Joseph F. Smith

JOSEPH F. SMITH
6th President of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
October 17, 1901 – November 19, 1918

President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 10, 1901 – October 17, 1901)

First Counselor in the First Presidency (October 6, 1901 – October 10, 1901)

Second Counselor in the First Presidency (April 7, 1889 – October 6, 1901, October 10, 1880 – July 25, 1887)

Counselor in the First Presidency (July 1, 1866 – August 29, 1877)

Member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (July 1, 1866 – November 19, 1918)

General Conference Addresses

October 1918 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I will not, I dare not, attempt to enter upon many things that are resting upon my mind this morning, and I shall postpone until some future time, the Lord being willing, my attempt to tell you some of the things that are in my mind, and that dwell in my heart. I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in the spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith and of determination; and I have had my communication with the Spirit of the Lord continuously; and I am glad to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that it is a happy meeting this morning for me to have the privilege of joining with you in the opening of this eighty-ninth Semi-annual Conference of the Church.”
- Spurious Revelation
  - “No man can enter into God’s rest unless he will absorb the truth in so far that all error, all falsehood, all misunderstandings and misstatements he will be able to sift thoroughly and dissolve, and know that it is error and not truth. When you know God’s truth, when you enter into God’s rest, you will not be hunting after revelations from Tom, Dick and Harry all over the world. You will not be following the will of the wisps of the vagaries of men and women who advance nonsense and their own ideas. When you know the truth you will abide in the truth, and the truth will make you free, and it is only the truth that will free you from the errors of men, and from the falsehood and misrepresentations of the evil one who lays in wait to deceive and to mislead the people of God from the paths of righteousness and truth.”
April 1918 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Now, I wanted at least to say this much to you, that we ought not to spend our means in importing into our country things we can raise at home; and surely not those things that are injurious, nauseating and hurtful to life. We ought to let them alone. I don’t believe that it is really necessary for the Latter-day Saints to import tea and ooffee into Utah. I believe they could makeshift with something more simple, something less injurious, perhaps, than these things that are more or less stimulating and not nourishing, the effects of which are more injurious than beneficial.”
- Various Thoughts
  - “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no partisan Church. It is not a sect. It is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the only one today existing in the world that can and does legitimately bear the name of Jesus Christ and his divine authority. I make this declaration in all simplicity and honesty before you and before all the world, bitter as the truth may seem to those who are opposed and who have no reason for that opposition. It is nevertheless true and will remain true until He who has a right to rule among the nations of the earth and among the individual children of God throughout the world shall come and take the reins of government and receive the bride that shall be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom.”
  - “Many of our great writers have recently been querying and wondering where the divine authority exists today to command in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, so that it will be in effect and acceptable at the throne of the Eternal Father. I will announce here and now, presumptuous as it may seem to be to those who know not the truth, that the divine authority of Almighty God, to speak in the name of the Father and of the Son, is here in the midst of these everlasting” hills, in the midst of this intermountain region, and it will abide and will continue, for God is its source and God is the power by which it has been maintained against all opposition in the world up to the present, and by which it will continue to progress and grow and increase on the earth until it shall cover the earth from sea to sea. This is my testimony to you, my brethren and sisters, and I have a fulness of joy and of satisfaction in being able to declare this without regard to or fear of all the adversaries of the truth.”
- Closing Address
  - “The Lord Almighty affixed in the law of Moses the penalty of death for the crime of murder or the shedding of blood, and the Lord Almighty affixed the same penalty of death upon the crime of adultery and unchastity. I hope that the Latter-day Saints will hold in mind the fact that there is no greater crime that men and women can commit, except the crime of murder itself, than that of adultery and unchastity; and let this be a precept to be taught and instilled into the minds of our children, and to our children’s children henceforth, with all earnestness and fidelity on the part of those who are called to be watchmen upon the towers of Zion.”
  - “We are not trying to defend the liberty of mankind to be drunken, to be debauchees, to advocate crime, to interfere with the rights of others. This is not liberty. The law of nations, as well as the law of God, prohibits it, and it cannot exist except it exist contrary to the laws of righteousness and contrary to the principles of liberty that we are willing- to fight for and that we are striving for.”
October 1917 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “The Almighty, in the beginning, never devised a plan for the redemption of his children that was not true, that was not efficacious, that would not be effectual in the accomplishment of his purpose to bring to pass the final exaltation into the kingdom and the enjoyment of his presence, of all his children who would obey his laws and keep his commandments.”
April 1917 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Charity, or love, is the greatest principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it.”
October 1916 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “The religion which we have espoused is not a Sunday religion; it is not a mere profession; it is a most—I was going to say—a most terrible reality—and I believe I would be justified in using that expression, because it savors of life unto life or of death unto death. If it is, and pardon me for using that expression, if it is what we profess it to be, what we have embraced it for, what we believe it to be as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is the most important thing in the world to us, and the results to us in this world and in the world to come will depend upon our integrity to the truth and our consistency in observing its precepts, in abiding by its principles and its requirements.”
  - “Why, bless your souls, there are people among us that are worrying and fretting over things that have never been revealed to the children of men, and these very people do not even keep the word of wisdom, do not even pay their tithing, and as a rule, the man that does not pay his tithing and that does not keep the word of wisdom is the man that is everlastingly quizzing and asking questions about things he does not understand. If men would pay their tithing, if they would keep the word of wisdom, if they would say their prayers, if they would devote their lives to works of righteousness in the earth and study the gospel for themselves and obey it, they would have less necessity for asking questions, and don’t forget the fact that they would know things better than they do.”
April 1916 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I am only a child, I am only learning, and I hope I shall not be ever learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth. I sincerely hope that as I learn little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, clay by day, and month by month, and year by year, that there will come a time when I shall have learned indeed the truth and shall know it as God knows it and be saved and exalted in His presence.”
October 1915 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I believe that we are taxing the people more for education than they should be taxed. This is my sentiment. And especially is it my sentiment when the fact is known that all these burdens are placed upon the tax payers of the state to teach the learning or education of this world. God is not in it. Religion is excluded from it. The Bible is excluded from it. And those who desire to have their children receive the advantages of moral and religious education are excluded from all these state organizations, and if we will have our children properly taught in principles of righteousness, morality and religion, we have to establish Church schools or institutions of education of our own, and thus the burdens of taxation are increased upon the people. We have to do it in order that our children may have the advantages of moral training in their youth. I know that I shall be criticized by professional “lovers of education,” for expressing my idea in relation to this matter.”
April 1915 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “God is its author, God is its founder and we are sent out and we send out our elders to make this proclamation to the world, and leave it to their own judgment and discretion as to whether they will investigate it, learn the truth for themselves, and accept it, or whether they will reject it. We do not make war upon them; if they do not receive it, we do not contend with them if they fail to benefit themselves by receiving the message that we give to them for their own good, we only pity. Our sympathy goes out to those who will not receive the truth and who will not walk in the light when the light shines before them; not hatred, not enmity, not the spirit of condemnation; it is our duty to leave condemnation in the hands of Almighty God. He is the only real, true, righteous, impartial judge, and we leave judgment in His hands. It is not our business to proclaim calamities, judgments, destruction and the wrath of God upon men. If they will not receive the truth. Let them read the word of God, as recorded in the New and the Old Testaments, and, if they will receive it let them read the word that has been restored through the gift and power of God to Joseph the Prophet, as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the Book of Mormon. Let them read these things, and they will learn there, themselves, the promises that God has made to those who will not hearken when they hear the truth, but will close their ears and their eyes against the light. We need not repeat these things and try to impose upon the feelings and judgments of men by threatening them or by warning them against the dangers and evils that may come upon the ungodly, the disobedient, the unthankful, and those who will not yield to the truth. They will learn it soon enough, if we do not mention it to them at all.”
