Hugh B. Brown

First Counselor in the First Presidency (October 4, 1963 – January 18, 1970)

Second Counselor in the First Presidency (October 12, 1961 – October 4, 1963)

Third Counselor in the First Presidency (June 22, 1961 – October 12, 1961)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (April 10, 1958 – December 2, 1975)

Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 4, 1953 – April 10, 1958)

General Conference Addresses

  • April 1972 General Conference
    • A Missionary and His Message
      • “My brethren and sisters, I want to bear witness to you as to the divinity of this work. From the center of my heart to the ends of my fingers and toes, I know that this is the work of God. I know that the gospel has been restored. I know that the men who are leading the Church are inspired and directed by him who appointed them. I know the gospel will roll forth until it fills the whole earth, and I am looking forward to the time when all of us will be united on the other side and carry on the great work that we have so falteringly tried to do here on earth.”
  • October 1971 General Conference
    • This Same Jesus
      • “I want to tell you, my brethren and sisters, as is my calling as a witness of Christ, that I too know, and I know it from the same source that Peter knew it, for flesh and blood have not revealed that knowledge unto me, but our Father which is in heaven. And from the bottom of my heart I say to him and to you, as I think back over that trip through the Holy Land, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and I know it as I know that I live.”
  • April 1970 General Conference
    • The Birth of Truth
      • “The good life is a life that is pursued intelligently, toward the cultivation of genuine spirituality that is grounded in faith and knowledge, that is dedicated to truth.”
  • October 1969 General Conference
    • Your Future
      • “No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future.”
    • The Power of Faith
      • “We do not teach the principle of faith merely for what it will do for one in the next world. We believe that there is real practical value in mental concepts which increase one’s self-respect and effectiveness here and now. To believe that there is an all-wise Father in charge of the universe and that we are related to him, that we are in fact children of God with the “hallmark” of divinity upon us, is to live in a different world from those who believe that man is a mere animal concerned only with requirements for creature existence, which must end at death. Because of low aim, the lives of such people lack trajectory and vision and fall short of their spiritual capacity.”
      • “Eternal life means more than merely continuing to exist. Its qualitative value will be determined by what we believe and do while in mortality and by our conformity to eternal law in the life to come.”
      • “If one has a vivid sense of his own divinity, he will not easily be persuaded to deprave his mind, debauch his body, or sell his freedom for temporary gain.”
      • “Wherever in life great spiritual values await man’s appropriation, only faith can appropriate them. Man cannot live without faith, because in life’s adventure the central problem is character-building—which is not a product of logic, but of faith in ideals and sacrificial devotion to them.”
      • “Faith is a road to truth, without which some truths can never be reached at all. The reason for its inevitableness in life is not our lack of knowledge, but rather that faith is as indispensable as logical demonstration in any real knowing in the world. Faith is not a substitute for truth, but a pathway to truth.”
  • April 1969 General Conference
    • The Gospel Is for All Men
      • “For us, God is not an abstraction. He is not an idea, a metaphysical principle, an impersonal force or power. He is a concrete, living person. And though in our human frailty we cannot know the total mystery of his being, we know that he is akin to us, for he is revealed to us in the divine personality of his Son, Jesus Christ, and he is, in fact, our Father.”
    • A Time of Testing
      • “At the bar the Judge will not look us over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars. Let us resolve that there will be no stains. Let every young man who holds the priesthood stand himself up against the wall and look himself over and ask himself to reply honestly, “What kind of a man are you really? You make a pretty good showing at times, but what is in your heart?” Talk to yourself along that line, brethren, and then put your lives in order.”
      • “Look forward with courage and faith, remembering that unless we have been true, unless we have kept the faith, unless we have kept clean, unless we have done the things that we know we ought to do, then we will fail in this great test.”
