to the body, it becomes corrupt; but if the body yields to the spirit it becomes pure and holy. 11:290.
Thirty years' experience has taught me that every moment of my life must be holiness to the Lord, resulting from equity, justice, mercy, and uprightness in all my actions, {412} which is the only course by which I can preserve the Spirit of the Almighty to myself. 9:220.
Check Your Words--If you first gain power to check your words, you will then begin to have power to check your judgment, and at length actually gain power to check your thoughts and reflections. 6:98.
You should succeed in bringing your tongues into subjection, so as never to let them speak evil, so that they will perfectly obey your judgment and the discretion God has given you, and are perfectly obedient to the will of the holy Gospel. 3:195.
There is an old maxim, and in many cases an excellent one. It is, "Think twice before you speak, and three times before you act." If we train ourselves to think what we are about to do, before we do it, and have understanding to know, and power to perform the good, we can thereby avoid the evil that is present with us. 1:92.
It is also a precious gift, that some people seem to be possessed of, to have knowledge enough not to talk until they can say something to advantage and benefit to themselves, or others, or both. 9:86.
If any are in the habit of taking the name of God in vain, cease doing so today, tomorrow and throughout the coming week, and so continue, and you will soon gain strength to overcome the habit entirely; you will gain power over your words. Some are in the habit of talking about their neighbors, of vending stories they know nothing about, only that Aunt Sally said that Cousin Fanny told Aunt Betsy that old Aunt Ruth said something or other, or somebody had had a dream; and by the time the story or dream reaches you, it has assumed the semblance of a fact, and you are very foolishly spending your time in {413} talking about things that amount to nothing, or that you have no concern with. A report is started that such a one has done wrong, and, by the time it has gone its round, has become anointed with the salve of the backbiter and talebearer--become endowed with their spirit. One and another falls in with it and says, "That is true--your cause is just, you are exactly right, and the other is surely wrong," when they know nothing about the matter, thereby engendering entirely groundless ill feelings against each other. Before we condemn, we should wait until the heavens clearly indicate a fault in a father, brother, sister, wife, husband, or neighbor. And if heaven declares a fault, wait until the Holy Ghost manifests to you that such is a fault. Let the Father reveal to you that the person you are thinking or talking about is actually wrong. Traduce no person. When you know what right is, and are capable of correcting a person that is wrong, then it is time enough for you to judge. 6:97-98.
Cease Your Anger--No man or people possessing wisdom will give vent to wrath, for that is calculated to weaken, to destroy, to blot out of existence. 7:10.
Cease your anger, and sullenness of temper, and serve the Lord with cheerfulness, and singleness of heart. You need not expect salvation, except you can administer the same salvation to others, both in precept and example. If you expect compassion from me, administer the same to me. If you wish kind words and kind treatment from me, give me the same blessing you desire yourself; and that is the way you will be saved. 1:245.
Do not get so angry that you cannot pray; do not allow yourselves to become so angry that you cannot feed an enemy--even your worst enemy, if an opportunity should {414} present itself. There is a wicked anger, and there is a righteous anger. The Lord does not suffer wicked anger to be in his heart; but there is anger in his bosom, and he will hold a controversy with the nations, and will sift them, and no power can stay his hand. 5:228.
If you give way to your angry feelings, it sets on fire the whole course of nature, and is set on fire of hell; and you are then apt to set those on fire who are contending with you. When you feel as though you would burst, tell the old boiler to burst, and just laugh at the temptation to speak evil. If you will continue to do that, you will soon be so masters of yourselves as to be able, if not to tame, to control your tongues--able to speak when you ought, and to be silent when you ought. 6:75.
Learn to Know Ourselves--The greatest lesson you can learn is to know yourselves. When we know ourselves, we know our neighbors. When we know precisely how to deal with ourselves, we know how to deal with our neighbors. You have come here to learn this. You cannot learn it immediately, neither can all the philosophy of the age teach it to you; you have to come here to get a practical experience and to know yourselves. You will then begin to learn more perfectly the things of God. No being can thoroughly know himself, without understanding more or less of the things of God; neither can any being learn and understand the things of God, without knowing himself: he must know himself, or he never can know God. 8:334.
But people cannot judge themselves as they can others, nor look upon their own conduct as they do upon the conduct of others. We must learn to look at ourselves, to judge ourselves, and know how to deal with ourselves and {415} that will enable us to bring ourselves into perfect subjection to the law of Christ. 6:73.
There is a trait in the character of man which is frequently made manifest in the Saints. It is simply this--to see faults in others when we do not examine our own. When you see people, professing to be Latter-day Saints, examining the faults of others, you may know that they are not walking in the path of obedience as strictly as they should. 11:292.
Let Us Mind Our Own Business--I will repeat part of the "Mormon Creed," viz: "Let every man mind his own business." If this is observed, every man will have business sufficient on hand, so as not to afford time to trouble himself with the business of other people. 2:92-93.
If we will faithfully mind our own concerns, live our religion, do good to all men, preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth, gather up the honest in heart, build up and establish Zion in the earth, and send the Gospel to the House of Israel, and live and serve God in all things, all will be well with us, we have no cause for fear in the least. 19:5.
The question may be asked: "Are we never to know the doings of others? Are we never to look to see how others are walking and progressing in this Gospel? Must we forever and forever confine our minds to thinking of ourselves, and our eyes to looking at ourselves?" I can merely say that if persons only understand the path of duty and walk therein, attending strictly to whatever is required of them, they will have plenty to do to examine themselves and to purify their own hearts; and if they look at their neighbors and examine their conduct, they will look for good and not for evil. 11:292. {416}
My position in the presence of God, before the angels and upon the face of the earth, is that it is easier and more delightful to serve God than to serve ourselves and the Devil. 13:1. {417}
Chapter XXIV
OUR FELLOW MEN
Love Each Other--Go on until we are perfect, loving our neighbor more than we love ourselves. 19:49.
Put away all unkind feelings, and let all your meditations be correct. 8:72.
It is folly in the extreme for persons to say that they love God; when they do not love their brethren; and it is of no use for them to say that they have confidence in God, when they have none in righteous men. 4:297.
We are not here isolated and alone, differently formed and composed of different material from the rest of the human race. We belong to and are part of this family, consequently we are under obligations one to another, and the Latter-day Saints in these mountains are under obligations to their brethren and sisters scattered in the nations who, through indigent circumstances, are unable to gather to themselves the comforts of life. 13:301.
Be just as independent as a God to do good. Love mercy, eschew evil, be a savior to yourselves and to your families, and to your fellow beings just as much as you possibly can, and go on with your independence and do not yield yourselves servants to obey an evil principle or an evil being. 15:7.
It should be satisfactory evidence that you are in the path of life, if you love God and your brethren with all your hearts. You may see, or think you see, a thousand faults in your brethren; yet they are organized as you are; they are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone; they are of your Father who is in heaven; we are all his children, and {418} should be satisfied with each other as far as possible. The main difficulty in the hearts of those who are dissatisfied is, they are not satisfied with themselves. 8:287.
We should commence our labors of love and kindness with the family to which we belong; and then extend them to others. 11:288.
A man or woman who has embraced, and who enjoys, the principles of this Church, ought to live like an angel. They ought never to be angry with each other, but live in the light of the truth continually, and every man be kind to his neighbor. 1:245.
The Latter-day Saints have got to learn that the interest of their brethren is their own interest, or they never can be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. 3:331.
Let us have compassion upon each other, and let the strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves. 10:213.
When you see a neighbor begin to slip, pray for him that he may have the Spirit of the Gospel as he once had. And if you feel this Spirit within yourselves, pray for an increase of that light you received when you first received the Gospel, and you will save yourself and house. 8:164.
Envy not those who do better than you do; do not pursue them with malice, but try to shape and frame your life by theirs. 11:256.
Reason as to why it is that you can remember an injury better than a kindness; why you can retain hatred longer than love. Is it through your fallen nature? Is it because you were begotten and born in sin? Or is it not rather because the power of the tempter has control over you, and because the world is full of evil principles, and you have {419} adhered to them? Yes, this is the cause, and you must acknowledge it. The whole world is contaminated with a spirit to remember evil and forget the good. 3:356.
I have examined myself very closely; I have been trying to know myself, to govern myself, and purify my own heart. The worst evil I can imagine or wish to come upon the enemies of truth is, that they be obliged to live by holy principles, and to deal by their fellow-creatures as they would wish to be dealt by. 8:13-14.
Be kind to all as our Father in Heaven is kind. He sends his rain upon the just and the unjust; and gives the sun to shine upon the evil and the good. So let our goodness extend to all the works of his hands, where we can; but do not yield to the spirit and influence of evil. Do not encourage wickedness in our midst. 12:220.
Do I say, Love your enemies? Yes, upon certain principles. But you are not required to love their wickedness; you are only required to love them so far as concerns a desire and effort to turn them from their evil ways, that they may be saved through obedience to the Gospel. 8:71.
If there is nothing in the heart which governs us, and controls to an evil effect, the tongue of itself will never produce evil. 3:196.
Let Us Be Merciful--The genius of our religion is to have mercy upon all, do good to all, as far as they will let us do good to them. 11:282.
God bless the humble and the righteous, and may he have compassion upon us because of the weakness that is in our nature. And considering the great weakness and ignorance of mortals, let us have mercy upon each other. 9:158.
Let us be just, merciful, faithful and true, and let us {420} live our religion, and we shall be taught all things pertaining to the building up of Zion. 10:177.
The merciful man shall find mercy. When a man designedly does wrong, he ought to be chastised for that wrong, receiving according to his works. If a man does wrong through ignorance, and manifests sincere sorrow for the wrong, he is the one whom we should forgive seventy times in a day, if necessary, and not the one who has designedly done wrong and repents not. 7:244.
Men should act upon the principle of righteousness, because it is right, and is a principle which they love to cherish and see practiced by all men. They should love mercy, because of its benevolence, charity, love, clemency, and all of its lovely attributes, and be inspired thereby to deal justly, fairly, honorably, meting out to others their just deservings. 1:119.
When we hold unrighteous, ungodly persons in fellowship, it injures the whole body of Christ; but we do it because we have compassion for them. 10:284.
Be steadfast, always abiding in the truth. Never encourage malice or hatred in your hearts; that does not belong to a Saint. I can say in truth, that with all the abuse I have ever met, driven from my home, robbed of my substance, I do not know that a spirit of malice has ever rested in my heart. I have asked the Lord to mete out justice to those who have oppressed us, and the Lord will take his own time and way for doing this. It is in his hands, and not in mine, and I am glad of it, for I could not deal with the wicked as they should be dealt with. 10:297.
Show Charity--Only a few men on the earth understand the charity that fills the bosom of our Savior. We should have charity; we should do all we can to reclaim the lost {421} sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, and bring them back to be saved in the presence of our Father and God. If we do this, our charity will extend to the utmost extent that it is designed for the charity of God to extend in the midst of this people. 8:175.
Let all Latter-day Saints learn that the weaknesses of their brethren are not sins. When men or women undesignedly commit a wrong, do not attribute that to them as a sin. Let us learn to be compassionate one with another; let mercy and kindness soften every angry and fretful temper, that we may become long suffering and beneficent in all our communications one with another. 9:334.
Let us be patient with one another. I do not altogether look at things as you do. My judgment is not in all things like yours, nor yours like mine. When you judge a man or woman, judge the intentions of the heart. It is not by words, particularly, nor by actions, that men will be judged in the great day of the Lord; but, in connection with words and actions, the sentiments and intentions of the heart will be taken, and by these will men be judged. 8:10.
Ye mighty men of God, make sure the path for your own feet to walk to eternal life, and take as many with you as you can. Take them as they are, understand them as they are, and deal with them as they are; look at them as God looks at them, and then you can judge them as he would judge them. 8:10.
Respect one another; do not speak lightly of each other. Some, if they get a little pique against an individual, are disposed to cast him down to hell, as not worthy of a place upon earth. O fools! not to understand that those you condemn are the workmanship of God, as well as yourselves! God overlooks their weaknesses; and so far as they do good, {422} they are as acceptable as we are. Thank God that you know better, and be full of mercy and kindness. 8:149.