  - “It is not a part of our business to dwell upon these things; our duty is to tell the truth, preach the truth, the peaceable things of the Kingdom of God, the way of life and salvation, the way of repentance, the way of righteousness, the way of love and of dealing one with another, the golden rule to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us, as taught by the Son of God. The great object and duty that devolves upon the Latter-day Saints is to learn, each man and each women for himself and for herself, their individual duty as members of the Church. Just as soon as a man or woman learns his and her duty to God and to those who are members with them in the household of faith, peace is established, love and good will are assured, no back-bitting, no fault-finding, no bearing false witness against neighbors, no strife, no contention. For the moment that a Latter-day Saint learns his duty, he will learn that it is his business to make peace, to establish good will, to work righteousness, to be filled with the spirit of kindness, love, charity, and forgiveness; and, so far as he is concerned, there can be no war, no strife, no contention, no quarreling, no disunion; no factions can arise among the people who know their duty as Latter-day Saints.”
  - “There is not a man holding any position of authority in the Church who can perform his duty as he should in any other spirit than in the spirit of fatherhood and brotherhood toward those over whom he presides. Those who have authority should not be rulers, nor dictators, they should not be arbitrary, they should gain the hearts, the confidence and the love of those over whom they preside, by kindness and love unfeigned, by gentleness of spirit, by persuasion, by an example that is above reproach and above the reach of unjust criticism. In this way, in the kindness of their hearts, in their love for their people, they lead them in the path of righteousness, and teach them the way of salvation, by saying to them both by precept and example: Follow me, as I follow our head, the Redeemer of the world. This is the duty of those who preside. There is not a man holding any position of authority in the Church who can perform his duty as he should in any other spirit than in the spirit of fatherhood and brotherhood toward those over whom he presides. Those who have authority should not be rulers, nor dictators, they should not be arbitrary, they should gain the hearts, the confidence and the love of those over whom they preside, by kindness and love unfeigned, by gentleness of spirit, by persuasion, by an example that is above reproach and above the reach of unjust criticism. In this way, in the kindness of their hearts, in their love for their people, they lead them in the path of righteousness, and teach them the way of salvation, by saying to them both by precept and example: Follow me, as I follow our head, the Redeemer of the world. This is the duty of those who preside.”
  - “Do your duty, my brethren, and the Lord will do His for you.”
- Closing Address
  - “One of the indispensable qualifications of the Elders who go out into the world to preach is humility, meekness and love unfeigned, for the well-being and the salvation of the human family, and the desire to establish peace and righteousness in the earth among men. We can not preach the gospel of Christ without this spirit of humility, meekness, faith in God and reliance upon His promises and word to us.”
October 1914 General Conference
- Prayer
  - “I desire to call attention to one thing; it is this: I fear the Latter-day Saints, in the midst of the prosperity with which they are blessed, sometimes fail to observe that great commandment given of the Master, always to remember the Lord, to pray in the morning, and in the evening, and always remember to thank Him for blessings that they receive day by day. I fear that there is more than there should be among the Latter-day Saints in regard to following out this rule of the Church.”
  - “I don’t want you to think I believe that God has designed or willed that war should come among the people of the world, that the nations of the world should be divided against each other in war, and engaged- in the destruction of each other! God did not design or cause this. It is deplorable to the heavens that such a condition should exist among men, but the conditions do exist, and men precipitate war and destruction upon themselves because of their wickedness, and that because they will not abide in God’s truth, walk in His love, and seek to establish and maintain peace instead of strife and contention in the world.”
- Proper War
  - “When we shall have conquered ourselves, it will be well for us to wage our war without, against false teachings, false doctrines, false customs, habits and ways, against error, unbelief, the follies of the world that are so prevalent, and against infidelity, and false science under the name of science, and every other thing that strikes at the foundations of the principles set forth in the doctrine of Christ for the redemption of men and the salvation of their souls.”
  - “We should war against covetousness, against pride, vanity, haughtiness of spirit, against self-sufficiency and imagined or supposed almighty power that some people think they possess. God is the greatest man of war of all, and His Son is next unto Him, and their warfare is for the salvation of the souls of men.”
April 1914 General Conference
- Righteousness and Truth
  - “I do not expect any victory, any triumph, anything to boast of, to come to the Latter-day Saints, except upon the principles of righteousness and of truth. Truth and righteousness will prevail, and endure. If we will only continue to build upon the principles of righteousness, of truth, of justice and of honor, I say to you there is no power beneath the celestial kingdom that can stay the progress of this work.”
  - “It is not good for man to be alone, and it is necessary that our young men and women should be properly taught the importance, the sacredness and the duty of marriage. Great evils occur among young people through neglect in teaching them these principles, and from failure to encourage them to the performance of their duties, in this respect.”
  - “There is never a time, there never will come a time to those who hold the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when men can say of themselves that they have done enough. So long as life lasts, and so long as we possess ability to do good, to labor for the upbuilding of Zion and for the benefit of the human family, we ought, with willingness, to yield with alacrity to the requirements made of us to do our duty, little or great.”
October 1913 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “It is neither my wish nor purpose to advertise the weaknesses and imperfections of those who should be Latter-day Saints, and whose lives should be absolutely above reproach; it is not my wish nor desire to magnify the weaknesses and the imperfections of men; but I see things, day after day, which I think should be corrected, as far as it is possible for them to be corrected. Let me, without doing it in the spirit of accusation, without charging evil upon the people, speak of some of the things I see, to some extent. I thank the Lord that the evil is no more extensive than it is; I am very grateful that it is confined within the limits to which it is confined.”
April 1913 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “When we deal with men we should not deal with them in anger. We should not deal with them with prejudice in our minds against them. We should dismiss prejudice, dispel anger from our hearts, and when we try our brethren for membership or fellowship in the Church we should do it dispassionately, charitably, lovingly, kindly, with a view to save and not to destroy.”
  - “I have had a good deal of patience about some things, but there is a point at which patience ceases to be a virtue, and then it will become necessary to act, or advise at least.”
  - “Look for good in men, and where they fail to possess it try to build it up in them; try to increase the good in them; look for the good; build up the good; sustain the good: and speak as little about the evil as you possibly can. It does not do any good to magnify evil, to publish evil or to promulgate it by tongue or pen. There is no good to be obtained by it. It is better to bury the evil and magtiify the good, and prompt all men to forsake evil and learn to do good; and let our mission be to save mankind and to teach in and guide to the paths of righteousness, and not to sit as judges and pass judgment upon evil doers, but rather be saviors of men.”
October 1912 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Now, these are the commandments of God, the principles contained in these commandments of the great Eternal are the principles that underly the Constitution of our country and all just laws.”
- Divine Guidance Needed
  - “I think that in the realms of liberty, and the exercise of human judgment, all men should exercise extreme caution, that they do not change or abolish those things which God has willed and has inspired to be done.”
  - “God in His boundless wisdom and gracious mercy has provided means, and has shown the way to the children of men whereby, even in the realms of freedom and the exercise of their own judgment, they may individually go unto God in faith and prayer, and find out what should guide and direct their human judgment and wisdom; and I do not want the Latter-day Saints to forget that this is their privilege. I would rather that they should seek God for a counselor and guide, than to follow the wild harangues of political leaders, or leaders of any other cult. I felt like I ought to say that much; and I know that I am right.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “[We should] set [our] faces like flint against every spirit of apostasy, every kind of evil, intemperance, the violation of the Sabbath day; and hold in reverence that which is sacred in the eyes of the Lord, and should be held sacred by all Latter-day Saints; to hold sacred also all and every divine and human right; to do unto all men as we would that they should do unto us, and set an example, as members of the Church that will be worthy of emulation by all men and women in the world.”
April 1912 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “God has organized His Church in the earth; and I know that when He designs or purposes to make any change in the manner or matter of governing or controlling or presiding over the affairs of His Church, that He will make the change, and He will make it in such a way that the whole people of the Church, who are doing right, will understand and accept it.”