      • “Set your houses in order. Set your lives in order, for you are going to be tested as men heretofore have not been tested, and you will make good in proportion as you build character, as you do the things you know you ought to do, deprive yourself of the things you know you should not have, and yield obedience to the commandments of God.”
  • April 1968 General Conference
    • After High School, What?
      • “Keep in mind the challenging fact that your aim is not to get ahead of others but to surpass yourself; to begin today to be the person you want to be; to immortalize today and all the tomorrows that lie ahead, in order that your life may have eternal significance. Cultivate an unquenchable appetite for learning.”
      • “Remember, the law of the harvest is inexorable. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” The use of any harmful substance will impede your progress toward your goal.”
      • “The preparation must begin at the center of your hearts and extend to the end of your fingers and toes. Each one of you may become the master of his fate, the captain of his soul.”
  • October 1967 General Conference
    • The Kingdom Is Rolling Forth
      • “Now is the time to make a resolution to that effect and to prepare to put yourselves in a position where you can do the will of God, keep control of yourselves, and control your passions and your appetites and those other things that lead downward into forbidden paths.”
    • The Profile of a Prophet
      • “I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God because he gave to this world some of the greatest revelations of all time. I believe that he was a prophet of God because he foretold many things that have come to pass, things that only God could bring to pass.”
  • April 1967 General Conference
    • Immortality
      • “Death is not extinguishing the light, but is putting out the lamp, because the dawn has come. Night never has the last word. The dawn is irresistible.”
    • Father, Are You There?
      • “I bear you my witness tonight that many times in intervening years I have called out to him for help, and I have needed it all the time. I needed it at the beginning of this conference. I called out to him and said, “Father, are you there?” I bear witness that he answered. He has been with us through this conference. We have had a glorious time.”
  • October 1966 General Conference
    • Marriage, the Family, and the Home
      • “The words freedom and rights have a magic sound in the ears of young people, but sometimes they translate them into self-indulgence and self-gratification. The time to start putting them into focus is before the impact of dawning personality has created habits in the children that will have to be vanquished someday either by self-discipline or by the discipline of the law.”
      • “The time has come to cease emphasizing the gadgets of every-day living and to set over against them the imperishable qualities of honesty, integrity, unselfishness, purity of thought and action, and respect for law.”
      • “Potentially, man is more precious in the sight of God than all the planets and suns of space. Incomprehensibly grand as are the physical creations of the earth and space, they have been brought into existence as a means to an end; they are the handiwork of God; man is his son.”
  • April 1966 General Conference
    • He Lives—All Glory to His Name
      • “We proclaim the preexistence and divine nature of Jesus the Christ, the purpose of his earth life, the reality of his resurrection and ascension, and the certainty of his second coming as eternal and well-attested truths and prophetic promises. They have illuminating and inspiring significance for our troubled world. They are our heritage from the Judeo-Christian world, clarified and amplified by modern revelation.”
  • October 1965 General Conference
    • Faith in America
      • “I should not like to be one of those who refuses to recognize the challenge of the problems of our times. On the other hand, I refuse to be numbered amongst those who are losing faith in America.”
      • “There are those among us today who advocate breaking the law as one means of calling to the attention of the nation that some have not been given the full benefit of the law. They argue that the laws they break are minor and that the breach is useful and justified because it assists in the enforcement of a greater law. This reasoning is fallacious and inconsistent with Christian principles.”
      • “Seeds of anarchy are sowed in the minds of those who follow a lawless course. Anarchy was never the way of God but rather the way of Satan.”
      • “Surely, as we face the future there is reason for concern, but there is no reason for despair. Let us find reason to lift, to build, and to uphold. Let us shrink from those whose only contribution is to complain, to condemn, and to destroy.”
  • April 1965 General Conference
    • This Church Is Christianity Restored
      • “The mission of the Church thus restored is to preach the gospel and administer in its ordinances among all nations preparatory to the second advent of our Savior.”