Suppose that in this community there are ten beggars who beg from door to door for something to eat, and that nine of them are imposters who beg to escape work, and with an evil heart practice imposition upon the generous and sympathetic, and that only one of the ten who visit your doors is worthy of your bounty; which is best, to give food to the ten, to make sure of helping the truly needy one, or to repulse the ten because you do not know which is the worthy one? You will all say, administer charitable gifts to the ten, rather than turn away the only truly worthy and truly needy person among them. If you do this, it will make no difference in your blessings, whether you administer to worthy or unworthy persons, inasmuch as you give alms with a single eye to assist the truly needy. 8:12.
My experience has taught me, and it has become a principle with me, that it is never any benefit to give, out and out, to man or woman, money, food, clothing, or anything else, if they are able-bodied, and can work and earn what they need, when there is anything on the earth, for them to do. This is my principle, and I try to act upon it. To pursue a contrary course would ruin any community in the world and make them idlers. People trained in this way have no interest in working; "but," say they, "we can beg, or we can get this, that, or the other." No, my plan and counsel would be, let every person, able to work, work and earn what he needs; and if the poor come around me--able-bodied men and women--take them and put them into the house. "Do you need them?" No; but I will teach this girl to do housework, and teach that woman to sew and do other kinds of work, that they may be profitable when they {423} get married or go for themselves. "Will you give them anything to wear?" O, yes make them comfortable, give them plenty to eat and teach them to labor and earn what they need; for the bone and sinew of men and women are the capital of the world. 11:297.
To give to the idler is as wicked as anything else. Never give anything to the idler. 16:19.
Set the poor to work--setting out orchards, splitting rails, digging ditches, making fences, or anything useful, and so enable them to buy meal and flour and the necessaries of life. 12:60-61.
Have the poor got greedy eyes? Are they covetous and penurious? I shall go a little too far if I am not careful. I must guard myself, because the Lord has chosen the poor of this world. But what kind of poor? Now the poor may be divided into three classes. In the first place there is the Lord's poor, of which you may pick up one here and another there, one in a city, two in a family. Is there any other kind? Yes, you come across a certain class that may be called the Devil's poor. Is there any other class? Yes, there is another class, who, long before I ever mentioned them, were denominated poor devils. Hence we have the Lord's poor, the Devil's poor, and poor devils. 12:57.
Establish Confidence--Preserve your honor, and your integrity, and ever cherish the confidence that men repose in you. 11:256.
Want of confidence is the parent of moral imbecility and intellectual weakness. 10:20.
But if we lack confidence in each other, and be jealous of each other, our peace will be destroyed. If we cultivate the principles of unshaken confidence in each other, our joy will be full. 1:33. {424}
If we could obtain that faith and confidence in each other, and in our God, that when we ask a favor, we could do so with a full assurance and knowledge that we should receive, do you not perceive that it would lead us directly to do as we would be done by, in every transaction and circumstance of life? It would prompt us to do, not only as much as requested, but more. If your brother should request you to go with him a mile, you would go two; if he should sue you for your coat, you would give him your cloak also. This principle prompts us to do all we can to promote the interest of each other, the cause of God on the earth, and whatever the Lord desires us to do; makes us ready and willing to perform it at once. 1:115.
If you wish to establish a confidence such as the Gods enjoy, let us cease from every evil act, and from the contemplation of every evil design; never infringe upon another's rights, but let each one sustain his brother in the enjoyment of his privileges and rights, holding them as sacred as our own salvation. If confidence has been lost, this is the surest and only successful way to restore it. Hear it, ye preachers, ye Apostles, and Prophets; ye Elders, High Priests, and Seventies; ye Priests, Teachers, Deacons, and Bishops; every man and woman in the Church of God throughout the world; commence to preach this discourse at home, beginning with your own heart; then teach your wives and your children; then let it spread its warning and cheering influence, like the genial sunbeam, from family to family, until the whole Church of-Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is united as the heart of one man. 1:315.
Let us from this time forth live so as to create confidence in all men with whom we deal and come in contact; and treasure up each particle of confidence we obtain as {425} one of the most precious possessions mortals can possibly possess. When by my good actions I have created confidence in my neighbor towards me, I pray that I may never do anything that will destroy it. 11:256.
The work in which you and I have enlisted is to restore confidence in the minds of the people; and when I hear of circumstances transpiring in which brethren forfeit their word I regard it as a blot upon the character of this people. We should keep our word with each other. And if we have difficulty or misunderstanding with each other, talk it over, canvass the subject thoroughly, seriously and discreetly, and we shall find that all difficulties will be remedied in this way easier than any other; and we shall also find that nearly every difficulty that arises in the midst of the inhabitants of the earth, is through misunderstanding; and if a wrong in intent and design really exists, if the matter is canvassed over, the wrong-doer is generally willing to come to terms. 14:278.
Avoid Contention--I consider it as a disgrace to the community, and in the eyes of the Lord, and of angels, and in the eyes of all the Prophets and Revelators that have ever lived upon the earth, when a community will descend to a low, degraded state of contention with each other. 1:32.
I wish men would look upon that eternity which is before them. In the great morning of the resurrection, with what grief would they look upon their little trifling affairs of this probation; they would say, "O! do not mention it, for it is a source of mortification to me to think that I ever should be guilty of doing wrong, or of neglecting to do good to my fellowmen, even if they have abused me." 1:32:
When a difference of judgment exists between two {426} parties, let them come together and lay their difficulties at each other's feet, laying themselves down in the cradle of humility, and say, "brother (or sister) I want to do right; yea, I will even wrong myself, to make you right." Do you not think that a man or woman, acting in that manner towards his or her neighbor, would be justified by the law of righteousness? Their judgments come together, and they are agreed: there would, consequently, be no need of calling in a third person to settle the difference. After taking this course, if you cannot come together, then call in a third person and settle it. 6:319.
Contentions frequently arise to so alienating a degree that brethren have no faith in each other's honesty and integrity, when, perhaps, both parties have stumbled over a little, selfish, ignorant, personal misunderstanding, are carrying it to the extent of wishing to cut each other off from the Church. Very frequently such cases are presented before me. Unravel the difficulty, and it is found to have started in a trifling misunderstanding in relation to some small matter; all the trouble has arisen from a most frivolous cause. Avoid nursing misunderstandings into difficulties. Some talk with a heavy, deep stress upon their words, without intending anything harsh or unkind. 8:72.
If your neighbors talk about you, and you think that they do wrong in speaking evil of you, do not let them know that you ever heard a word, and conduct yourselves as if they always did right, and it will mortify them, and they will say, "We'll not try this game any longer." 19:70.
Let us make ourselves capable of doing at least a little good, and this will occupy our minds upon something that is indeed profitable to others, and will somewhat divert our {427} attention from worshiping ourselves and blaming everybody that does not do the same. 10:205.
Now, if you do not want to quarrel, take measures to prevent it. 12:315.
Do Not Deal Out Judgment--Cease looking at others. Cease to judge each other. 6:74.
Kindness, love, and affection are the best rod to use upon the refractory. 9:195.
Away with all little meannesses, and deal out kindness to all. Chasten, where chastening will answer best; but try persuasion before you try the rod. 8:63.
Do not throw away a man or a woman, old or young. If they commit an evil today, and another tomorrow, but wish to be Saints and to be forgiven, do you forgive them, not only seven times, but seventy times seven in a-day, if their hearts are fully set to do right. Let us make it a point to pass over their weaknesses and say, "God bless you in trying to be better in time to come," and act as wise stewards in the Kingdom of God. 8:368.
You are not as you should be, unless you can correct every person you know to be wrong, without having personal ill-feelings against them. 8:191.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. Let no man judge his fellow being, unless he knows he has the mind of Christ within him. We ought to reflect seriously upon this point; how often it is said--"Such a person has done wrong, and he cannot be a Saint, or he would not do so." How do you know? We hear some swear and lie; they trample upon the rights of their neighbor, break the Sabbath by staying away from meeting, riding about the city, hunting horses and cattle, or working in the canyons. Do not judge such persons, for you do not know the design of the Lord {428} concerning them; therefore, do not say they are not Saints. What shall we do with them? Bear with them. The brethren and sisters from the old countries frequently place great confidence in the American Elders who have been their pastors, but some trifling thing occurs that does not appear right to them, and they say in a moment, "That Elder is not a Latter-day Saint." Judge no man. A person who would say another is not a Latter-day Saint, for some trifling affair in human life proves that he does not possess the Spirit of God. Think of this, brethren and sisters; write it down, that you may refresh your memories with it; carry it with you and look at it often. If I judge my brethren and sisters, unless I judge them by the revelations of Jesus Christ, I have not the spirit of Christ; if I had, I should judge no man. 1:339.
I am very thankful that it is not our province, in our present condition, to judge the world; if it were, we would ruin everything. We have not sufficient wisdom, our minds are not filled with the knowledge and power of God; the spirit needs to contend with the flesh a little more until it shall be successful in subduing its passions, until the whole soul is brought into perfect harmony with the mind and will of God. And we must also acquire the discretion that God exercises in being able to look into futurity, and to ascertain and know the results of our acts away in the future, even in eternity, before we will be capable of judging. 19:7.
If you are ever called upon to chasten a person, never chasten beyond the balm you have within you to bind up. 9:124-5.
When a man has power over his neighbor, over his fellow-being, and puts him in torment, which is like the {429} flames of everlasting fire, so that he never dares to speak his mind, or walk across the street, or attend to any branch of business without a continual fear of his oppressor, and of the rod hanging over him for punishment, it is worse than to kill and eat him. That is as the torment of hell. 2:140.
Respect for Neighbors--Treat the passing strangers with kindness and respect; treat all kindly and respectfully who respect you and your rights as American citizens. 10:249.
Here is truth--here are life and salvation. Will you have them? If you say, "Nay," all right; for you have the privilege of making your own choice. It has never altered my feelings towards individuals, as men or as women, whether they believe as I do or not. Can you live as neighbors with me? I can with you; and it is no particular concern of mine whether you believe with me or not. 7:165.
In our intercourse with outsiders--do not call them Gentiles--let our example be such as is worthy of imitation; then every one among them who is honest will say, "I guess you are right, I think I will come and stay with you." 12:273.
Lady and Gentleman Defined--Now, my brethren and sisters, from the high and from the lower circles of life, find if you can on the face of the earth a gentleman or lady, in the strict sense of the word, and you will find a man or woman that would border very closely on an angel. Every word that they speak will be seasoned with grace; every act of their lives would be as nigh as mortals can come to angels; nothing pertaining to them low, degrading or disgraceful. You find a gentleman and you will find a man who possesses a heart full of charity, faith and love, full of {430} good works, whose hand is always open to do good to every creature. You find a lady, and she is one who is ready to impart wisdom, knowledge, truth, and every virtuous and holy principle to her sisters and her fellow beings. These are the true lady and gentleman; but they are of a higher order than those we now call ladies and gentlemen. 12:259.
The Negro--The seed of Ham, which is the seed of Cain descending through Ham, will, according to the curse put upon him, serve his brethren, and be a "servant of servants" to his fellow-creatures, until God removes the curse; and no power can hinder it. 2:184.
The Generous Nature--It floods my heart with sorrow to see so many Elders of Israel who wish everybody to come to their standard and be measured by their measure. Every man must be just so long, to fit their iron bedstead, or be cut off to the right length; if too short, he must be stretched, to fill the requirement.
The faithful will exercise faith, and pray always for all who are within the reach of mercy. The good desire good to all. 11:273.
If they see an erring brother or sister, whose course does not comport with their particular ideas of things, they conclude at once that he or she cannot be a Saint, and withdraw their fellowship, concluding that, if they are in the path of truth, others must have precisely their weight and dimensions.
The ignorance I see, in this particular, among this great people is lamentable. Let us not narrow ourselves up; for the world, with all its variety of useful information and its rich hoard of hidden treasure, is before us; and eternity, with all its sparkling intelligence, lofty aspirations, and unspeakable glories, is before us, and ready to aid us in the {431} scale of advancement and every useful improvement. 8:9.
Serve the Lord, and try not to find fault with each other. Live so that you will not have any fault to find with yourselves, and never mind the faults of your brethren, for each person has enough of his own to attend to. 8:291.