  - “Try to save men and not destroy them. Set an example before the world, that they cannot gainsay, and so that they cannot condemn you for your conduct or acts; and if they condemn you at all, that they will have to conjure up something that is not true and then fight it, as the prejudiced world is doing in relation to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “Whenever, if ever, I say a word that is acceptable to God, whenever I speak His truth, it is by the presence and influence of His Spirit, and it is to His honor and to His glory that I do it. I never have taken any honor unto myself. I want no honor; I claim none except that of being a member of the Church of Christ, the honor of having a standing unsullied, undefiled, unshaken, and immovable, in the kingdom of my God and His Christ.”
October 1911 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Whatever may be the feeling of those opposed to the work of the Lord, whatever may be the feeling of the unbelieving and scornful, and those that are contemptuous toward the work of the Lord, let the spirit of wisdom, of good judgment, of intelligence govern and direct all the acts and labors, and all the thoughts and desires of the Latter-day Saints. It matters but very little to me what men may think of me, or what they may say about me, so long as I can maintain a consciousness of having righteousness in view, of having an earnest desire to do good and not evil, and so long as I am conscious that I am, to the best of my knowledge and understanding, following the dictates of my conscience, and the promptings of the Spirit of the Lord to me in the line of my duty.”
  - “The Latter-day Saints declare that it is simply a mockery for men to say they believe in Christ, and refuse to do the works that He did; it is simply folly; it is un-Christian; it is inconsistent for men to say that all that is necessary for men is to believe in Christ and they shall be saved, when Christ Himself declared that He required all men to do the works that He did, and to keep the commandments that He gave unto them.”
  - “The Lord knows there is evil enough said in the world thoughtlessly, and without any particular intent to do wrong, but merely through the weakness of men to talk, talk, talk and say nothing—let us work and not talk.”
  - “It is the fool that saith in his heart, “No one has wisdom but me.””
- Closing Remarks
  - “One of the greatest menaces to our country is that of the combination of men into irresponsible, reckless mobs, wild with prejudice, hatred and fanaticism, led by men of ambition, or passion, or hatred. There is no other thing in the world that I can conceive of so absolutely obnoxious to God and good men as a combination of men and women filled with the spirit of mobocracy.”
  - “Let the strong hand of the government put a stop to anything that is tyrannical and unjust, to anarchy and all else calculated to sow the seeds of destruction, poverty and ruin upon our land.”
April 1911 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “There is not one of us but what should feel a lively personal interest in the upbuilding of Zion, and in the welfare of all her people. No man or woman holding a membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should feel indifferent to the cause of Zion, but they should, one and all, feel a lively interest in the welfare of the work of the Lord, in which they are engaged. They should contribute whatever influence they can and whatever effort it is possible for them to contribute for the upbuilding of Zion and for the joy, peace, comfort, happiness, and well-being of all her inhabitants.”
October 1910 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I can endure to be maligned and persecuted by my enemies, who are also enemies of the Kingdom of God, but I do not want to be maligned and belied by men who profess to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, neither, intentionally or otherwise.”
  - “While I live, I hope to be a true man, an honest man, a man who can face all mankind and, at last, who can stand before God, the Judge of the quick and the dead, and not quail for what I have done in the world.”
  - “When you hear of people, that profess to be Latter-day Saints, running off on tangents, on foolish notions and one-horse, cranky ideas, things that are obviously opposed to reason, and to good sense, opposed to principles of righteousness and to the word of the Lord, that has been revealed to men, you should know at once that they have not studied the principles of the gospel, and do not know very much about the gospel. When people understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see them walking straightforward, according to the word of the Lord, and the law of God, strictly in accordance with that which is consistent, just, righteous, and in every sense acceptable to the Lord, who only accepts of that which is right and pleasing in His sight; for only that which is right is pleasing unto Him.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “Now, what means are they using and what means have they been using, for years, against the Church? Ridicule, contumely, falsehood, slander, misrepresentation! Men that fight against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build up “men of straw” and slaughter them. They advance ideas that do not belong to us, that we have never held, that we do not advocate, that are no part of our doctrine or religion at all. They conjure up these propositions in their own minds, and then proceed, with all the eloquence and fervor of their souls, to tear in pieces and destroy the images of their own minds. They do not fight Mormonism— they can’t, without they fight God and the truth! The moment that men attempt to fight this Church they fight God, they fight the principles of His gospel and His truth; they fight faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in righteousness, faith in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in every principle that exalts and uplifts and ameliorates the condition of man in the world. If they undertake to fight us they fight these principles, because we have espoused these principles. They are our principles, and they are not principles of error, of injustice, or unvirtue, or of ungodliness. We do not espouse any such doctrine as that, neither do we teach it, when we are in the faith and fellowship of the Lord.”
April 1910 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Let the people be united, and not dividted one against another. In union we have strength, but in division and discord we become like water spilled upon the ground, that cannot be gathered up. Let the people be united in their worship of God,imited in their faith, united in their love of all that is good, noble and godlike, united one with another in helping to establish the standard of peace and righteousness in the earth, that all men may come to it and partake of its blessings and glory.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “I love the good, the upright, the manly, the honorable, the pure in heart everywhere in the world; and the foolish and unfortunate have my sympathy and my pity. I pray God the Eternal Father to help the erring to forsake the error of their ways, that He will help those that are in darkness, to come to the knowledge of the truth and into the light, that they may walk in the light as Christ is in the light, that they may have fellowship with Him and His people, and that He may cleanse them from all sin.”
October 1909 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Men may say they do not believe it; but that does not make the truth of non-effect. Men may express their doubts about it; but the truth remains. Men may reject it; still the foundation of the truth is unshaken. Men may array themselves against it; they may fight it bitterly, as many have done from its incipiency; but still the truth remains unshaken and undisturbed—the truth that God did speak to His servant Joseph Smith, and did reveal Himself unto him; not only the Father, but the Son also. They did reveal themselves unto him, and they gave him commandments and their law, their Gospel and their plan of life eternal; salvation temporal and salvation spiritual, salvation for the present and salvation throughout the countless ages of eternity.”
  - “I would rather take one of my children to the grave than I would see him turn away from this gospel. I would rather follow their bodies to the cemetery, and see them buried in innocence, than I would see them corrupted by the ways of the world. I would rather go myself to the grave than to be associated with a wife outside of the bonds of the new and everlasting covenant. Now, I hold it just so sacred; but some members of the Church do not so regard the matter.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “There never, perhaps, was a time in the Church when there were not foolish ones amongst us. Some have been foolish through overzeal; some have been still more foolish through lack of zeal, altogether, some have been foolish in saying things they ought never to have said, and others have been guilty before the Lord in not saying that which they should have said. I presume that this condition will remain and continue amongst us so long as men are imperfect and do not see clearly, as the Lord sees, and are not susceptible to the inspiration and promptings of the Holy Spirit, to which they are entitled for their guidance every day of their lives, if they will but live for it.”
  - “I do not think it is my right or prerogative to point out the supposed defects of the Prophet Joseph Smith, or Brigham Young, or any other of the leaders of the Church. Let the Lord God Almighty judge them and speak for or against them as it may seem Him good—but not I; it is not for me, my brethren, to do this. Our enemies may have taken advantage of us, in times gone by, because of unwise things that may have been said. Some of us, may now, give to the world the same opportunity to speak evil against us, because of that which we say which should not be spoken at all.”
  - “When the Lord wants to reveal something new to us, He knows the channel through which to reveal it; He knows that He can do it, and He will do it in His own way and time, and through the proper channels of the Priesthood. Don’t forget that!”