      • “Man enjoys freedom of action and agency of choice, but while free to exercise this volition, he must abide the consequences of his decision. Through trial and error we, like the Master, learn obedience by the things which we suffer.”
  • April 1964 General Conference
    • Sacred Rules of Conduct
      • “With every gift of power comes the temptation to abuse it. Each man has within himself the power that can destroy him.”
      • “Real character is formed in the midst of the battles for the soul. Christ offered peace, not in the sense of freedom from disturbance, but in the midst of disturbance.”
    • They Call for New Light
      • “There is no order of reality that is utterly different in character from the world of which we are a part, that is separated from us by an impassable gulf.”
      • “We do not separate our daily mundane tasks and interests from the meaning and substance of religion. We recognize the spiritual in all phases and aspects of living and realize that this life is an important part of eternal life.”
      • “Man as a child of God is not alone in the world, for God shares our suffering and delights in our joys. In this community with him we can overcome the world, achieving the abundant life here, and immortality and eternal life hereafter.”
  • October 1963 General Conference
    • Being a Good Father
      • “Each one of us must live with himself throughout eternity, and each one is now working on the kind of man he must live with throughout eternity. Let us determine for ourselves the kind of man our eternal companion is to be.”
      • “Fatherhood is next to Godhood, and therefore it takes a lifetime to become a good father.”
    • The Fight Between Good and Evil
      • “We believe that all men are the children of the same God, and that it is a moral evil for any person or group of persons to deny any human being the right to gainful employment, to full educational opportunity, and to every privilege of citizenship, just as it is a moral evil to deny him the right to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
  • April 1963 General Conference
    • Be Doers of the Word
      • “Sometimes defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.”
    • Participation: The Way to Salvation
      • “In all teaching—and one of the functions of the priesthood is teaching—what the teacher is counts for more than what he says.”
      • “Let us recognize in all of our fellow workers some value, some worth, and never forget that each one of them has a heart, has feelings, has ambition, has a certain amount of pride; therefore, let us never by virtue of the priesthood or the positions we hold trample on the rights or the feelings of our fellow men; let us never be sharp in what we say to them by way of criticism, but let us be kindly, considerate, and have in our hearts a love for our fellow men, for in each one of them there is value.”
      • “What that future is to be will depend upon your attitude toward your calling, your faith in yourselves, your belief that there is some gold in you.”
  • October 1962 General Conference
    • The Quest for Truth
      • “Any thoughtful, prayerful search for truth reveals that God is our Father, and that he is a person, that his glory is intelligence, and that he has a will, a purpose, and a plan in creating the universe and providing for man’s earth life.”
      • “Religion is the means by which a man may achieve tranquility of spirit without internal anguish or external disaster.”
      • “The vital and dynamic message of Mormonism is that there is a personal God in the heavens. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has not abated his power- he has not surrendered his sovereignty; he has not diluted his love; he changes not; and his plans never fail.”
    • Magnify Your Callings
      • “I am wondering whether any man could possibly be happy in the presence of God unless he himself is intelligent, for, as God’s glory is intelligence, only to the degree that we achieve intelligence will we be able to stand his glory.”
  • April 1962 General Conference
    • Honor the Priesthood
      • “That we honor the priesthood and the offices in it applies not only to our attitudes toward those who preside over us, but also toward those over whom and with whom we preside. Let us preside with kindness, consideration, and love.”
    • Are the Latter-day Saints…Christians?
      • “Salvation is a continuing, on-going process. It is eternally improving, achieving, becoming—yes, and overcoming.”
      • “Is a man educated when he enrolls in college, or when he gets his bachelor’s, his master’s or doctorate? Yes, relatively, he is an educated man, but he still has a lifetime—an eternity, in fact, in which to pursue knowledge and truth.”
      • “Faith must be confirmed and demonstrated by active acceptance of all the other principles and ordinances taught by him whose name is incorporated in the word Christian.”