To be gentle and kind, modest and truthful, to be full of faith and integrity, doing no wrong is of God; goodness sheds a halo of loveliness around every person who possesses it, making their countenances beam with light, and their society desirable because of its excellency. They are loved of God, of holy angels, and of all the good on earth, while they are hated, envied, admired and feared by the wicked. 11:240.
We ought to be ourselves and not anybody else. We do not wish to be anybody else, neither do we wish to be anybody but Saints. 3:363.
Every moment of human life should be devoted to doing good somewhere and in some way. 9:296.
If every person in the community would correct his own errors each day he lives, the errors of the whole would continually be effectually corrected. It is an individual business, over which each man must preside, until every fault in our whole lives is corrected and we are sanctified before the Lord. 6:316.
It is good to hold on to an old friend; and, no matter how many new friends I have, I always hold fast to the old ones, and never let them go, unless their wicked conduct breaks the thread of fellowship between us. 10:42.
What comes of litigation? Poverty and degradation to any community that will encourage it. Will it build cities, open farms, build railroads, erect telegraph lines and {432} improve a country? It will not; but it will bring any community to ruin. 11:259.
He will bless any man, any family, or any people who is liberal. As it is written in the good book, "The liberal man deviseth liberal things," and if he deviseth liberal things by his liberality he shall stand. The Lord will bless that people that is full of charity, kindness and good works. 13:279.
I also say, Cease speaking evil one of another, and cease being dishonest. Masters, deal honestly and justly with those whom you hire, who are called servants. Servants, deal honestly and uprightly with those who employ you, who are called masters, that confidence and the spirit of brotherhood may be kindled, where now, in too many instances, the desire to take advantage exists. 18:233. {432}
Chapter XXV
UNITY AND CO-OPERATION
Be of One Mind and One Heart--I pray, my brethren, the Bishops, the Elders, the Seventies, the Apostles, yea, every man and woman and child who has named the name of Christ, to be of one heart and of one mind, for if we do not become of one heart and mind we shall surely perish by the way. 12:156.
If we were one, we should then prove to heaven, to God our Father, to Jesus Christ our Elder Brother, to the angels, to the good upon the earth, and to all mankind that we are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are not one, we are not in the true sense of the word the disciples of the Lord Jesus. 11:273.
When truth comes, receive it as from the Lord, and let everything be simplified to us as unto children, for the Lord has ordained that we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth, and be able to receive more knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and it is not possible for us to receive it any other way, only as we apply our hearts strictly to overcome every evil and cleave to that which is pleasing to the Lord--to that which tends to life and salvation. This is the only channel in which we can become of one heart, and of one mind. 3:355.
Jesus offered up one of the most essential prayers that could possibly be offered up by a human or heavenly being--no matter who, pertaining to the salvation of the people, and embodying a principle without which none can be saved, when he prayed the Father to make his disciples one, as he and his Father were one. He knew that if they did {434} not become one, they could not be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. If persons do not see as he did while in the flesh, hear as he heard, understand as he understood, and become precisely as he was, according to their several capacities and callings, they can never dwell with him and his Father. 6:96.
The Church of Jesus Christ could not exist, and be divided up into parties. Where such disunion exists in any government, it ultimately becomes the means of the utter overthrow of that government or people, unless a timely remedy is applied. Party spirit once made its appearance in heaven, but was promptly checked. 9:332.
That perfect union, which must ultimately be enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints, can only be brought about by every man and woman living so as to keep their minds pure and unspotted like a piece of clean, white paper, being constantly free from the love of the world, that the spirit of revelation may easily indite upon the heart whatever is the mind and will of the Lord. We cannot be truly the members of Christ's mystical body without living in this way, that the Spirit may indite as easily upon the heart the things of God, as these brethren, our reporters can write with ink on paper. 11:19.
Perfect Oneness Will Save a People--We must become of one heart and mind, in order to fully enjoy the blessings we anticipate. 6:41.
If we are united, we are independent of the powers of hell and of the world. 5:257.
Unity of purpose and action, in carrying out the will of our Father, has been my theme all the day long. 18:356.
A perfect oneness will save a people, because intelligent beings cannot become perfectly one, only by acting upon {435} principles that pertain to eternal life. Wicked men may be partially united in evil; but, in the very nature of things, such a union is of short duration. The very principle upon which they are partially united will itself breed contention and disunion to destroy the temporary compact. Only the line of truth and righteousness can secure to any kingdom or people, either of earthly or heavenly existence, an eternal continuation of perfect union; for only truth and those who are sanctified by it can dwell in celestial glory. 7:277.
The Savior sought continually to impress upon the minds of his disciples that a perfect oneness reigned among all celestial beings--that the Father and the Son and their Minister, the Holy Ghost, were one in their administration in heaven and among the people pertaining to this earth. Between them and all the heavenly hosts there can be no disunion, no discord, no wavering on a suggestion, on a thought or reflection, on a feeling or manifestation; for such a principle would differ widely from the character of him who dictates them, who makes his throne the habitation of justice, mercy, equity, and truth. If the heavenly hosts were not one, they would be entirely unfit to dwell in the eternal burnings with the Father and Ruler of the universe. 7:276.
All who keep the faith are of one heart and one mind, and this testimony is so confirmed to all that we cannot be mistaken. 18:231.
How is it that the Latter-day Saints feel and understand alike, are of one heart and one mind, no matter where they may be when they receive the Gospel, whether in the north, or the south, the east or the west, even to the uttermost parts of the earth? They receive that which was promised by the Savior when he was about to leave the earth, namely, {436} the Comforter, that holy unction from on high which recognizes one God, one faith, one baptism, whose mind is the will of God the Father, in whom there dwelleth unity of faith and action, and in whom there cannot be division or confusion; when they received this further light, it matters not whether they have seen each other or not, they have at once become brothers and sisters, having been adopted into the family of Christ through the bonds of the everlasting covenant, and all can then exclaim, in the beautiful language of Ruth, "Thy people shall be my people, and their God my God!" And the fact that we receive this Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is proof that the spirit in warring with the flesh has overcome, and by continuing in this state of victory over our sinful bodies we become the sons and daughters of God. Christ having made us free, and whoever the Son makes free is free indeed. Having fought the good fight we then shall be prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the resurrection when they will come forth and be reunited with the spirits, the faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality and eternal lives, even a fulness with the Father, when Jesus shall present his work to the Father, saying, "Father, here is the work thou gavest me to do." Then will they become Gods, even the sons of God; then will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization they go from glory to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to multiply, worlds without end. When they receive their crowns, their dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our parents, by our Father and God. 18:259. {437}
To be a Saint is to be as Jesus was; to be assimilated to the spirit and character which he exhibited while here on earth. 12:310.
Unity in God's Work, the Strength of Zion--Who can resist the power possessed by the Latter-day Saints in their union? And the stronger our union, the more mighty are the bands of our strength. 9:241.
I wish the people to understand that they have no interest apart from the Lord our God. The moment you have a divided interest, that moment you sever yourselves from eternal principles. 4:31.
The faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is calculated to unite the people in one, and to bring them back to the unity and faith of those who obeyed the Gospel anciently, and finally to bring them back to glory. 5:228.
We have not in our society an aristocratic circle. Whether a brother wears a coon skin cap or a fine beaver hat is all the same to us. If a person is a faithful servant of God we do not object to his coming to meeting, though he has only a piece of buffalo skin to wear on his head. We partake of the Sacrament with him, hail him in the street as a brother and a friend, converse with him, meet with him in social parties and greet him as an equal. 9:188.
We have been gathered from many nations, and speak many languages; we have been ruled by different nationalities, and educated in different religions, yet we dwell together in Utah under one government, believe in the same God and worship him in the same way, and we are all one in Christ Jesus. The world wonder at this, and fear the union that prevails among this, as they are called, singular people. Why is this? It is because the Spirit of the Lord Almighty is in the people, and they follow its dictates, and {438} they hearken to the truth, and live by it; this unites them in one, and causeth them to dwell together in peace. 11:124.
I will give you a text: Except I am one with my good brethren, do not say that I am a Latter-day Saint. We must be one. Our faith must be concentrated in one great work--the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and our works must aim at the accomplishment of that great purpose. 7:280.
We have come here to build up Zion. How shall we do it? I have told you a great many times. There is one thing I will say in regard to it. We have got to be united in our efforts. We should go to work with a united faith like the heart of one man; and whatever we do should be performed in the name of the Lord, and we will then be blessed and prospered in all we do. We have a work on hand whose magnitude can hardly be told. 13:155.
Now, besides being our duty to pray, it is our duty to live in peace with one another. It is also our duty to love the Gospel and the spirit of the Gospel, so that we can become one in the Lord, not out of him, that our faith, our affections for the truth, the kingdom of heaven, our acts, all our labor will be concentrated in the salvation of the children of men, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. This is co-operation on a very large scale. This is the work of redemption that is entered into by the Latter-day Saints. Unitedly we perform these duties, we stand, we endure, we increase and multiply, we strengthen and spread abroad, and shall continue so to do until the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. 15:63.
To Saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, I wish here to offer one word of advice and counsel, by revealing the {439} mystery that abides with this people called Latter-day Saints; it is the Spirit of the living God that leads them; it is the Spirit of the Almighty that binds them together, it is the influence of the Holy Ghost that makes them love each other like little children; it is the Spirit of Jesus Christ that makes them willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Truth; and it was that same Spirit that caused Joseph, our martyred Prophet, to lay down his life for the testimony of what the Lord revealed to him. This mystery, the great mystery of "Mormonism," is, that the Spirit of the Lord binds the hearts of the people together. Let the world look at it. 1:145.
If we will live so that Christ can make us one through our obedience, where are wars and contentions? All will cease. Where is the spirit of bickering? There will be no more of it. 14:209.
The religion of heaven unites the hearts of the people and makes them one. You may gather a people together, and no matter-how widely they differ in politics, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will make them one, even if among them were found members of all the political parties in the country. If members of all these various organizations were to obey the Gospel and gather together, the religion of heaven would clear their hearts of all political rubbish and make them one in voting for principles and measures, instead of men, and I think that any religion that will not do this is very feeble in its effects. 14:159.
Advantage of Temporal Unity--Would you like to live at ease and get rich? Would you like to keep your homes in this city? I know you would. You can do so by being one in all things. 11:278.
I want you to be united. If we should build up and organize {440} a community, we would have to do it on the principle of oneness, and it is one of the simplest things I know of. A city of one hundred thousand or a million of people could be united into a perfect family, and they would work together as beautifully as the different parts of the carding machine work together. Why, we could organize millions into a family under the Order of Enoch. 16:170.
I can see no good accruing to this community in maintaining a divided interest; our interest must be one throughout, in order to produce the good we desire.
If we will work unitedly, we can work ourselves into wealth, health, prosperity and power, and this is required of us. It is the duty of a Saint of God to gain all the influence he can on this earth, and to use every particle of that influence to do good. If this is not his duty, I do not understand what the duty of man is. 12:376.
If we would work together in our farming, in our mechanism, be obedient and work as a family for the good of all, it would be almost impossible for anybody to guess the success we would have. But we have got to do it in the Lord. We must not do it with a covetous heart. Always be ready and willing that the Lord should have it all, and do what he pleases with it. I have asked a favor of the Lord in this thing, and that is not to place me in such circumstances that what he has given me shall go into the hands of our enemies. God forbid that! But let it go for the preaching of the Gospel, to sustain and to gather the poor, to build factories, make farms, and set the poor to work, as I have hundreds and thousands that had not anything to do. I have fed and clothed them and taken care of them until they have become comparatively independent. I have made no man poor, but thousands and thousands {441} rich, that is, the Lord has, through your humble servant. 15:166.
Suppose there was a union of effort in every political and financial matter undertaken for the benefit of the whole people, who cannot see the good that would result? We have tried this to some extent in relation to our markets here; but suppose we were fully agreed on the point, we could demand a fair price for our products, and we need not be imposed upon by traders and traffickers. If we were agreed we could supply ourselves from distant markets, say with our clothing, at a far less cost than now. 12:35.