April 1909 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “To be arrayed against the cause of Zion is to be arrayed against God, against revelation from God, against that spirit that leads men into all truth that cometh from the source of light and intelligence, against that principle that brings men together and causes them to forsake their sins, to seek righteousness, to love God with all their hearts, mind and strength, and to love their neighbors as themselves.”
  - “The spirit of the Gospel leads men to righteousness; to love their fellow men and to labor for their salvation and exaltation; it inspires them to do good and not evil, to avoid even the appearance of sin, much more to avoid sin itself.”
  - “Those who fight against Zion, or against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are fighting against God, against His truth, against light and knowledge, and revelation from the heavens to man, which we know man has received of God in the day in which we live. What shall we do? Our plain duty—so plain that none should misunderstand it, none can misunderstand it unless they allow their prejudices and human weaknesses to prevail over their better judgment; our plain duty is to live in the spirit of forgiveness, in the spirit of humility before the Lord, in the love of the truth more than the love of ourselves and our personal interests.”
  - “We should call upon him from time to time, from day to day, and in fact, every moment of our lives we should live so that the desires of our hearts will be a prayer unto God for righteousness, for truth and for the salvation of the human family.”
  - “Let us guard ourselves so that there may not come into our souls a single drop of bitterness, by which our whole being might be corroded and poisoned with anger, with hatred, envy or malice, or any sort of evil. We should be free from all these evil things, that we may be filled with the love of God, the love of truth the love of our fellow men, that we may seek to do good unto all men all the days of our lives, and above all things be true to our covenants in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
October 1908 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “No member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can afford to do himself the dishonor or to bring upon himself the disgrace, of crossing the threshhold of a liquor saloon or a gambling hall, or of any house of ill-fame of whatever name or nature it may be. No Latter-day Saint, no member of the Church can afford it, for it is humiliating to him, it is disgraceful in him to do it, and Goci will judge him according to his works. The man or woman who truly believes in the doctrines of the Church or professing to have membership in the Church, who believes and practices the principles contained in this “Word of Wisdom,” will never be numbered among those who will bring this disgrace upon them, upon their neighbors or upon the Church to which they belong; they will never do it.”
- Gratifying Evidences
  - “There is nothing in God’s world that draws men and women so near to my heart as that they love the truth and that they love God, that they love the cause of Zion and are devoted to the interests of the Church. This endears men and women to my heart; I love them when they love this work and when they show their interest in it. It lifts my soul to heaven and fills it with joy unspeakable.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “The Gospel of Jesus is founded in truth. Every principle of it is susceptible of demonstration beyond any just reason for contradiction. The Lord is doing His work and will do it, and no power can stay it.”
April 1908 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “We want nothing drastic, nothing that would be illiberal or oppressive, but we do think that the people ought to have their choice as to whether they will permit or have in their midst drunkenness, rioting, and murder—which is too often the result of drunkenness,—or whether they will insist on abstinence from these things, that the people might have peace insured among them, and that their children might not be subjected to the temptations into which they are thrown because of the presence of these evils.”
  - “Every man who holds the office of High Priest in the Church or has been ordained a High Priest, whether he is called to active position in the Church or not—inasmuch as he has been ordained a High Priest, should feel that he is obliged,—that it is his bounden duty to set an example before the old and young worthy of emulation, and to place himself in a position to be a teacher of righteousness, not only by precept but more particularly by example—giving to the younger ones the benefit of experience of age, and thus becoming individually a power in the midst of the communities in which they dwell.”
  - “Indeed the spirit of contention is a thing not known among the Latter-day Saints. You find the spirit of contention only among apostates and those who have denied the faith, those who have turned away from the truth and have become enemies to God and His work. There you will find the spirit of contention, the spirit of strife. There you will find them wanting to “argue the question,” and to dispute with you all the time. Their food, their meat, and their drink is contention which is abominable in the sight of the Lord. We do not contend. We are not contentious, for if we were we would grieve the Spirit of the Lord from us. Just as apostates do and have always done.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “I pray God to bless all our friends throughout the land and in all the world. May He bless and have mercy upon our enemies. May He open their eyes and their understanding, that they may comprehend the nature of the course they are taking and what it will result in to themselves at last. May the Lord have pity upon and turn them from their folly and the error of their way, and lead them into paths of peace and righteousness.”
October 1907 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “The work required of us by the Lord is an individual work, it devolves upon each individual alike. No man can be saved in the kingdom of God in sin. No man will ever be forgiven of his sins by the just Judge, except he repents of his sins. No man will ever be freed from the power of death unless he is born again, as the Lord Almighty has decreed.”
  - “Men can only be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God in righteousness, therefore we must repent of our sins, and walk in the light as Christ is in the light, that His blood may cleanse us from all sins, and that we may have fellowship with God and receive of His glory and exaltation.”
  - “I feel in my heart to forgive all men in the broad sense that God requires of me to forgive all men, and I desire to love my neighbor as myself; and to this extent I bear no malice toward any of the children of my Father. But there are enemies to the work of the Lord, as there were enemies to the Son of God. There are those who speak only evil of the Latter-day Saints. There are those—and they abound largely in our midst, who will shut their eyes to every virtue and to every good thing connected with this latter-day work, and will pour out floods of falsehood and misrepresentation against the people of God. I forgive them for this. I leave them in the hand of the just Judge. Let Him deal with them as seemeth Him good, but they are not and cannot become my bosom companions. I cannot condescend to that. While I would not harm a hair of their head, while I would not throw a straw in their path, to hinder them from turning from the error of their way to the light of truth; I would as soon think of taking a centipede or a scorpion or any poisonous reptile and putting it into my bosom, as I would think of becoming a companion or an associate of such a man.”
  - “These are my sentiments, and I believe that they are correct. If you can throw yourself in the way of the sinner to stop him in his downward course, and become an instrument in the hand of the Lord of turning him from the way of vice, iniquity, or crime, into the way of righteousness and uprightness, you are justified and that is demanded of you. You should do this. If you can save a sinner from his wickedness, turn the wicked from the course of death that he is pursuing, to the way of life and salvation, you will save a soul from death, and you will have been an instrument in the hand of the Lord of turning the sinner unto righteousness, for which you will receive your reward. Some of our good Latter-day Saints have become so exceedingly good (?) that they cannot tell the difference between a Saint of God, an honest man, and a son of Beelzebub, who has yielded himself absolutely to sin and wickedness. And they call that liberality, broadness of mind, exceeding love. I do not want to become so blinded with love for my enemies that I cannot discern between light and darkness, between truth and error, between good and evil; but I hope to live so that I shall have sufficient light in me to discern between error and truth, and to cast my lot on the side of truth and not on the side of error and darkness. The Lord bless the Latter-day Saints. If I am too narrow with reference to these matters I hope that the wisdom of my brethren and the Spirit of Light from the Lord may broaden my soul.”
  - “We have a few people amongst us who are so wrapped up in and so devoted to some of their kindred who have been guilty of every species of abomination and wickedness in the world, that, the moment they are dead they will come and ask for permission to go into the house of God to perform the ordinances of the Gospel for their redemption. I do not blame them for their affection for their dead, nor do I blame them for the desire in their heart to do something for their salvation, but I do not admire their wisdom, nor can I agree with their conception of right and justice. You cannot take a murderer, a suicide, an adulterer, a liar, or one who was or is thoroughly abominable in his life here, and simply by the performance of an ordinance of the Gospel, cleanse him from sin and usher him into the presence of God. God has not instituted a plan of that kind, and it cannot be done. He has said you shall repent of your sins. The wicked will have to repent of their wickedness. Those who die without the knowledge of the Gospel will have to come to the knowledge of it, and those who sin against light will have to pay the uttermost farthing for their transgression and their departure from the Gospel, before they can ever get back to it. Do not forget that. Do not forget it, you Elders in Israel, nor you, mothers in Israel, either, and, when you seek to save either the living or the dead, bear it in mind that you can only do it on the principle of their repentance, and acceptation of the plan of life. That is the only way in which you can succeed.”