      • “Eternal life and exaltation, however, made possible by the vicarious sacrifice of Christ may be progressively attained by man’s voluntary co-operation with divine will and purpose.”
      • “He made it possible for us, through faith, repentance, and continued righteousness, to obtain absolution from the effects of personal sins. One does not get the full benefit of the atonement simply by acknowledging it.”
  • October 1961 General Conference
    • Loyalty to the Church
      • “There are at least two places when a man will be honest, and that is when he is talking to himself and when he is in his closet talking with God Here at least the truth will be distilled.”
      • “Let us then examine ourselves and ask what kind of men we are. We might make a pretty good showing in public, be fairly successful in business or in politics; but let each man ask himself what kind of man are you in the home, in your business, in your private life. If you do not like what you see as you look at yourself, then do something about it because God will not hold any man guiltless who simply confesses his sin and doesn’t abandon it, or, who admits his weakness and doesn’t work for strength.”
      • “Let us not forget that the priesthood we bear is not in us as individuals, but the power of it comes through us. Let us keep ourselves in such condition that that power can be transmitted.”
    • Revelation: The Challenging Message of Mormonism
      • “Without continued revelation there can be no authorized ministry on the earth, and without authorized officers there can be no Church of Christ.”
      • “In this imperiled, divided, and chaotic world the need for God’s help was never more apparent and urgent.”
      • “We think we are justified in anticipating future revelation, and we believe that it will be surpassing in importance and glorious fulness anything that has yet been revealed. We believe that he will continue to reveal himself as long as man continues his probation here on earth.”
  • October 1960 General Conference
    • The Open Tomb
      • “Reference has been made in this conference to the chaotic condition of the world on account of communism. While I shall not dwell on this at length, we all know that our world is divided and imperiled; that though the Western nations believe in God, or claim to, and in the freedom of men, and the worth of the individual, there are hundreds of millions of our fellow men who are being taught that God is a myth and religion but an opiate; who are being indoctrinated, while their minds and bodies are enslaved, to believe in the monstrous supremacy of the totalitarian state.”
      • “And thus we have the testimony of eyewitnesses from two continents that Jesus is the Christ. We add our testimony not only that he did live, but that he still lives. This fact is the greatest hope of this divided and imperiled world, for if the Christ still lives then the anti-Christ will be defeated. There can be no peace in a godless world.”
  • April 1960 General Conference
    • The Five Worlds
      • “If, then, we are, in fact, the sons of God, and if it is life eternal to know him, all men should seek him, become familiar with his laws, and bring their lives into harmony therewith.”
      • “Our earth life was not accidental, it was not only planned and purposeful, but it was voluntary.”
      • “While we have complete freedom to heed or disregard the promptings of the spirit or the teachings of the prophets, let us always remember that we must abide the consequences of our choice.”
  • October 1959 General Conference
    • The Phenomenon of Mormonism
      • “Intolerance, one of the bitter fruits of ignorance and bigotry, has plagued the world from the beginning and has been responsible for much of its sorrow and misery.”
      • “The Christlike life is always a combination of earnest, personal conviction and generous regard for the other man’s opinion. Dedication to and defense of truth never require or justify breaking the second commandment to love our fellow men.”
      • “The Church must not condone evil or wrongdoing in the name of tolerance. It must not acquiesce or become an accessory, even by silence, when error and sin are arrayed against truth and righteousness. We must be on guard against alien ideologies and subtle, subversive concepts, leading to immoral conduct and apostasy. Whenever symptoms of apostasy appear in propaganda or conduct, remedial measures are applied. But when counsel, admonition, and instruction fail, the Church has a duty to its members to take positive action and either heal or amputate malignant growths.”
      • “We shall never surrender to the belief that man is a soulless device made to serve a machine or a state. We believe that his freedom is, next to life itself, his most precious gift.”
  • April 1959 General Conference
    • Jesus the Christ
      • “The fact that he came forth from the tomb with spirit and body reunited—and this is the central fact in the teachings of the apostles gives divine assurance that we too, through his atoning sacrifice, shall partake of the blessings of the resurrection.”