Now the object is to improve the minds of the inhabitants of the earth, until we learn what we are here for, and become one before the Lord, that we may rejoice together and be equal. Not to make all poor, no. The whole world is before us. The earth is here, and the fulness thereof is here. It was made for man; and one man was not made to trample his fellowman under his feet, and enjoy all his heart desires, while the thousands suffer. We will take a moral view, a political view, and we see the inequality that exists in the human family. We take the inhabitants of the civilized world, and how many laboring men are there in proportion to the inhabitants? About one to every five that are producers, and the supposition is that ten hours work by the one to three persons in the twenty-four hours will support the five. It is an unequal condition to mankind. We see servants that labor early and late, and that have not the opportunity of measuring their hours ten in twenty-four. They cannot go to school, nor hardly get clothing to go to meeting in on the Sabbath. I have seen many cases of this kind in Europe, when the young lady would have to take her clothing on a Saturday night and {442} wash it, in order that she might go to meeting on the Sunday with a clean dress on. Who is she laboring for? For those who, many of them, are living in luxury. And, to serve the classes that are living on them, the poor, laboring men and women are toiling, working their lives out to earn that which will keep a little life within them. Is this equality? No. What is going to be done? The Latter-day Saints will never accomplish their mission until this inequality shall cease on the earth. 19:46.
Unity Does Not Mean Individual Uniformity--How could you ever get a people equal with regard to their possessions? They never can be, no more than they can be in the appearance of their faces. 4:29.
We never shall become one to that extent that we shall look alike or possess precisely the same mental power and ability; this is not the design of heaven. But we expect to become one in all our operations to bring forth the fulness of the Kingdom of God on the earth, that Jesus may come and reign King of nations as he does King of Saints. Shall we call this a union for political purposes? I say it is good policy for people to be of one heart and mind in all their operations. 12:35.
The Co-operative Movement--This co-operative movement is only a stepping stone to what is called the Order of Enoch, but which is in reality the Order of Heaven. It was revealed to Enoch when he built up his city and gathered the people together and sanctified them, so that they became so holy and pure that they could not live among the rest of the people and the Lord took them away. 13:2.
Now, I will tell you the facts about this movement. We started the co-operative system here when we thought we would wait no longer; we opened the Wholesale Co-operative {443} Store; and since that, retail stores have been established, although some of the latter were opened before the wholesale store was opened. I know this, that as soon as this movement was commenced the price of goods came down from twenty to thirty percent. I recollect very well, after our vote last October Conference, that it was soon buzzed around, "Why you can get calico down street at eighteen and seventeen cents a yard;" and it came down to sixteen. But when it came down to sixteen cents, who had a chance to buy any? Why, nobody unless it was just a few yards that were sold to them as a favor. But when it came to the Wholesale Co-operative Store the price was put at sixteen cents, and retail stores are selling it today at seventeen and a half or eighteen cents a yard. 12:373.
What I have in my mind with regard to this co-operative business is this: There are very few people who cannot get twenty-five dollars to put into one of these co-operative stores. There are hundreds and thousands of women who, by prudence and industry, can obtain this sum. And we say to you put your capital into one of these stores. What for? To bring you interest for your money. Put your time and talents to usury. We have the parable before us. If we have one, two, three or five talents, of what advantage will they be if we wrap them in a napkin and lay them away? None at all. Put them out to usury. These co-operative stores are instituted to give the poor a little advantage as well as the rich.
Brethren, if you will start here and operate together in farming, in making cheese, in herding sheep and cattle and every other kind of work, and get a factory here and cooperative store--I have been told there is no co-operative store here--get a good co-operative store, and operate together {444} in sheep-raising, store-keeping, manufacturing and everything else, no matter what it is, by-and-by, when we can plant ourselves upon a foundation that we cannot be broken up, we shall then proceed to arrange a family organization for which we are not yet quite prepared. You know, right here in this place, commence to carry on your business in a co-operative capacity. In every instance I could show every one of you what a great advantage would be gained in working together; I could reason it out here just how much advantage there is in co-operation in your lumbering and in your herding. You have men here, I suppose, who have had an arm shot off; they cannot go into the canyons and get out wood. Another, perhaps, has had a leg cut off; he cannot run here and there like some of you; but he can do something; he will make a first-rate shopman, and at keeping books, perhaps, he will be one of the best. He cannot take the scythe and mow; he cannot attend to a threshing machine; he cannot go into the woods lumbering; he could not herd well,--but he could go into the factory, and he can do many things. Well, we can do this and keep up co-operation. I can take fifty men who have not a cent, and if they would do as I would wish them to do, they would soon be worth their thousands, every one of them. 16:169.
I am prepared to prove to any sensible congregation, any good philosopher or thinking person or people, who have steady brain and nerve to look at things as they are, that can tell white from black and daylight from midnight darkness, that the closer the connection in a business point of view that a community hold themselves together, the greater will be their joy and wealth. I am prepared to prove, from all the facts that have existed or that now exist {445} in all branches of human affairs, that union is strength, and that division is weakness and confusion. 13:267.
If the people called Latter-day Saints do not become one in temporal things, as they are in spiritual things, they will not redeem and build up the Zion of God upon the earth. This co-operative movement is a stepping stone. We say to the people, take advantage of it, it is your privilege. Instead of giving it into the hands of a few individuals to make their hundreds and thousands, let the people generally, enjoy the benefit arising from the sale of merchandise. I have already told you that this will stop the operations of many little traders, but it will make them producers as well as consumers. You will find that if the people unitedly hearken to the counsel that is given them, it will not be long before the hats, caps, bonnets, boots and shoes, pants, coats, vests and underclothing of this entire community will all be made in our midst. 13:3. {446}
Chapter XXVI
THRIFT AND INDUSTRY
Faith and Works--They who secure eternal life are doers of the word as well as hearers. 14:37.
The grand difficulty with the people is they do not do quite as well as they know how; it is that which hinders us from accomplishing the work given us to do. 19:220.
Unless you improve upon it, every correct principle advanced through the authority of the holy Priesthood becomes to you a dead letter. But if you have the life within you, you, will grow, whether you stay at home or come to meeting; and every true principle, power, and manifestation that God gives you, you will improve upon and treasure up in your hearts. 8:120.
Know whether you ought to do a thing or not, and if you ought not, let it alone. That is the way to live. 14:161.
Time Should Be Spent Wisely--What have we? Our time. Spend it as you will. Time is given to you; and when this is spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth, it is placed to our account, and blessed are you; but when we spend our time in idleness and folly it will be placed against us. 19:75.
We have to give an account of the days we spend in folly. 19:75.
Idleness and wastefulness are not according to the rules of heaven. Preserve all you can, that you may have abundance to bless your friends and your enemies. 14:44.
Do those things that are necessary to be done and let those alone that are not necessary, and we shall accomplish more than we do now. 3:160. {447}
Of the time that is allotted to man here on the earth there is none to lose or to run to waste. After suitable rest and relaxation there is not a day, hour or minute that we should spend in idleness, but every minute of every day of our lives we should strive to improve our minds and to increase the faith of the holy Gospel, in charity, patience, and good works, that we may grow in the knowledge of the truth as it is spoken and prophesied of and written about. 13:310.
I told them that we brought nothing but knowledge to direct them in their labors and to teach them how to employ their time. This is the greatest wealth we possess--to know how to direct our labors rightly, spending every hour advantageously for the benefit of our wives and children and neighbors. 12:172.
Labor Indispensable--Is not the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God on earth a temporal labor all the time? It will be built up by physical force and means, by manual labor more than by any particular mental effort of the mind. 3:122.
Everything connected with building up Zion requires actual, severe labor. It is nonsense to talk about building up any kingdom except by labor; it requires the labor of every part of our organization, whether it be mental, physical, or spiritual, and that is the only way to build up the Kingdom of God. 3:122.
If we are to build up the Kingdom of God, or establish Zion upon the earth, we have to labor with our hands, plan with our minds, and devise ways and means to accomplish that object. 3:51.
You count me out fifty, a hundred, five hundred, or a thousand of the poorest men and women you can find in {448} this community; with the means that I have in my possession, I will take these ten, fifty, hundred, five hundred, or a thousand people, and put them to labor; but only enough to benefit their health and to make their food and sleep sweet unto them, and in ten years I will make that community wealthy. In ten years I will put six, a hundred, or a thousand individuals, whom we have to support now by donations, in a position not only to support themselves, but they shall be wealthy, shall ride in their carriages, have fine houses to live in, orchards to go to, flocks and herds and everything to make them comfortable. 14:88.
As was observed this morning, in a wholesome, lovely, excellent discourse, we will have to go to work and get the gold out of the mountains to lay down, if we ever walk in streets paved with gold. The angels that now walk in their golden streets, and they have the tree of life within their paradise, had to obtain that gold and put it there. When we have streets paved with gold, we will have placed it there ourselves. When we enjoy a Zion in its beauty and glory, it will be when we have built it. If we enjoy the Zion that we now anticipate, it will be after we redeem and prepare it. If we live in the city of the New Jerusalem, it will be because we lay the foundation and build it. If we do not as individuals complete that work, we shall lay the foundation for our children and our children's children, as Adam has. If we are to be saved in an ark, as Noah and his family were, it will be because we build it. If the Gospel is preached to the nations, it is because the Elders of Israel in their poverty, without purse or scrip, preach the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. 8:354-55.
My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc.; he {449} will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth, to make habitations, to procure a few boards to make a box, and when harvest comes, giving us the grain, it is for us to preserve it--to save the wheat until we have one, two, five, or seven years' provisions on hand, until there is enough of the staff of life saved by the people to bread themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety. 10:293.
Let Nothing Go To Waste--Take things calm and easy, pick up everything, let nothing go to waste. 14:88.
Never let anything go to waste. Be prudent, save everything, and what you get more than you can take care of yourselves, ask your neighbors to help you consume. 1:250.
Never consider that you have bread enough around you to suffer your children to waste a crust or a crumb of it. If a man is worth millions of bushels of wheat and corn, he is not wealthy enough to suffer his servant girl to sweep a single kernel of it into the fire; let it be eaten by something and pass again into the earth, and thus fulfil the purpose for which it grew. Remember it, do not waste anything, but take care of everything. 1:253.
There is not a family in this city, where there are two, three, four, or five persons, but what can save enough from their table, from the waste made by the children, and what must be swept in the fire and out of the door, to make pork sufficient to last them through the year, or at least all they should eat. 4:314.
Go to the poorest family in this community, and I will venture to say that they waste rags enough every year to buy the school books that are needed for their children, and do even more. 16:16. {450}
If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage. 11:301.
It is to our advantage to take good care of the blessings God bestows upon us; if we pursue the opposite course, we cut off the power and glory God designs we should inherit. It is through our own carefulness, frugality, and judgment which God has given us, that we are enabled to preserve our grain, our flocks and herds, wives and children, houses and lands, and increase them around us, continually gaining power and influence for ourselves as individuals and for the Kingdom of God as a whole. 9:171.
You may see some little girls around the streets here with their mothers' skirts on, or their sun bonnets, and with their aprons full of dirt. Your husbands buy you calico, but you do not know what to do with it. It is to be carefully worn until the last thread is worn out, and then put into the rag bag to make paper with. 4:319.
It is good policy and economy to sustain each other. 12:63.
Use just enough of your earnings to make your bodies and your families happy and comfortable, and save the residue. 9:295;
We Must be a Self-Sustaining People--We want you henceforth to be a self-sustaining people. Hear it, O Israel! hear it, neighbors, friends and enemies, this is what the Lord requires of this people. 12:285.
Ye Latter-day Saints, learn to sustain yourselves, produce everything you need to eat, drink or wear; and if you cannot obtain all you wish for today, learn to do without that which you cannot purchase and pay for; and bring {451} your minds into subjection that you must and will live within your means. 12:231.
Who are deserving of praise? The persons who take care of themselves or the ones who always trust in the great mercies of the Lord to take care of them? It is just as consistent to expect that the Lord will supply us with fruit when we do not plant the trees; or that when we do not plow and sow and are saved the labor of harvesting, we should cry to the Lord to save us from want, as to ask him to save us from the consequences of our own folly, disobedience and waste. 12:243-244.
Implicit faith and confidence in God is for you and me to do everything we can to sustain and preserve ourselves; and the community that works together, heart and hand, to accomplish this, their efforts will be like the efforts of one man. 4:25.