April 1907 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “There is no officer in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chosen by the body. The Lord has given us His way to do these things. He has revealed to us that it is the duty of the presiding authorities to appoint and call; and then those whom they choose for any official position in the Church shall be presented to the body. If the body reject them, they are responsible for that rejection. They have the right to reject, if they will, or to receive them and sustain them by their faith and prayers.”
  - “The truth will unite us and cement us together. It will make us strong, for it is a foundation that cannot be destroyed.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “Our mission is to save, to preserve from evil, to exalt mankind, to bring light and truth into the world, to prevail upon the people of the earth to walk righteously before God, and to honor Him in their lives and with the first fruits of all their substance and increase that their barns may be filled with plenty, and, figuratively speaking, that “their presses may burst out with new wine.””
October 1906 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “I think we owe something to our enemies too for the advancement of the cause of Zion; for up to date everything that has been done or attempted to be done to thwart the purposes of God and to frustrate His designs has been overruled for the good of Zion and for the spread of truth. And that will continue to be the case until the end, for they are fighting God’s work, and not mine nor that of any man.”
  - “Let us sustain Christ, His people, and His cause of righteousness and redemption; let us sustain one another in the right, and kindly admonish one another in regard to wrong-doing, that we may be friends and saviors on Mount Zion, one for another, and that we may help the weak and strengthen them, encourage the doubtful and bring light to their right understandings as far as it is possible, that we may be instrumental in the hands of God of being saviors among men. Not that we have power to save men. We have not; but we have power to show them how they can obtain salvation through obedience to the laws of God. We can show them how to walk in order to be saved, for we have the right to do that, we have knowledge and understanding as to how to do it, and it is our privilege to teach it and to enforce it by example as well as by precept among our associates wherever we are in the world.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “Therefore I say, as the name of the Son of God shall be held in reverence and honor, and in the faith and love of men, so will the name of Joseph Smith eventually be held among the children of men, gaining prestige, increasing in honor, and commanding respect, and reverence until the world shall say that he was a servant and Prophet of God.”
April 1906 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I would like to say that it is expected of the Relief Society, especially the general authorities of that great organization, that they will have a watchcare over all the organizations among the women of Zion. They stand at the head of all such; they ought to stand at the head, and they should magnify their calling, and see to it that error is not permitted to creep in, that cabals are not formed, that secret combinations may not get a foothold, to mislead the sisters. They should see to it that the other organizations of women in the Church correspond and are in harmony with their organization. Why should this be? In order that the women of Zion may be united, that their interests may be in common, and not conflicting or segregated, and that the purpose of this organization may be realized and the organization itself be effective for good in every part of the Church throughout the world, wherever the Gospel is preached.”
  - “The man that complains about not knowing what is done with the tithing, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred is the man who has no credit on the books of the Church for paying tithing. We do not care to exhibit the books of the Church to such carpers and to that class of people.”
October 1905 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “I am thankful to the Lord that He gives me the desire to do good, and not evil; that He leads my thoughts in the channels of honor, virtue, uprightness, and integrity to those principles which I have espoused.”
  - “It is only necessary for us to try with our might to keep pace with the onward progress of the work of the Lord, then God will preserve and protect us, and will prepare the way before us, that we shall live and multiply and replenish the earth and always do His will.”
April 1905 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “We have a variety of curiously formed creatures rising up amongst us occasionally, who are filled with the spirit of evil and hatred towards the truth and the people of God. It is only natural that this should be so.”
  - “From time to time there are characters who become a law unto themselves and they follow the bent of their own “sweet will” until they get themselves into a condition mentally and spiritually that they become a menace to the body ecclesiastic. In other words, they become like a boil, tumor or carbuncle on the body, and you have to call in the surgeon to apply the knife to cut them out, that the body may be cleansed from them; and this has been the case from the beginning.”
- All Who Desire to Do Good
  - “We have ever been loyal both to our State and Nation, as well as to the Church of God, and we are at the defiance of the world to prove to the contrary. We have been willing to fight our country’s battles, to defend her honor, to uphold and sustain her good name, and we propose to continue in this loyalty to our nation and to our people unto the end.”
October 1904 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “Men are not called upon to curse mankind; that is not our mission; it is our mission to preach righteousness to them. It is our business to love and to bless men, and to redeem them from the fall and from the wickedness of the world.”
April 1904 General Conference
- Opening Remarks
  - “”We would rather that every man and every woman on earth were a child of God and an heir indeed and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. “We prefer that. “We are working for that; we pray for it; we preach the Gospel for this purpose, and we hope, by the blessing of the Almighty upon our efforts and labors in the world, that before this work shall have completed its mission and the object of its existence in the world, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, to the honor and glory of God and to the redemption of the world.”
- Closing Remarks
  - “We are living in peculiar times. The situation in which we are placed calls for peculiar wisdom and understanding, and for the full exercise of our rights as Latter-day Saints, who should enjoy the spirit or discernment and inspiration that belong to those who are born of the water and the Spirit, and who, because of this birth, are in a position to see the kingdom of heaven.”
October 1903 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “When a man makes up his mind to forsake the world and its follies and sins, and identify himself with God’s people, who are everywhere spoken evil of, it takes courage, manhood, independence of character, superior intelligence, and a determination that is not common among men; for men shrink from that which is unpopular, from that which will not bring them praise and adulation, from that which will in any degree tarnish that which they call honor or a good name.”
- Sustaining
  - “The freedom of the Latter-day Saints has never been curtailed or lessened one whit by their becoming members of the Church of Christ. Rather has it been enlarged. There are no freer people upon the face of the earth today than the Latter-day Saints. They are bound to the Church by no ties or strings, but their own conviction of the truth. And whenever a man makes up his mind that he has had enough of what is called “Mormonism,” all he has to do is to make it known and we will sever the bond that unites him with the body, and let him go his own way, only bearing toward him the feeling of sympathy and of true brotherly kindness, and wishing him still the mercies of God. We will cry, Father, have mercy upon him, because he knows not what he is doing. For when a man denies the truth, when he departs from the right way, when he rejects the right of God to counsel in the affairs of men, he is either ignorant or wilfully wicked, and it only excites our pity for him. As the Savior cried upon the cross, so will we cry in the same spirit, Father, forgive him; have mercy upon him; for he knows not what he does. Therefore, we expect only those to vote at this time who are members of the Church in good standing; but all such we do expect to vote, according to their own free will, whether it be yea or nay.”
  - “We should live so near to the Lord, be so humble in our spirits, so tractable and pliable, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that we will be able to know the mind and will of the Father concerning us as individuals and as officers in the Church of Christ under all circumstances. And when we live so that we can hear and understand the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of God, let us do whatsoever that Spirit directs, without fear of the consequences.”
April 1903 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “When the wicked rage and the heathen imagine a vain thing relative to this people, we may set it down as a fact that the devil is not dead, and that the work of the Lord is not dead, either.”
- What is Expected
  - “I give it out to you, my brethren and sisters, that no man who is a Latter-day Saint, in full faith and fellowship in the Church,will ever keep a saloon anywhere. Therefore, if there is a man claiming to be a “Mormon” running a saloon anywhere, the best thing you can do is to cut him off the Church, and then you will know where he is and who he is. He is not a Latter-day Saint, at all events. Now, when you say WE have this, and WE have that, I hope you will draw the distinction between Latter-day Saints and latter-day devils.”
  - “We will say, Let God judge between us and our enemies, and award them according to their deeds. We will not harm them. On the contrary, we will protect them. Though they seek to defile us and ridicule our religion, though they lie about us and say all manner of evil against us falsely, we will not hurt them. We will do them good, if they will let us. We will protect them, as we would protect good men in their rights. We will do all we can to protect the rights of mankind, and nothing to break down the liberties of men.”