  • October 1958 General Conference
    • We Affirm Our Faith
      • “It is the message of the Book of Mormon that has caused people from almost all nations of the earth to accept it as the word of God. Its inspiring theme and divine message, from the title page to the last chapter, constitutes the testimony or witness of a whole nation of people that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Creator of the world, the Redeemer of mankind. It bears witness to the efficacy of the atonement, of its universal application and its value to all individuals who will accept his word and keep his commandments.”
      • “God is not the author of confusion. He does not work in dark places.”
  • April 1958 General Conference
    • This Gospel…Not A Gospel
      • “We believe that the greatest story ever told in all the annals of history is the story of the atonement of Christ. The record of his resurrection and ascension, without which the atonement would not have been complete, is the climax to that story; and now, two thousand years after the event, it is still central and pivotal in all true Christian thought.”
      • “Some express amazement and disbelief when we claim that the restoration began with a vision of heavenly beings and revelations from God. These claims should not be thought incredible to anyone who believes in the Holy Bible, for such events were standard procedure in both the Old and New Testaments.”
      • “Judgment is integral to the gospel. It is the assertion of the final triumph of good and the abolition of evil.”
  • April 1957 General Conference
    • Progress of the South Sea Missions
      • “We believe that religion should touch the lives of men redemptively here and now, at every point of human experience, that matter is not essentially evil but that its purpose is to serve spirit, while spirit controls and glorifies matter.”
  • October 1956 General Conference
    • Prophecy Fulfilled
      • “Perhaps you, our friends, ask what was restored that we did not have before? We humbly, but without equivocation, reply that the kingdom of God has been set up upon the earth, organized under his divine guidance—the very kingdom for which you and Christians in all nations and climes have been praying since Jesus first taught the Lord’s Prayer to his apostles, the central thought of which is, “Thy kingdom come.””
  • April 1956 General Conference
    • A Way of Life
      • “For a speech to be immortal it does not need to be everlasting.”
      • “We proclaim the scriptural and inspiring doctrine that man should look up and not down for his source, for he is of divine lineage; that man is innocent at birth, which is the antithesis of the ball and chain doctrine of original sin and innate wickedness.”
      • “Man faces a vista of limitless development, eternal progression, if he will cooperate in winning mastery over himself and the universe.”
      • “When we say man may become like our Father, we do not mean to humanize God, but rather to deify man—not as he now is but as he may become. The difference between us is indescribably great, but it is one of degree rather than of kind.”
      • “The wise man may not be learned, and the learned are not always wise.”
  • October 1955 General Conference
    • The Blessings of the Gospel
      • “The early missionaries of this Church, like their predecessors, endured persecution, made many sacrifices, and were willing to die if need be in proclaiming and defending the gospel of Christ. The prophet founder of the Church, the organizer of the missionary system in this dispensation, was, like Paul of old, tried before many magistrates and judges, appealed to the highest authority, was imprisoned many times, and finally sealed his testimony with his blood.”
      • “The day may not be far distant when there will be a worldwide re-enacting of the day of Pentecost on such a colossal scale that people in every land may hear the message of the gospel, each in his own tongue and at his own fireside.”
  • April 1955 General Conference
    • That All Men Might Repent
      • “Some of our friends have said we are inclined to worship the General Authorities. We love them; we listen to their counsel; we thank God for them; but they would not permit us to worship them. If we should be so inclined, they would be the first to rebuke us.”
      • “One of the most lethal weapons which the Adversary has devised to destroy the young people of the Church and of the world is to persuade them that if they have made a mistake they are lost, there is no hope. According to that doctrine, if a young person, in a weak moment, becomes guilty of some misdemeanor, he might as well go on to juvenile delinquency and crime and felony because he is lost anyway. So the devil would have them believe and thus lead them down to hell.”