Brethren, learn. You have learned a good deal, it is true; but learn more; learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity. Sisters, do not ask your husbands to sell the last bushel of grain you have to buy something for you out of the stores, but aid your husbands in storing it up against a day of want, and always have a year's, or two, provision on hand. 12:204.
Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves. 9:172.
The first revelation given to Adam was of a temporal nature. Most of the revelations he received pertained to his life here. That was also the case in the revelations to Noah. We have but very few of the instructions the Lord gave to Enoch, concerning his city; but, doubtless, most of the revelations he received pertained to a temporal nature {452} and condition. And certainly the revelations Noah received, so far as in our possession, almost exclusively pertained to this life. The same principle was carried out in the days of Moses, and in the days of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We may say that eight or nine-tenths of the doctrines and principles set forth in the revelations given to those men were of a temporal nature.
As soon as Moses was called upon to go and deliver Israel, the revelations the Lord gave to him were of a temporal nature, pertaining to the temporal life of the children of Israel--instructing Moses how to deliver them from bondage and lead them from the servile state in which they then were. He taught them in the same manner while they were traveling through the wilderness; and so it continued down to the days of the judges, and then to Saul, whom the Lord permitted them to make a king, and then through the teachings of the Prophets. 6:170.
Whatever the Latter-day Saints have gained has been obtained by sheer wrestling and unconquerable resolution. 13:93.
As an instance, we have men who quarry rock out of the mountains; and we would say to those men, can you go and quarry rock without the suitable instruments? Says one, "I must have so many picks and wedges, and I must have so many drills of different sizes, and so many sledges and hammers." Another man says, "I am going to make the tools; I have the ability, and I will make the instruments from the ore in the mountain." You remember what Nephi did. When he came to the sea, and prepared to build his barge, the Lord showed him the ore, and Nephi made the tools with which he formed his barge. He did not have to go back to Jerusalem to get tools. I would like to see a {453} little more of that skill displayed here than I do at the present time. I am using this comparison to show that we, in our poverty, have this work to do. 8:354.
The Elements of Wealth are Around Us--I say to my brethren and sisters, come let us learn how to gather around us from the elements an abundance of every comfort of life, and convert them to our wants and happiness. Let us not remain ignorant, with the ignorant, but let us show the ignorant how to be wise. 10:6.
The Lord has done his share of the work; he has surrounded us with the elements containing wheat, meat, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the heavens through our faithfulness. In this way will the Lord bring again Zion upon the earth, and in no other. 9:283.
While we have a rich soil in this valley, and seed to put in the ground, we need not ask God to feed us, nor follow us round with a loaf of bread begging of us to eat it. He will not do it, neither would I, were I the Lord. We can feed ourselves here; and if we are ever placed in circumstances where we cannot, it will then be time enough for the Lord to work a miracle to sustain us. 1:108.
It is our duty to be active and diligent in doing everything we can to sustain ourselves, to build up his Kingdom, to defend ourselves against our enemies, to lay our plans wisely, and to prosecute every method that can be devised to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, and to sanctify and prepare ourselves to dwell in his presence. Yet, after all this, if the Lord should not help--if he should {454} not lend his aid to our endeavors, all our labors will prove in vain. 2:279-280.
This world is before us. The gold, silver and precious stones are in the mountains, in the rivers, in the plains, in the sands and in the waters, they all belong to this world, and you and I belong to this world. Is there enough to make each of us a finger ring? Certainly there is. Is there enough to make us a breast pin? Certainly there is. Is there enough to make jewelry for the ladies to set their diamonds and precious stones in? Certainly there is. Is there enough to make the silver plate, the spoons, platters, plates and knives and forks? There is. There is plenty of it in the earth for all these purposes. Then what on earth are you and I quarrelling about it for? Go to work systematically and take it from the mountains, and put it to the use that we want it, without contending against each other, and filching the pockets of each other. The world is full of it. If it goes from my pocket it is still in the world, it still belongs to-this little ball, this little speck in God's creation, so small that from the sun I expect you would have to have a telescope that would magnify it many times to see it; and from any of the fixed stars I do not expect that it has ever been seen, only by the celestials--mortals could not see this earth at that distance. And here people are contending, quarrelling, seeking how to get the advantage of each other, and how to get all the wealth there is in the world; wanting to rule nations, wanting to be president, king or ruler. What would they do if they were? Most of them would make everybody around them miserable, that is what they would do. There are very few men on the earth who try to make people happy. Occasionally there have been emperors and monarchs who have made {455} their people happy but they have been very rare. But suppose we go to work to gather up all that there is in the bosom and upon the surface of our mother earth and bring it into use, is there any lack? There is not, there is enough for all. Then do look at these things as they are, Latter-day Saints, and you who are not Latter-day Saints, look at things as they are. And I do hope and pray for your sakes, outsiders, and for the sakes of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, that we shall have good peace for a time here, so that we can build our furnaces, open our mines, make our railroads, till the soil, follow our mercantile business uninterrupted; that we may attend to the business of beautifying the earth. 15:19.
Agriculture--The increase of our children, and their growing up to maturity, increases our responsibilities. More land must be brought into cultivation to supply their wants. This will press the necessity of digging canals to guide the waters of our large streams over the immense tracts of bench and bottom lands which now lie waste. We want our children to remain near us, where there is an abundance of land and water, and not go hundreds of miles away to seek homes. In these great public improvements the people should enter with heart and soul, and freely invest in them their surplus property and means, and thus prepare to locate the vast multitudes of our children which are growing up, and strengthen our hands, and solidify still more--make still more compact our present organized spiritual and national institutions. 11:116.
You have a living off an acre and a quarter of land. Such a little farm well tilled and well managed, and the products of it economically applied, will do wonders towards keeping and educating a small family. Let the little {456} children do their part, when they are not engaged in their studies, in knitting their stockings and mittens, braiding straw for their hats, or spinning yarn for their frocks and underclothing. If this people would strictly observe these simple principles of economy, they would soon become so rich that they would not have room sufficient to hold their abundance; their store-houses would run over with fulness. 11:142.
Now, cultivate your farms and gardens well, and drive your stock to where they can live through the winter, if you have not feed for them. Do not keep so many cattle, or, in other words, more than you can well provide for and make profitable to yourselves and to the Kingdom of God. We have hundreds and thousands of fat cattle upon the ranges, and yet we have no beef to eat, or very little. Kill your cattle when they are fat, and salt down the meat, that you may have meat to eat in the winter and some to dispose of to your neighbors for their labor to extend your improvements. Lay up your meat, and not let it die on your hands. Such a course is not right. Cattle are made for our use, let us take care of them. 11:142.
I intend to plant and sow, not only in the month of May, but in the month of June, and in the month of July, and I will continue my labors to raise what is necessary to sustain life, as long as the season lasts. 2:280.
Let groves of olive trees be planted, and vineyards of the most approved varieties of grapes, and let sweet potatoes be raised in abundance, and all trees and roots that bear fruit in the ground and above the ground that can be used as food for man and beast, that plenty may flow in the land like a river, and contentment be enthroned in every {457} household, while industry, frugality, and peace prevail everywhere. 10:227.
Instead of people being poor, we already have too much, unless we take better care of it. I heard a man who is living in this city--one who has always been well off--state that he used to keep twelve cows when he first came here, and was often nearly destitute of milk and butter. After a few years; the number of his cows was reduced to six, and he said that the six did him more good than the twelve had done. In two years more, they were reduced to two, and the two cows have done him much more good than the twelve or the six did, for they could be and were more properly attended to. 4:317.
Everything which we use to feed the life of man or beast, not a grain of it should be permitted to go to waste, but should be made to pass through the stomach of some animal; everything, also, which will fertilize our gardens and our fields should be sedulously saved and wisely husbanded, that nothing may be lost which contains the elements of food and raiment for man and sustenance for beast. 11:130.
Save your hay; save your chaff; save your straw; save your wheat; save your oats; save your barley, and everything that can be saved and preserved against a day of want. 12:241.
Wives, go into the garden and raise the salad and numerous other articles within your judgment and strength. Who hindered you from making a little vinegar last year? People are frequently running round and asking, "Where can I buy some vinegar?" When I was keeping a house, if my neighbors had a million hogsheads of vinegar, I had no need to buy a spoonful of it, for I would make a plenty {458} for my own use, and would have eggs, butter, and pork, of my own production, and manage to secure beef, and salt it away nicely, and we had all the essentials for comfortable diet. 4:318.
What hinders you from raising something to feed a cow? Nothing. Who hinders you from planting your garden with corn, and having the suckers and the fodder? Who hinders you from raising carrots, parsnips, etc., to feed a cow with through the winter? This you can do on a little more than a quarter of an acre, but will you do it? 4:317.
The riches of a kingdom or nation do not consist so much in the fulness of its treasury as in the fertility of its soil and the industry of its people. 10:266.
Our wants are many, but our real necessities are very few. Let us govern our wants by our necessities, and we shall find that we are not compelled to spend our money for naught. Let us save our money to enter and pay for our land, to buy flocks of sheep and improve them, and to buy machinery and start more woolen factories. 12:289.
We are not anxious to obtain gold; if we can obtain it by raising potatoes and wheat, all right. "Can't you make yourselves rich by speculating?" We do not wish to. "Can't you make yourselves rich by going to the gold mines?" We are right in the midst of them. "Why don't you dig the gold from the earth?" Because it demoralizes any community or nation on the earth to give them gold and silver to their hearts' content; it will ruin any nation. But give them iron and coal, good hard work, plenty to eat, good schools and good doctrine, and it will make them a healthy, wealthy and happy people. 13:176.
Purchase cows, for if we have not already supplied you with cows, we are able and willing to do so. Most, if not {459} all, have already been furnished with cows. What did you do with the calves? "We sold them for a trifle." Why did you not raise them? Do you not know that they would very soon be valuable? No, but you waste your calves, neglect buying pigs, and live without milk, and many of the easily procured comforts of life. 4:315.
The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. 1:250.
When a farmer has done with his ploughs, he should put them under shelter until they are again wanted. When harness is taken off, it should be so hung up that you can go at any time of night and find it, or a saddle, bridle, saddle-blanket, or any other trapping, and be ready at once. 8:296.
Manufacturing--I pray the Lord to hedge up the way and shut down the gate so, that we may be compelled to depend upon our own manufacturing for the comforts of life. 7:67.
Also raise flax, and prepare it for the women to manufacture into summer clothing. 4:316.
Save your wool, and send it to the factory. If we want a little cotton cloth, we can raise it in the southern country; and we could raise some here as well as in some other places. We can raise about two gatherings. 19:73.
I want them to save their wool and to keep it in this Territory. If we have not factories sufficient to work up all the wool that grows in this Territory, and in these mountains, we will send and get more machinery, and build more factories, and work up the wool for the people. 15:159.
Go and build a tannery, that the hides that come off our beef cattle, can be made into leather. 19:73.
We want glass. Some man will come along, by and by, {460} and take the quartz rock, rig up a little furnace and make glass. 9:31.
By-and-by some man will come along, not worth fifty dollars, and take the feldspar, which enters so largely into our granite rock, and make the best of chinaware. 9:31.
Dye-stuffs have opened another drain through which considerable of our money has passed off. Wherever Indian corn will flourish madder can be produced in great quantities, yet we have been paying out our money to strangers for this article. Indigo can be successfully and profitably raised in this region. 10:226. Importing sugar has been a great drain upon our floating currency. I am satisfied that it is altogether unnecessary to purchase sugar in a foreign market. The sorghum is a profitable crop, in Great Salt Lake and the adjoining counties, for the manufacture of molasses; in this section it can be profitably raised for the manufacture of sugar. I have tasted samples of sugar produced from the sorghum raised in the south of Utah, and a better quality of raw sugar I never saw. Let some enterprising persons prosecute this branch of home-production, and thus effectually stop another outlet for our money. Sugar ranks high among the staples of life, and should be produced in great abundance. 10:226.
Go to and raise silk. You can do it, and those who cannot set themselves to work we will set them to work gathering straw, and making straw hats and straw bonnets; we will set others to gathering willow, and others to making baskets; we will set others to gathering flags and rushes, and to making mats, and bottoming chairs and making carpets. 12:202.