October 1902 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “We realize that one of the greatest responsibilities that rest upon the people of God today is that their hearts shall be turned unto their fathers, and that they shall do the work that is necessary to be done for them in order that they may be joined together fitly in the bond of the New and Everlasting covenant from generation to generation. For the Lcrd has said, through the Prophet Joseph, that this is one of the greatest responsibilities devolving upon us in this latter day.”
- Honor the Priesthood
  - “I hold to the doctrine that the duty of a Teacher is as sacred as the duty of an Apostle, in the sphere in which he is called to act, and that every member of the Church is as much in duty bound to honor the Teacher that visits him in his home as he is to honor the office and counsel of the presiding quorum of the Church. They all have the Priesthood, they are all acting in their callings, and they are all essential in their place, because the, Lord has appointed them and set them in His Church. We cannot ignore them; or, if we do, the sin will be upon our heads.”
  - “It is extremely hurtful for any man holding the Priesthood and enjoying the gift of the Holy Ghost to harbor a spirit of envy, or malice, of retaliation, or intolerance toward or against his fellow man.”
April 1902 General Conference
- Righteousness
  - “We bear no malice or evil toward the children of men. The spirit of forgiveness pervades the hearts of the Saints of God, and they do not cherish a desire or feeling of revenge toward their enemies or those who hurt or molest them or seek to make them afraid; but, on the contrary, the Spirit of the Lord has possession of their spirits, of their souls and of their thoughts, and they forgive all men, and they carry no malice in their hearts toward any, no matter what they have done.”
- Indebtedness to God
  - “The object of our being here is to do the will of the Father as it is done in heaven, to work righteousness in the earth, to subdue wickedness and put it under our feet, to conquer sin and the adversary of our souls, to rise above the imperfections and weaknesses of poor, fallen humanity, by the inspiration of Almighty God and His power made manifest, and thus become Indeed the Saints and servants of the Lord in the earth.”
  - “Let no man speak lightly of the principles of the Gospel. Let no one treat lightly the ordinances of the house of God. Let no one hold In derision the Priesthood that the Lord has restored to the earth, which is the authority that He has given unto men.”
  - “Man is indebted to the source of all intelligence and truth, for the knowledge that he possesses; and all who will yield obedience to the promptings of the Spirit, which leads to virtue, to honor, to the love of God and man, and to the love of truth and that which is ennobling and enlarging to the soul, will get a clearer, a more expansive, and a more direct and conclusive knowledge of God’s truths than anyone else can do.”
  - “If you will keep your boys close to your hearts, within the clasp of your arms; if you will make them to feel that you love them, that you are their parents that they are your children, and keep them near to you, they will not go very far from you, and they will not commit any very great sin. But it is when you turn them out of the home, turn them out of your affections — out into the darkness of the night into the society of the depraved or degraded; it is when they become tiresome to you, or you are tired of their innocent noise and prattle at home, and you say, “Go off somewhere else.” It is this sort of treatment of your children that drives them from you, and helps to make criminals and infidels of them.”
  - “How would I feel to enter into the kingdom of God—(if such a thing were possible)—and see one of my children outside among the sorcerers, the whoremongers and those that love and make a lie, and that because I had neglected my duty toward him or had not kept the proper restraint upon him? Do you think I shall be exalted in the kingdom of my God with this stain and blot upon my soul? I tell you, No! No man can get there until he atones for such crime as this—for it is a crime in the sight of God and man for a father to carelessly or wilfully neglect his children.”
November 1901 Special General Conference
- Reorganization of the First Presidency
  - “If there is anything that I desire above another in this world, it is that my children shall become established in this knowledge and faith, so that they can never be turned aside from it.”
  - “I do not know of any more perfect organization than exists in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. We have not always carried out strictly the order of the Priesthood; we have varied from it to some extent; but we hope in due time that, by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we will be led up into the exact channel and course that the Lord has marked out for us to pursue, and adhere strictly to the order that He has established.”
- The First Presidency
  - “I propose that my counselors and fellow Presidents in the First Presidency shall share with me in the responsibility of every act which I shall perform in this capacity. I do not propose to take the reins in my own hands to do as I please; but I propose to do as my brethren and I agree upon and as the Spirit of the Lord manifests to us.”
  - “The Lord never did intend that one man should have all power, and for that reason He has placed in His Church Presidents, Apostles, High Priests, Seventies, Elders and the various offices of the Lesser Priesthood, all of which are essential in their order and place according to the authority bestowed on them. The Lord never did anything that was not essential or that was superfluous. There is a use for every branch of the Priesthood that He has established in His Church.”
October 1901 General Conference
- Opening Address
  - “We should stamp out profanity and vulgarity, and everything of that character that exists among us; for all such things are incompatible with the Gospel and inconsistent in the people of God.”
April 1901 General Conference
- Importance of Obedience
  - “Here is a reason why many people do not and will not allow themselves to see the truth. They depend upon their own knowledge and wisdom; therefore they set aside the things of God, and lift themselves up in the pride of their own hearts.”
October 1900 General Conference
- Temple Work
  - “I believe in union. I believe that except we are one in those things which pertain to the building up of Zion, we are not God’s children. But I want to say to you that we are not one. There is not that union amongst us that should exist; sometimes when President Snow tells a brother what he would like him to do, he at once turns on his heel and says that comes in contact with his manhood and his independence, and he prefers to follow the bent of his own mind rather than to take such counsel. In that respect we are not always one.”
April 1900 General Conference
- Dangers in Sign Seeking
  - “It is not by marvelous manifestations unto us that we shall be established in the truth, but it is by humility and faithful obedience to the commandments and laws of God.”
  - “Men may receive the visitation of angels; they may speak in tongues; they may interpret; they may prophesy; they may heal the sick by the laying on of hands; they may have visions and dreams; but except they are faithful and pure in heart, they become an easy prey to the adversary of their souls, and he will lead them into darkness and unbelief more easily than others. The devil himself can appear like an angel of light. False prophets and false teachers have arisen in the world. There is perhaps no gift of the spirit of God more easily imitated by the devil than the gift of tongues. Where two men or women exercise the gift of tongues by the inspiration of the spirit of God, there are a dozen perhaps that do it by the inspiration of the devil. Bless your souls, apostates speak in tongues, apostates prophesy; apostates claim to have marvelous manifestations. And what is that to us? The trouble is, we know so little of the truth ourselves and we live by it so poorly that almost any little jackanapes in the country may rise up and claim he has had a vision, or some marvelous dream, and however absurd or untrue it may be, he may find believers and followers among those who profess to be Latter-day Saints.”
- Importance of Tithing
  - “When a man keeps all the law that is revealed, according to his strength, his substance and his ability, though what he does may be little, it is just as acceptable in the sight of God as though he were able to do a thousand times more.”
October 1899 General Conference
- Beneficent Results of Obedience
  - “We have not come here to serve ourselves nor to serve the world. We are here because we have believed in the Gospel that has been restored in the latter day through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We are here because we believe that God Almighty has oi-ganized His Church and has restored the fullness of the Gospel and Holy Priesthood. We are here because we have received the testimony of the Spirit of God that the course which we have pursued in this regard is right and acceptable in the sight of the Lord. We are here because we have come in obedience to the command of the Almighty.”
- The Efficacy of Prayer
  - “True, faithful, earnest prayer consists more in the feeling that rises from the heart and from the inward desire of our spirits to supplicate the Lord in humility and in faith, that we may receive His blessings. It matters not how simple the words may be, if our desires are genuine and we come before the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit to ask Him for that which we need.”
April 1899 General Conference
- Witnesses of the Truth
  - “I thank God my Father that He brings good out of the evil designed against His people by their enemies. And He will continue to do this.”
- Tithing a Test of Obedience
  - “When we go to dickering with the Lord, probably He will dicker with us; and if He undertakes to do so, we shall get the worst of it.”