      • “And so, with respect to some things that now seem difficult to understand, we can well afford to wait until we have all the facts, until all the evidence is in. Now do not misunderstand me. There will never come a time when any revelation of truth from God will be in conflict with any other truth revealed from him, whether it comes as direct revelation or as reward for diligent search. If there seems to be conflict, it is because men, fallible men, are unable properly to interpret God’s revelations or man’s discoveries.”
      • “By the same token, we should not undertake to state the time nor the order in which the gospel shall be given to any of the races or nations of the earth. We should not attempt to regulate God’s program by our little wrist watches nor insist that he be governed by our schedule of events. He has promised the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and he and only he knows when they are ready for its message and its blessings. When that time comes, I bear you my witness, prophetic witness, if you will, that he will reveal his will to the leaders of the Church concerning all of his people.”
  • October 1954 General Conference
    • “To Your Tents, O Israel!”
      • “Throughout the world today there is confusion, apprehension, danger. In our own land we are spending billions to fortify and defend our country and protect our homes. Not only are we stockpiling armaments and atom bombs and other instruments of war, but we are also building a radar system, sky high and continent wide, extending across Canada and up into the Arctic Circle, all with the idea, basically, of defending our homes.”
      • “Sometimes we, as individuals, feel weak and helpless in the face of all this and wonder what we might do to help. May I call your attention to the fact that right in the inner citadel of our defensive system, the home, which is the very bulwark of our strength and solidarity, right there the enemy is making inroads which truly are frightening. In what I have to say on this subject, I hope no one will feel that I am chastising or blaming or condemning. I think I realize, because of recent experiences, that there are many innocent victims of desertion and betrayal. My heart goes out to many lovely women who are left to raise their children alone, and certainly to them we say a word of encouragement, and we pray God’s blessings upon them that they may be given strength to carry this added burden. And yet we must say some things about this evil—its source and possible conquest.”
      • “Fathers should teach their boys that there is no freedom except through obedience to law. Children should be reared in disciplined homes where rules are obeyed and the rights of others are respected. Parents should “reprove betimes with sharpness” and then show an increase of love. The child that is pampered in the home will expect to be pampered after marriage. Among the seeds of divorce one of the most prolific is overindulgence. It grows into extreme selfishness.”
      • “But let us think of some positive aspects of this subject. I should like for the next minute to talk to the young people who may be listening in: to tell them that though this enemy is extant, and though they must meet situations where they must face and overcome difficulties, they can train and prepare themselves for this glorious experience with the same promise of success as awaits the well-trained and disciplined person in any field of activity. Marriage is life at work.”
      • “I remind you that the Master who loved most of all, endured the most and proved his love by his endurance.”
      • “The husband, who will kneel every day in the home and thank God for his wife and list her virtues in his supplication to be entered on the credit side of the family ledger will overlook or be unmindful of her little weaknesses—he will never seek the divorce courts. The woman who kneels with her children in the home and humbly thanks God for a kind, loving, and wonderful father and husband, even though at times that prayer may be only a wish, it still will impress upon the souls of the children an image and hold before them an ideal which they will try to realize in themselves.”
  • April 1954 General Conference
    • Our Debt to the Past
      • “If for a moment we become personal, it is not because our experiences and heritage are unique—they are but typical of the lives of Latter-day Saints—but we are thinking now of a father, willing all his life to lay everything upon the altar, sending boys on missions, building up new areas, struggling against the elements. We are thinking of a pioneer mother, a woman who somehow had the genius to inspire in the hearts of each of her seven sons and seven daughters a sense of their individual worth and who predicted for them blessings in the future predicated upon observance of law.”
      • “We are thinking too of our companions, and I am sure all of you brethren who are assembled and who are listening will join in a tribute to those who know us best, in our weaknesses, and still somehow contrive to bring out of us something of our potential worth; who pray and love us into being our better selves.”

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