As I told the people, when we first came into this valley {461} in 1847, there is plenty of silk in the elements here, as much as in any other part of the earth. 9:32.
The capitalists may say, 'What are we to do with our means?' Go and build factories and have one, two, or three thousand spindles going. Send for fifty, a hundred, or a thousand sheep and raise wool. Some of you go to raising flax and build a factory to manufacture it, and do not take every advantage and pocket every dollar that is to be made. You are rich and I want to turn the stream so as to do good to the whole community. 13:36.
Commerce--It may be said that we shall always be poor without commerce; we shall always be poor with it, unless we command it; and unless we can do this, we are better without it. 11:134.
But, again, with regard to this railroad; when it is through, even in ordinary times it opens to us the market, and we are at the door of New York, right at the threshold of the emporium of the United States. We can send our butter, eggs, cheese, and fruits and receive in return oysters, clams, cod fish, mackerel, oranges, and lemons. Let me say more to you--do up your peaches in the best style, for they will want them. 12:54.
Whatsoever administers to the sustenance, comfort and health of mankind forms the basis of the commerce of the world. Gold and silver in coin are only valuable as mediums to facilitate exchange. They can be made useful to us and add to our comfort when made into cups, plates, etc., in our household economy. 10:227.
Recollect that in trading there is great advantage in turning over your capital often. 13:35.
Are our merchants honest? I could not be honest and do as they do; they make five hundred percent on some of {462} their goods, and that, too, from an innocent, confiding, poor, industrious people. 11:114.
Capital and Labor--All the capital there is upon the earth is the bone and sinew of workingmen and women. Were it not for that, the gold and the silver and the precious stones would remain in the mountains, upon the plains and in the valleys, and never would be gathered or brought into use. The timber would continue to grow, but none of it would be brought into service, and the earth would remain as it is; but it is the activity and labor of the inhabitants of the earth that bring forth the wealth. Labor builds our meeting-houses, temples, court houses, fine halls for music and fine school houses; it is labor that teaches our children, and makes them acquainted with the various branches of education, that makes them proficient in their own language and in other languages, and in every branch of knowledge understood by the children of men; and all this enhances the wealth and the glory and the comfort of any people on the earth. 16:66.
We say to the-Latter-day Saints, work for these capitalists, and work honestly and faithfully, and they will pay you faithfully. I am acquainted with a good many of them, and as far as I know them, I do not know but every one is an honorable man. They are capitalists, they want to make money, and they want to make it honestly and according to the principles of honest dealing. If they have means and are determined to risk it in opening mines you work for them by the day. Haul their ores, build their furnaces and take your pay for it, and enter your lands, build houses, improve your farms, buy your stock, and make yourselves better off. 14:85.
There are many in the city of New York who never {463} went to school a day in their lives; they are wallowing in the gutter, ragged, dirty, and filthy. They learn sharpness, it is true; but where do they sleep? By the wayside, or crawl into some old building--girls and boys, and live there by the thousand. They have not a shelter to place their heads under, but when night comes their only refuge is old buildings, hovels, and corners of streets forsaken by the police, and there they must spend the night. Why not take such characters and bring them out to this country, or to California, Oregon, or to the plains of Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., and make a town, settle up the country, and make these poor, miserable creatures better off? You would prove yourselves worthy of existence on the earth if you would. 14:84.
To pay people the wages they want here would prevent us from raising silk profitably. We look forward to the period when the price of labor here will be brought to a reasonable and judicious standard. 12:202.
Time and the ability to labor are the capital stock of the whole world of mankind, and we are all indebted to God for the ability to use time to advantage, and he will require of us a strict account of the disposition we make of this ability; and he will not only require an account of our acts, but our words and thoughts will also be brought into judgment. 18:73.
A young woman, compelled to labor for her daily bread, applies for work to some lady in comfortable circumstances. The lady perhaps says, "What wages do you want?" "I do not know. What will you give me?" The reply is, probably, "Well, I will give you fifty cents a week and your board, but I shall want you to do my washing, ironing, milking, scrubbing, and cooking," the whole of it, most {464} likely, keeping the poor girl at work from five o'clock in the morning until ten at night. Yet her poverty leaves her no choice, and she is compelled to become a slave in order to procure, day by day, her breakfast, dinner, and supper. It is probable that if her father be alive he is too poor to help her; and if she has a mother she may be a widow and unable to rescue her from a life of toil and slavery. A lady, whom I knew in my youth, the wife of a minister, where I used to attend meeting, said once to some of her sisters in the church, "Do you suppose that we shall be under the necessity of eating with our hired help when we get into heaven? We do not do it here, and I have an idea that there will be two tables in heaven." Yet she was a lady of refinement and education, still the traditions that had been woven into her very being proved the folly she possessed to ask such a question. 14:99.
Let mechanics and every man who has capital create business and give employment and means into the hands of laborers; build good and commodious houses, magnificent temples, spacious tabernacles, lofty halls, and every other kind of structure that will give character and grandeur to our cities and create respect for our people. Let us make mechanics of our boys, and educate them in every useful branch of science and in the history and laws of kingdoms and nations, that they may be fitted to fill any station in life, from a ploughman to a philosopher. 10:270.
The non-producer must live on the products of those who labor. There is no other way. If we all labor a few hours a day, we could then spend the remainder of our time in rest and the improvement of our minds. This would give an opportunity to the children to be educated in the {465} learning of the day, and to possess all the wisdom of man. 19:47.
Do not oppress the poor, but trust in God, and you will go neither hungry, naked, nor thirsty. If you oppress the poor, the day will come when you will be naked, thirsty, and hungry, and will not be able to get anything to supply your wants. 8:73.
Build Good Houses and Beautiful Cities--Let the people build good houses, plant good vineyards and orchards, make good roads, build beautiful cities in which may be found magnificent edifices for the convenience of the public, handsome streets skirted with shade trees, fountains of water, crystal streams, and every tree, shrub and flower that will flourish in this climate, to make our mountain home a paradise and our hearts wells of gratitude to the God of Joseph, enjoying it all with thankful hearts, saying constantly, "not mine but thy will be done, O Father." 10:3.
Beautify your gardens, your houses, your farms; beautify the city. This will make us happy, and produce plenty. The earth is a good earth, the elements are good if we will use them for our own benefit, in truth and righteousness. Then let us be content, and go to with our mights to make ourselves healthy, wealthy, and beautiful, and preserve ourselves in the best possible manner, and live just as long as we can, and do all the good we can. 15:20.
Every improvement that we make not only adds to our comfort but to our wealth. 16:64.
Make good houses; learn how to build; become good mechanics and business men, that you may know how to build a house, a barn, or a store-house, how to make a farm, and how to raise stock, and take every care of it by providing {466} proper shelter and every suitable convenience for keeping it through the winter; and prove yourselves worthy of the greater riches that will be committed to you than this valley and what it can produce. 8:289.
Accumulate Property--Efforts to accumulate property in the correct channel are far from being an injury to any community, on the contrary they are highly beneficial, provided individuals, with all that they have, always hold themselves in readiness to advance the interests of the Kingdom of God on the earth. Let every man and woman be industrious, prudent, and economical in their acts and feelings, and while gathering to themselves, let each one strive to identify his or her interests with the interests of this community, with those of their neighbor and neighborhood, let them seek their happiness and welfare in that of all, and we will be blessed and prospered. 3:330.
To do right can be reduced to perfect simplicity in a few words, viz., from this time henceforth, let no person work, or transact any kind of business whatever, that he cannot do in the name of the Lord. 1:337.
This life is worth as much as any life that any being can possess in time or in eternity. There is no life more precious to us in the eye of eternal wisdom and justice than the life which we now possess. Our first duty is to take care of this life. 11:113.
To be prudent and saving, and to use the elements in our possession for our benefit and the benefit of our fellow beings is wise and righteous; but to be slothful, wasteful, lazy and indolent, to spend our time and means for naught, is unrighteous. 16:16.
We all believe that the Lord will fight our battles; but how? Will he do it while we are unconcerned and make {467} no effort whatever for our own safety when an enemy is upon us? If we make no efforts to guard our towns, our houses, our cities, our wives and children, will the Lord guard them for us? He will not; but if we pursue the opposite course and strive to help him to accomplish his designs, then will he fight our battles. We are baptized for the remission of sins; but it would be quite as reasonable to expect remission of sins without baptism, as to expect the Lord to fight our battles without our taking every precaution to be prepared to defend ourselves. The Lord requires us to be quite as willing to fight our own battles as to have him fight them for us. If we are not ready for an enemy when he comes upon us, we have not lived up to the requirements of him who guides the ship of Zion, or who dictates the affairs of his Kingdom. 11:131.
Debt--Pay your debts, we will help you to do so, but do not run into debt any more. 14:105.
Be prompt in everything, and especially to pay your debts. 14:279.
A man who will run into debt, when he has no prospect of paying it back again, does not understand the principles that should prevail in a well regulated community, or he is wilfully dishonest. 11:258.
A man who will not pay his honest debts is no Latter-day Saint, if he has the means to pay them. 11:258.
It is bad enough, quite bad enough, to borrow from an enemy and not to repay him; to do this is beneath the character of any human being; but all who will borrow from a friend, and especially from the poor, are undeserving the fellowship of the Saints if they do not repay. 14:276. {468}
Chapter XXVII
WEALTH
Wealth Belongs to the Lord--Earthly riches are concealed in the elements God has given to man, and the essence of wealth is power to organize from these elements every comfort and convenience of life for our sustenance here, and for eternal existence hereafter. The possession of all the gold and silver in the world would not satisfy the cravings of the immortal soul of man. The gift of the Holy Spirit of the Lord alone can produce a good, wholesome, contented mind. Instead of looking for gold and silver, look to the heavens and try to learn wisdom until you can organize the native elements for your benefit; then, and not until then, will you begin to possess the true riches. 10:35.
There is any amount of property, and gold and silver in the earth and on the earth, and the Lord gives to this one and that one--the wicked as well as the righteous--to see what they will do with it, but it all belongs to him. He has handed over a goodly portion to this people, and, through our faith, patience and industry, we have made us good, comfortable homes here, and there are many who are tolerably well off, and if they were in many parts of the world they would be called wealthy. But it is not ours, and all we have to do is to try and find out what the Lord wants us to do with what we have in our possession, and then go and do it. If we step beyond this, or to the right or to the left, we step into an illegitimate train of business. Our legitimate business is to do what the Lord wants us to do with that which he bestows upon us, and dispose of {469} it just as he dictates, whether it is to give all, one-tenth, or the surplus. 16:10.
No person on the earth can truly call anything his own, and never will until he has passed the ordeals we are all now passing, and has received his body again in a glorious resurrection, to be crowned by him who will be ordained and set apart to set a crown upon our heads. Then will be given to us that which we now only seem to own, and we will be forever one with the Father and the Son, and not until then. 9:106.
The elements are to be brought into shape and operation for the benefit, happiness, beauty, excellency, glory, and exaltation of the children of men that dwell upon the earth. 9:242.
Uncertainty of Temporal Possessions--Do you not know that the possession of your property is like a shadow, or the dew of the morning before the noonday sun, that you cannot have any assurance of its control for a single moment! It is the unseen hand of Providence that controls it. 1:114.
We cannot trust to the certainty of mortal possessions; they are transitory, and a dependence upon them will plunge into hopeless disappointment all those who trust in them. 2:122.
We should find that the things of this world called riches, are in reality not riches. Wee should find they are like mirages to the ignorant, mere phenomena to the inhabitants of the earth; to-day they are, to-morrow they are not; they were, but now they are gone, it is not known where. The earthly king upon his throne, who reigns triumphantly over his subjects, is blasted, with all his kingdom, and brought to naught at one breath of him who possesses true riches. Let him who possesses the true riches say to the {470} elements around that kingdom, "produce no wheat, nor oil, nor wine, but let there be a famine upon that people," in such a circumstance where is the wealth of that king, his power, his grandeur, and his crown? There is no bread, no oil, there are no flocks, no herds, for they have perished upon the plains, his wheat is blasted, and all his crops are mildewed. What good does his wealth do him? His subjects are lying all around him lifeless for want of bread; he may cry to them, but in vain; his wealth, power, and influence have vanished, they are swept away like the flimsy fabric of a cobweb. 1:266.