  - “Riches make men poor when it comes to dealing with the Almighty. The poor man can easily pay his tithing and contribute of his little substance for the benefit of the needy; but if he becomes a millionaire, or anything like it, then his heart begins to narrow up. The result is, he deprives himself of the opportunity of receiving greater manifestations of the kindness and mercy of God unto him, which he could receive through the increased amount of good he could do with his enlarged means.”
October 1898 General Conference
- Stewardship
  - “Every true and faithful Latter-day Saint ought to feel as earnest a desire in his or her heart for the advancement of the cause of Zion and for the firm establishment of the principles of truth in the earth.”
April 1898 General Conference
- Righteousness Brings Blessings
  - “How many of us will criticise and find fault with that which exists only in our own imagination, while we ourselves are guilty of a great deal worse things than that which we criticise and condemn.”
- A Charitable People
  - “I advise you never to swear again, hold sacred the name of the Lord, and do a little praying, and I’ll promise you, you will get along better in this world than you have done.”
  - “I heard a fellow one time say, “the world owes me a living and I will be damned if I don’t have it.” Such a man as that would have it if he had to steal it, and after a while he would have it if he had to murder some man who had riches, in order to rob him of his possessions. This is the spirit of murder and robbery. The spirit which creeps into the hearts of men to receive alms and obtain something for nothing, making them believe it is due them without honest work is, in part, the same spirit, at least it is a spirit that leads on to murder and robbery.”
- Making Covenants with God
  - “There is nothing that God has done for the children of men that is solely of a temporal character. He deals with us with a view to our eternal being, our immortality; with reference to the fact that we are His children, or ought to be, and will be when we enter into this covenant and obtain the change of heart which entering into this covenant is sure to bring to the honest in heart.”
October 1897 General Conference
- Tithing
  - “There are those among us who, even though they may not have thought seriously that they were guilty of robbing God, they carelessly and through their negligence place themselves in a position in which the children of Israel found themselves anciently when the Prophet uttered these words against them, and I propose to read them as they are, and let them apply to whomsoever they will, and whoever are not guilty, of course, will feel clear in their consciences toward the Lord.”
April 1883 General Conference
- Priority of the Saints
  - “Wealth does not make men independent of God, neither does it relieve them from the obligations that they owe to each other. The rich are as dependent upon God for the light of His Spirit to guide them, and for the blessings and ordinances of the holy Priesthood as are the poorest of the poor. The Lord, in this regard, is “no respecter of persons.” The station or worldly condition of man is not regarded by the Almighty. It is man’s righteousness and humility; it is the willing mind and the obedient heart that is acceptable to Him, and unless we are righteous and humble, willing and obedient, He will withdraw His Spirit from us, and we will be left to ourselves, as others have been before us, to reap what we sow.”
  - “The moment a community begin to be wrapt up in themselves, become selfish, become engrossed in the temporalities of life, and put their faith in riches, that moment the power of God begins to withdraw from them, and if they repent not the Holy Spirit will depart from them entirely, and they will be left to themselves. That which was given them will be taken away, they will lose that which they had, for they will not be worthy of it.”
April 1884 General Conference
- Divine Mission of Joseph Smith, etc.
  - “I do not wonder that the enemies of righteousness are stirred up about this matter. I am not surprised that the wicked rage and the heathen imagine a vain thing. I am not astonished when certain men get mad, or that their souls are vexed within them, that their minds are perplexed, and that they feel wrought up with anger against a people who have never injured them or theirs. One thing I am surprised about in relation to this matter is, that the Latter-day Saints themselves should not be as strongly aroused in the interest of the Kingdom of God, as the enemies of truth are against it. When I contemplate the situation as it is presented to my mind, I am astonished that so many of the Latter-day Saints should be so indifferent and neglectful of duty that they cannot, apparently, appreciate the importance of living their religion. I am surprised that there should be any necessity for reformation among the Latter-day Saints, that is, if I should be surprised at all; though surprised is not the appropriate word to use, the word grieved, perhaps, might be used with greater propriety in this sense. If I would allow myself to indulge in a feeling of sorrow, I might indeed feel grieved that any of us should find ourselves in a condition to require reform in our lives.”
  - “And although many in their day and time have arisen either to ridicule or disprove the truths it contains, their efforts have been futile, resulting only in their own dismay. It cannot be disproved, for it is true. There is not a word or doctrine, of admonition, of instruction within its lids, but what agrees in sentiment and veracity with those of Christ and His Apostles, as contained in the Bible. Neither is there a word of counsel, of admonition or reproof within its lids, but what is calculated to make a bad man a good man, and a good man a better man, if he will hearken to it.”
  - “When a man is called to go on a mission, and a field of labor is assigned him, he should, I think, say in his heart, not my will be done, but thine, O Lord.”
  - “I have been thankful only once since I went to the Sandwich Islands on my first mission, and that has been ever since.”
October 1882 General Conference
- Love for and Forgiveness of Enemies
  - “There is no particular credit due to any person who returns good for good. Even the publicans and sinners did this, but it is somewhat difficult to return good for evil.”
  - “We are to love our enemies; do good to them that hate and persecute us; and when we are persecuted, persecute not again; when we are derided, deride not in return; if we are injured, seek not to injure those who injure us; that which is required at our hands is to establish peace on earth and good will to man.”
  - “Do not say that it is hatred of our enemies when we would keep them from hurting themselves and their neighbors, do not call that hatred, that is love for them.”
  - “I have never read it in any of the books, I have never heard it taught that we are to love our enemies so much as to become like them, or condescend to their vile and contemptible ways, or as to share the inheritance God has given us with them, or as to suppose for a moment that the wicked and the ungodly will ever inherit the kingdom of God, or enter into His presence, or enjoy the society, blessing and award of the faithful; they never will, they cannot, for they are not worthy; they have not obeyed the law and therefore cannot receive the blessing thereof.”
April 1882 General Conference
- The Laws of God and the Laws of the Land
  - “Finally they succeeded in taking the life of the Prophet and that of his brother; and they shed the blood of our honored President who sits here today upon this stand. They thought then they had accomplished their hellish work, they thought then the head and front, or root and branch of “Mormonism” was destroyed. But was it? No; it only made us stronger in faith and more united in purpose.”
April 1880 General Conference
- God’s Work
  - “The Lord keeps pleading with us; he has to forbear with us, to extend mercy, kindness and forgiveness day after day. For we are very forgetful, careless, indifferent and thoughtless of our duties. It is only when the Spirit of the Lord is upon us that we can really sense the responsibilities that we are under to God and to each other.”
  - “It is God Almighty who will accomplish this work, and he will use such instruments as he can find for its accomplishment, and those instruments will be honored and blessed of the Lord, and will share in the rewards, exaltation and glory of Zion. Yet the honor, glory and power must be ascribed unto the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever, for it is God’s work and not the work of man.”
- Judgments of the Lord
  - “Unless the Latter-day Saints will live their religion, keep their covenants with God and their brethren, honor the priesthood which they bear, and try faithfully to bring themselves into subjection to the laws of God, they will be the first to fall beneath the judgments of the Almighty, for his judgments will begin at his own house.”
April 1879 General Conference
- Duties of the Saints in Temporalities
  - “I have never yet found anyone who can draw the dividing line between our spiritual and temporal interests, neither do I expect to. I believe that it is quite as necessary that we should attend to the temporal, as it is to attend to the spiritual duties which devolve upon us, and vice versa.”
April 1876 General Conference
- The Gospel Trumpet
  - “Without the aid of the Holy Spirit no mortal can walk in the straight and narrow way, being unable to discern right from wrong, the genuine from the counterfeit, so nearly alike can they be made to appear.”