The Sin of Covetousness--How the Devil will play with a man who so worships gain! 10:174.
I am more afraid of covetousness in our Elders than I ami of the hordes of hell. 5:353.
Those who are covetous and greedy, anxious to grasp the whole world, are all the time uneasy, and are constantly laying their plans and contriving how to obtain this, that, and the other. 3:119.
Men are greedy for the vain things of this world. In their hearts they are covetous. It is true that the things of this world are designed to make us comfortable, and they make some people as happy as they can be here; but riches can never make the Latter-day Saints happy. Riches of themselves cannot produce permanent happiness; only the Spirit that comes from above can do that. 7:135.
When I cast my eyes upon the inhabitants of the earth and see the weakness, and I may say, the height of folly in the hearts of the kings, rulers, and the great, and those who should be wise and good and noble; when I see them grovelling in the dust; longing, craving, desiring, contending for the things of this life, I think, O foolish men, to set {471} your hearts on the thing's of this life! To-day they are seeking after the honors and glories of the world, and by the time the sun is hidden by the western mountains the breath is gone out of their nostrils, they sink to their mother earth. Where are their riches then? Gone forever. As Job says, "Naked I came into the world." Destitute and forlorn, they have to travel a path that is untried and unknown to them, and wend their way into the spirit world. They know not where they are going nor for what. The designs of the Creator are hidden from their eyes; darkness, ignorance, mourning and groaning take hold of them and they pass into eternity. And this is the end of them concerning this life as far as they know. A man or a woman who places the wealth of this world and the things of time in the scales against the things of God and the wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart to understand. What are riches for? For blessings, to do good. Then let us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible use for the building up of his Kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the earth, that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here upon this earth. I look around among the world of mankind and see them grabbing, scrambling, contending, and every one seeking to aggrandize himself, and to accomplish his own individual purposes, passing the community by, walking upon the heads of his neighbors--all are seeking, planning, contriving in their wakeful hours, and when asleep dreaming, "How can I get the advantage of my neighbor? How can I spoil him, that I may ascend the ladder of fame?" This is entirely a mistaken idea. You see that nobleman seeking the benefit of all around him, trying to bring, we will say, his servants, if you please, his tenants, to his knowledge, to {472} like blessings that he enjoys, to dispense his wisdom and talent among them and to make them equal with himself. As they ascend and increase, so does he, and he is in the advance. All eyes are upon that king or that nobleman, and the feelings of those around him are, "God bless him! How I love him! How I delight in him! He seeks to bless and to fill me with joy, to crown my labors with success, to give me comfort, that I may enjoy the world as well as himself." But the man who seeks honor and glory at the expense of his fellow-men is not worthy of the society of the intelligent. 15:18.
I hope to see the day when there will be no such thing as one man taking usury from another. 13:92.
True Riches--There is no such thing as a man being truly rich until he has power over death, hell, the grave, and him that hath the power of death, which is the Devil. For what are the riches, the wealth possessed by the inhabitants of the earth? Why, they are a phantom, a mere shadow, a bubble on the wave, that bursts with the least breath of air. Suppose I possessed millions on millions of wealth of every description I could think of or ask for, and I took a sudden pain in my head, which threw me entirely out of my mind, and baffled the skill of the most eminent physicians, what good would that money do me, in the absence of the power to say to that pain, "Depart"? But suppose I possessed power to say to the pain, "Go thou to the land from whence thou comest;" and say, "Come, health, and give strength to my body;" and when I want death, to say, "Come you, for I have claim upon you, a right, a warranty deed, for this body must be dissolved;" says death, "I want it, to prey upon;" but again I can say to death, "Depart from me, thou canst not touch me;" would I not be {473} rich indeed? How is it now? Let the slightest accident come upon one of the human family, and they are no more. Do we then possess true riches in this state? We do not. 1:271.
To possess this world's goods is not in reality wealth, it is not riches, it is nothing more nor less than that which is common to all men, to the just and the unjust, to the Saint and to the sinner. The sun rises upon the evil and the good; the Lord sends his rain upon the just and upon the unjust; this is manifest before our eyes, and in our daily experience. Old King Solomon, the wise man, says, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither riches to men of wisdom. The truth of this saying comes within our daily observation. Those whom we consider swift are not always the ones that gain the mastery in the race, but those who are considered not so fleet, or not fleet at all, often gain the prize. It is, I may say, the unseen hand of Providence, that over-ruling power that controls the destinies of men and nations, that so ordains these things. The weak, trembling, and feeble, are the ones frequently who gain the battle; and the ignorant, foolish, and unwise will blunder into wealth. This is all before us, it is the common lot of man; in short, I may say, it is the philosophical providence of a philosophical world. 1:267.
Gold is Not Wealth--What use is gold when you get enough to eat, drink, and wear without it? 1:250.
There is no happiness in gold, not the least. It is very convenient as an article of exchange, in purchasing what we need; and instead of finding comfort and happiness in gold, you exchange it to obtain happiness, or that which may conduce to it. There is no real wealth in gold. People talk about being wealthy--about being rich; but place the {474} richest banking company in the world upon a barren rock, with their gold piled around them, with no possible chance of exchanging it, and destitute of the creature comforts, and they would be poor indeed. Where then is their joy, their comfort, their great wealth? They have none. 8:168.
True wealth consists in the skill to produce conveniences and comforts from the elements. All the power and dignity that wealth can bestow is a mere shadow, the substance is found in the bone and sinew of the toiling millions. Well directed labor is the true power that supplies our wants. It gives regal grandeur to potentates, education and supplies to religious and political ministers, and supplies the wants of the thousands of millions of earth's sons and daughters. There are conditions and panics in society that all the power of earthly wealth cannot avert. 10:189.
It has been supposed that wealth gives power. In a depraved state of society, in a certain sense it does, if opening a wide field for unrighteous monopolies, by which the poor are robbed and oppressed and the wealthy are more enriched, is power. In a depraved state of society money can buy positions and titles, can cover up a multitude of incapabilities, can open wide the gates of fashionable society to the lowest and most depraved of human beings; it divides society into castes without any reference to goodness, virtue or truth. It is made to pander to the most brutal passions of the human soul; it is made to subvert every wholesome law of God and man, and to trample down every sacred bond that should tie society together in a national, municipal, domestic and every other relationship. Wealth thus used is used out of its legitimate channel. 10:3.
How to Become Wealthy--When men act upon the {475} principles which will secure to them eternal salvation, they are sure of obtaining all their hearts' desire, sooner or later; if it does not come today, it may come tomorrow; if it does not come in this time, it will in the next. 2:122.
I am not for hoarding up gold and other property to lie useless, I wish to put everything to a good use. I never keep a dollar lying idly by me, for I wish all the means to be put into active operation. 3:160.
I can witness one fact, and so can others, that by paying attention to the building up of the Kingdom of God alone we have got rich in the things of this world; and if any man can tell how we can get rich in any other way, he can do more than I can. We leave our business and our families and go out to preach the peaceable things of the Kingdom, and pay attention to that, never thinking of our business or our families, except when we ask the Lord to bless our families in common with all the families of the Saints everywhere. 11:116.
Do you want wealth? If you do, do not be in a hurry. Do you want the riches pertaining to this world? Yes, we acknowledge we do. Then, be calm, contented, composed; keep your pulses correct, do not let them get up to a hundred and twenty, but keep them as high as you can, ranging from seventy to seventy-six; and when there is an appointment for a meeting be sure to attend that meeting. If there is to be a two-days' meeting, come to it; spend the time here and learn what is going on. Watch closely, hear every word that is spoken, let every heart be lifted to God for wisdom, and know and understand every word of prophecy, every revelation that may be given, every counsel that may be presented to the people, that you may be able to weigh, measure, comprehend and decide between {476} that which is of God and that which is not of God. Refuse the evil, learn wisdom, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. 15:35.
The course pursued by men of business in the world has a tendency to make a few rich, and to sink the masses of the people in poverty and degradation. 11:348.
This is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints today. Stop, do not be in a hurry. I do not know that I could find a man in our community but what wishes wealth, would like to have everything in his possession that would conduce to his comfort and convenience. Do you know how to get it? "Well," replies one, "if I do not, I wish I did; but I do not seem to be exactly fortunate--fortune is somewhat against me." I will tell you the reason of this--you are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting enough, you do not pray enough, you do not read the Scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that you do not know what to do first. This is not the way to get rich. I merely use the term "rich" to lead the mind along, until we obtain eternal riches in the celestial kingdom of God. Here we wish for riches in a comparative sense, we wish for the comforts of life. If we desire them let us take a course to get them. Let me reduce this to a simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--"Keep your dish right side up," so that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full. 15:36.
These are a few words of consolation to the brethren who wish to keep their riches, and with them I promise you leanness of soul, darkness of mind, narrow and contracted hearts, and the bowels of your compassion will be shut up, and by and by you will be overcome with the spirit {477} of apostasy and forsake your God and your brethren. 12:127.
My policy is to get rich; I am a miser in eternal things. Do I want to become rich in the things of this earth? Yes, if the Lord wishes me to have such riches, and I can use them to good advantage. My policy is to keep every man, woman, and child busily employed, that they may have no idle time for hatching mischief in the night, and for making plans to accomplish their own ruin. 2:144.
I told you the other day what makes me rich, it is the labor of those whom I feed and clothe; still I do not feel that I have a dollar in the world that is my own, it is the Lord's and he has made me a steward over it; and if I can know where the Lord is pleased to have it appropriated, there it shall go. 3:118.
One-third or one-fourth of the time that is spent to procure a living would be sufficient, if your labor were rightly directed. People think they are going to get rich by hard work--by working sixteen hours out of the twenty-four; but it is not so. A great many of our brethren can hardly spend time to go to meeting. Six days is more time than we need to labor. 8:355.
The great majority of men and women do not know how to take care of themselves. Let me refer the whole of you to a circumstance in Winter Quarters. We left Nauvoo in February, 1846, made our own roads through Iowa, except some 40 or 50 miles, built bridges, cut down timber, turned out 500 men to go to Mexico, came this side of the Missouri river, and there wintered. How did you live there? Do you know how you got anything to eat? Brethren came to me, saying, "We must go to Missouri. Can we not take our families and go to Missouri and get work?" Do you know, to this day, how you lived? I will tell you, and then {478} you will remember it. I had not five dollars in money to start with; but I went to work and built a mill, which we knew we should want only for a few months, that cost 3,600 dollars. I gave notice that I would employ every man and pay him for his labor. If I had a sixpence, I turned it into 25 cents; and a half-bushel of potatoes I turned into half-a-bushel of wheat. How did I do that? By faith. I went to Brother Neff, who had just come in the place, and asked him for and received 2,600 dollars, though he did not know where the money was going. He kept the mill another year, and it died on his hands. I say, God bless him forever! for it was the money he brought from Pennsylvania that preserved thousands of men, women, and children from starving. I handled and dictated it, and everything went off smoothly and prosperously. 6:173.
Shall I give you my ideas in brief with regard to business and business transactions? Here for instance, a merchant comes to our neighborhood with a stock of goods; he sells them at from two to ten hundred per cent, above what they cost. As a matter of course he soon becomes wealthy, and after a time he will be called a millionaire, when perhaps he was not worth a dollar when he commenced to trade. You will hear many say of such person, what a nice man he is, and what a great financier he is! My feeling of such a man is, he is a great cheat, a deceiver, a liar! He imposes on the people, he takes that which does not belong to him, and is a living monument of falsehood. Such a man is not a financier! The financier is he that brings the lumber from the canyons and shapes it for the use of his fellowman, employing mechanics and laborers to produce from the elements and the crude material everything necessary for the sustenance and comfort of man; {479} one who builds tanneries to work up the hides instead of letting them rot and waste or be sent out of the country to be made into leather and then brought back in the shape of boots and shoes; and that can take the wool, the furs and straw and convert the same into cloth, into hats and bonnets, and that will plant out mulberry trees and raise the silk, and thus give employment to men, women and children, as you have commenced to do here, bringing the elements into successful use for the benefit of man, and reclaiming a barren wilderness, converting it into a fruitful field, making it to blossom as the rose; such a man I would call a financier, a benefactor of his fellow man. But the great majority of men who have amassed great wealth have done it at the expense of their fellows. 19:97.
Wealth Must Be Used--Few men know what to do with riches when they possess them. 1:250.
You know very well that it is against my doctrine and feelings for men to scrape together the wealth of the world and let it waste and do no good. 9:186.
Then do not hoard up your gold; if you do, it will canker, but put out every dollar to usury. Instead of your souls being bound up in your cattle and other property, put it all where it should be placed for the benefit of the Kingdom of God on earth and for his glory. 9:191.
A man has no right with property, which, according to the laws of the land, legally belongs to him, if he does not want to use it; he ought to possess no more than he can put to usury, and cause to do good to himself and his fellowman. When will a man accumulate money enough to justify him in salting it down, or, in other words, laying it away in the chest, to lock it up, there to lie, doing no manner of good either to himself or his neighbor. It is {480} impossible for a man ever to do it. No man should keep money or property by him that he cannot put to usury for the advancement of that property in value or amount, and for the good of the community in which he lives; if he does, it becomes a dead weight upon him. Every man who has got cattle, money, or wealth of any description, bone and sinew, should put it out to usury. If a man has the arm, body, head, the component parts of a system to constitute him a laboring man, and has nothing in the world to depend upon but his hands, let him put them to usury. Never hide up anything in a napkin, but put it forth to bring an increase. If you have got property of any kind, that you do not know what to do with, lay it out in making a farm, or building a saw mill or a woolen factory, and go to with your mights to put all your property to usury.
If you have more oxen and other cattle than you need, put them in the hands of other men, and receive their labor in return, and put that labor where it will increase your property value. 1:252.
If a man comes in the midst of this people with money, let him use it in beautifying his inheritance in Zion, and in increasing his capital by thus putting out his money to usury. Let him go and make a great farm, and stock it well, and fortify all around with a good and efficient fence. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his money. Then let him cut it up into fields, and adorn it with trees, and build a fine house upon it. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his money. What will he do when his money is gone? The money thus spent, with a wise and prudent hand, is in a situation to accumulate and increase a hundred-fold. When he has done making his farm, and his means still increase by his diligent use of it, he can {481} then commence and build a woolen factory for instance; he can send and buy the sheep and have them brought here, and have them herded here, and shear them here, and take care of them, then set the boys and girls to cleaning, carding, spinning, and weaving the wool into cloth, and thus employ hundreds and thousands of the brethren and sisters who have come from the manufacturing districts of the old country, and have not been accustomed to dig in the earth for their livelihood, who have not learned anything else but to work in the factory. This would feed them and clothe them, and put within their reach the comforts of life; it would also create at home a steady market for the produce of the agriculturist, and the labor of the mechanic. 1:253.
Wealth Brings Happiness Only When Used for the Gospel--All the real business we have on hand is to promote our religion. 4:355.
If you come naked and barefooted (I would not care if you had naught but a deer skin around you when you arrive here), and bring your God and your religion, you are a thousand times better than if you come with wagon loads of silver and gold and left your God behind. 4:204.
If, by industrious habits and honorable dealings, you obtain thousands or millions, little or much, it is your duty to use all that is put in your possession, as judiciously as you have knowledge, to build up the Kingdom of God on the earth. 4:29.
If we are destroyed through the possession of wealth, it will be because we destroy ourselves. If we possessed hundreds of millions of coin, and devoted that means to building up the Kingdom of God and doing good to his creatures, with an eye single to his glory, we would be as much blessed and as much entitled to salvation as the poor {482} beggar that begs from door to door; the faithful rich man is as much entitled to the revelations of Jesus Christ as is the faithful poor man. 10:300.
We must watch and pray, and look well to our walk and conversation, and live near to our God, that the love of this world may not choke the precious seed of truth, and feel ready, if necessary, to offer up all things, even life itself, for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. 11:111.
Look out, ye men of Israel, and be careful that you love not the world or the things of the world in their present state, and in your loftiness and pride, forget the Lord your God. We ought to care no more for the silver and the gold, and the property that is so much sought for by the wicked world, than for the soil or the gravel upon which we tread. 11:18.
I do not care what becomes of the things of this world, of the gold, of the silver, of the houses and of the lands, so we have power to gather the House of Israel, redeem Zion, and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth. I would not give a cent for all the rest. True, these things which the Lord bestows upon us are for our comfort, for our happiness and convenience, but everything must be devoted to the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God on the earth. 3:361.
It is thought by many that the possession of gold and silver will produce for them happiness, and, hence, thousands hunt the mountains for the precious metals; in this they are mistaken. The possession of wealth alone does not produce happiness, although it will produce comfort, when it can be exchanged for the essentials and luxuries of life. When wealth is obtained by purloining, or in any other unfair and dishonorable way, fear of detection and punishment {483} robs the possessor of all human happiness. When wealth is honorably obtained by man, still the possession of it is embittered by the thought that death will soon strip them of it and others will possess it. What hopes have they in the future, after they get through with this sorrowful world? They know nothing about the future; they see nothing but death and hell. Solid comfort and unalloyed joy are unknown to them. 11:15.
Men and women who are trying to make themselves happy in the possession of wealth or power will miss it, for nothing short of the Gospel of the Son of God can make the inhabitants of the earth happy, and prepare them to enjoy heaven here and hereafter. 11:329.
It matters little, though we have many times left our houses and other possessions, having been driven from them by our enemies; for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the gold and the silver they are taking from the earth are all in his hands to dispose of at his pleasure. He sets up kingdoms and casts them down at his pleasure. The fulness of the earth is in his hands, but it cannot be enjoyed, in the full sense of the term, without enjoying it in connection with his Kingdom. 8:161-2.
Though I possessed millions of money and property, that does not excuse me from performing the labor that it is my calling to perform, so far as I have strength and ability, any more than the poorest man in the community is excused. The more we are blessed with means, the more we are blessed with responsibility; the more we are blessed with wisdom and ability, the more we are placed under the necessity of using that wisdom and ability in the spread of righteousness, the subjugation of sin and misery, and the amelioration of the condition of mankind. The man that {484} has only one talent and the man that has five talents have responsibility accordingly. If we have a world of means, we have a world of responsibility. If we have an eternity of knowledge, we shall have an eternity of business to transact and to occupy every particle of the knowledge bestowed upon us. 9:172.
Some Dangers of Wealth--The question will not arise with the Lord, nor with the messengers of the Almighty, how much wealth a man has got, but how has he come by this wealth and what will he do with it? 11:294.
If the Lord ever revealed anything to me, he has shown me that the Elders of Israel must let speculation alone and attend to the duties of their calling, otherwise they will have little or no power in their missions or upon their return. 8:179.
The Latter-day Saints who turn their attention to money-making soon become cold in their feelings toward the ordinances of the house of God. They neglect their prayers, become unwilling to pay any donations; the law of tithing gets too great a task for them; and they finally forsake their God, and the providences of heaven seem to be shut from them--all in consequence of this lust after the things of this world, which will certainly perish in handling, and in their use they will fade away and go from us. 18:213.
If I had only seen in my young days an interest manifested by those who had wealth, power and influence to reach down a hand to take the suffering, ignorant poor and elevate them to the standard they occupied, and to place them in possession of every comfort, it would have been a matter of great joy to me. But it was not so then, neither is it now. Men generally use their wealth for selfish purposes, {485} and do not seek to devote it to God and to the glory of his name. 13:147.
Do not be anxious to have this people become rich, and possess the affection of the world. I have been fearful lest we come to fellowship the world. 10:298.
Some say, "If we had a gold mine, we would do well." If I knew where there was a gold mine, I would not tell you. I do not want you to find one, and I do not mean that you shall; or, if you do, it shall be over my faith. We have gold enough in the world, and it is all the Lord's, and we do not deserve more than we get. Let us make good use of that, and send out the Elders. 8:204.
I would as soon see a man worshiping a little god made of brass or of wood as to see him worship his property. 6:196.
Never pray for riches; do not entertain such a foolish thought. In my deep poverty, when I knew not where I could procure the next morsel of food for myself and family, I have prayed God to open the way that I might get something to keep myself and family from dying. Those who do more than this are off, more or less, from the track that leads to life eternal. 7:138.
We are the greatest speculators in the world. We have the greatest speculation on hand that can be found in all the earth. I never denied being a speculator. I never denied being a miser, or of feeling eager for riches; but some men will chase a picayune five thousand miles when I would not turn round for it, and yet we are preachers of the same Gospel, and brethren in the same Kingdom of God. You may consider this is a little strong; but the speculation I am after, is to exchange this world, which, in its present state, passes away, for a world that is eternal {486} and unchangeable, for a glorified world filled with eternal riches, for the world that is made an inheritance for the Gods of eternity. 1:326.
The Poor--The poor are the people of God, and they shall inherit the earth. 8:186.
The Gospel of life and salvation does not reduce those who obey it to beggary; but it takes the poor and the ignorant, makes them wise and happy, and surrounds them with the comforts of life and everything desirable, and teaches them to serve God with all their hearts. 14:121.
If a man comes to me and says he is out of food, what of that? He is out of food; that is all. If a man comes along and says, "My family is destitute of food and clothing," what of that? Simply that they are destitute of food and clothing, and still they may be gentlemen and ladies, for all that, and be honoring their tabernacles and being on the earth.
The customs of the world have made it degrading to ask for food, but it is not, when a person cannot honestly procure it in any other way. The man who is hungry and destitute has as good a right to my food as any other person, and I should feel as happy in associating with him, if he had a good heart, as with those who have an abundance, or with the princes of the earth. They all are esteemed by me, not according to the wealth and position they hold, but according to the character they have. 3:245.
The Lord's poor do not forget their covenants, while the Devil's poor pay no regard to their promises. 3:2.
What causes poverty among this people? It is the want of discretion, calculation, sound judgment. I am paying men more or less by the day, and where do you see those who get the least wages? Seated back in the barber's chair {487} three or four times a week. Next at a store to get a box of blacking to put upon fifteen dollar boots, if they can get them. They must have four or five dollar handkerchiefs, as fine things for their wives and children, and as much in quantity as any other man has. At the end of the year there are two or three hundred dollars on the debit side of their accounts. 9:297.
Let the poor, those who have to depend upon their brethren for bread, after they have done all they can to obtain it themselves be thankful, and take no more than they require to use in a frugal manner. 3:375.
The poor are filled with idolatry as well as the rich, and covet the means of those who have helped them; the rich also have the same spirit of idolatry, and stick to what they have. Let the poor be honest, let the rich be liberal, and lay their plans to assist the poor, to build up the Kingdom of God, and at the same time enrich themselves, for that is the way to build up God's Kingdom. 3:6.
Poor men, or poor women, who have nothing, and covet that which is not their own, are just as wicked in their hearts, as the miserly man who hoards up his gold and silver, and will not put it out to use. I wish the poor to understand, and act as they would wish others to act towards them in like circumstances. 2:52.
If the poor had all the surplus property of the rich many of them would waste it on the lusts of the flesh, and destroy themselves in using it. For this reason the Lord does not require the rich to give all their substance to the poor. It is true that when the young man came to Jesus to know what he must do to be saved, he told him, finally, "sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me;" and a great {488} many think that he told the young man to give away all that he had, but Jesus did not require any such thing, neither did he say so, but simply, "distribute to the poor." If the poor knew what to do with what they have many, yea very many, in this land would have all that is necessary to make them comfortable. 13:302.
If they had the privilege of dictating the affairs of this people, or of any other, they would divide the substance of the rich among the poor, and make all what they call equal. But the question would arise with me at once, how long would they remain equal? Make the rich and the poor of this community, or of any other, equal by the distribution of their earthly substance, and how long would it be before a certain portion of them would be calling upon the other portion, for something with which to sustain themselves? The cry would soon be--"I have no bread, no house, no team, no farm; I have nothing." And in a very few years, at the most, large properties would thus pass from the hands of such individuals, and would be distributed among those who know how to accumulate wealth and to preserve it when accumulated. 12:56.
It is a disgrace to every man and woman that has sense enough to live, not to take care of their own relatives, their own poor, and plan for them to do something they are able to do. 8:145. {489}