October 1875 General Conference
- God Preserves His People
  - “Those only who possess the light of the Spirit of God and the faith of the Gospel, which can only be possessed through faithfulness and obedience to the requirements of heaven, can discern and know the voice of the true Shepherd when they hear it.”
  - “Do you think that we would ever succeed in an effort to dictate to the Almighty the terms of our salvation? If we think so we are mistaken, deceived; we cannot do it.”
  - “We should seek to do, and to be, good.”
- What the Lord Requires of His Saints
  - “No man can obtain the gift of eternal life unless be is willing to sacrifice all earthly things in order to obtain it. We cannot do this so long as our affections are fixed upon the world.”
October 1873 General Conference
- The Instructions Given Are Intended for All the Saints
  - “It will not do for us to be satisfied for our brother to prepare himself to receive the blessings God has promised to his children, and to rest content with seeing him receive the light of truth, the blessings of the Gospel, and manifest a willingness to work righteousness in the earth. That will not reach us, only so far as we adopt his course and follow his example.”
  - “I do believe that I have no claim upon God or upon my brethren for blessing, favor, confidence or love, unless, by my works, I prove that I am worthy thereof, and I never expect to receive blessings that I do not merit.”

Other Reported Addresses

The First Principles, Discourse in Salt Lake City, September 30, 1877
- “You may preach the Gospel to the people, but unless they humble themselves as little children before the Lord, acknowledging their dependence upon him for light and wisdom, they cannot see or sense it, although you may preach to them in as great plainness as it is possible for the truth to be conveyed from one person to another. And should any believe your testimony it would only be belief. They would not see as you see—nor comprehend it as you do—until they yield obedience to the requirements of the Gospel, and through the remission of their sins receive the Holy Ghost.”
- “True repentance only is acceptable to God, nothing short of it will answer the purpose. Then what is true repentance? True repentance is not only sorrow for sins, and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them, a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light. Not only so, but to make restitution, so far as it possible, for all the wrongs we have done, to pay our debts, and restore to God and man their rights—that which is due to them from us. This is true repentance, and the exercise of the will and all the powers of body and mind is demanded, to complete this glorious work of repentance; then God will accept it.”
- “No matter how fervently men may believe, or pray, unless they are endowed with divine authority they can only act in their own name, and not legally nor acceptably in the name of Jesus Christ, in whose name all these things must be done.”
- “Are all required to be obedient? Yes, all. What, against their will? O, no, not by any means. There is no power given to man, nor means lawful to be used to compel men to obey the will of God, against their wish, except persuasion and good advice, but there is a penalty attached to disobedience, which all must suffer who will not obey the obvious truths or laws of heaven.”
- “The real facts are, the Latter-day Saints have embraced the unpopular doctrine of Jesus Christ, have received the keys of the Holy Priesthood—heaven’s delegated authority to man, and are not ashamed of the gospel, knowing it to be the power of God unto salvation. Hence the Devil is enraged, and although they will not believe it, this professedly pious, hypocritical world are moved with hatred towards the work and the people of God, instigated by the spirit of him whose servants they are.”
- “This is the work of God, and not of man. Man is incompetent to direct and manage it. He will not suffer man to arrogate to himself the honor of doing it. The honor belongs to him and he will take it to himself.”
Belief and Knowledge, Discourse in St. George, April 2, 1877
- “I long ago learned to prize the principles of the Gospel, as of far greater importance than all earthly things; they are of more value than this present life, for without the Gospel it is valueless, the grand object and purpose of life being attainable only through being obedient unto the Gospel.”
- “Having entered into this covenant, being cleansed from sin, and endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, why should we not abide in the truth, continuing steadfast before God and firm in the great work he has established on the earth? We should never cease to serve Him, nor thwart his mercy and goodness towards us; but ever live so that the Holy Spirit may be within us as a living spring, calculated to lead us to perfection in righteousness, virtue, and integrity before God, until we accomplish our earthly mission, performing every duty that may be required at our hands.”
- “God will give us knowledge and understanding, he will lead us in the path of truth if we put our whole trust in him and not in man.”
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Discourse in Salt Lake City, February 9, 1873
- “The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is a very important and sacred ordinance; however simple it may appear to our minds, it is one which will add to our acceptance before God, or to our condemnation.”
- “These are some of the injunctions and commandments that are given in relation to the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Now let us be careful what we do, that we may not incur the penalty affixed to the transgression of this law, remembering that the ordinances which God has given are sacred and binding, that his laws are in force, especially upon all that have covenanted with him in baptism, and upon all unto whom they come, whether they embrace them or not, as Jesus said, “This is the condemnation of the world, that light has come into the world, but ye love darkness rather than light.” Therefore all men will be held accountable for the use they make of the light which they possess. For this reason we are commanded to preach the Gospel unto every creature, that those who obey and are baptized may be saved, and those who reject it may be condemned.”
No Time to Do Wrong, discourse at the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, September 3, 1871
- “It behooves us as the children of God to be always prepared for every duty and for every event that may transpire in life, that we may not be taken unawares, caught off our guard or out of the path that leads to eternal life.”
- “There is no time to swear, no time to cheat our neighbor or to take advantage of him, there is no time to waste and fritter away in foolishly decorating our bodies, or to acquire means to devote to that which will grieve the Spirit of the Lord and disqualify us to receive solid blessings from his hands.”
- “For it is this class that they do see, and yet many that are falling into these disreputable habits are men who hold the priesthood—Elders in Israel and their sons; and perhaps strangers who come here have seen and heard some of them preaching the Gospel abroad, and when they come here they find them spending their time and means in whiskey and billiards, and in other foolish and wicked ways—indeed every way but the right way. What do such habits speak for men who indulge in them? Shame and disgrace. I want to tell my brethren and the strangers before me today that we have no fellowship for any such men, no matter who they are. They may call themselves Latter-day Saints, and you may have seen them abroad preaching the Gospel; but when you find them indulging in the course I have indicated they have fallen, dishonored their calling, disgraced themselves; they are no longer Latter-day Saints, but apostates, and we have no fellowship with them, for they are unworthy of the Redeemer’s cause. That cause has for its object the reclaiming of the world from sin; the overturning of everything that tends to degradation and evil and to the shame and degeneracy of the people, and the Saints are the chosen instruments in God’s hands to accomplish this work, and we mean to prosecute it to the uttermost—to fight the good fight of faith, and though many may turn aside, the work is onward and upward, and it will grow and spread until the purposes of God are consummated.”
- “We do not want these things here; but we are not supreme; we cannot govern as we would wish. Not that we desire to rule with an iron hand, oppressively. It would not be oppression to me, for the proper authorities to say—“You shall not take intoxicating liquors; you shall neither manufacture nor drink them, for they are injurious to your body and mind,” nor would it be to any Saint—but what oppression it would be to a certain class! Yet I hope to see the day when, within the pale of the kingdom of God, no man will be allowed to take intoxicating liquor; and make—I was going to say, a beast of himself. But I do not name it, rather to make a degraded man of himself. Beasts would not degrade themselves as men do.”
The Gospel and the Things of the World, Discourse delivered in the Ogden Tabernacle, Nov. 12, 1870
- “But the great difficulty is—we are too careless, listless and unconcerned in relation to what is taught us from time to time; we do not weigh, with that thought and care that we should do, the instructions and counsels which we receive. We allow other things to occupy our minds; the cares of the world, the desire for gain, the anxiety to promote our own interests and to provide for the necessities of life choke out the word of God to some extent.”
- “But he who asks in a proper manner, who humbles himself before the Lord like a little child before its earthly parent, and is willing to trust in God, and comes before him doubting nothing, that man, or that woman, will receive what he or she shall ask for. God has said it; He has promised it by the mouths of His servants, the Prophets and the Apostles, and the promise is sure and unfailing; and if there is any fault, it is on our part, and through our own lack of faith, meekness and humility before the Lord.”
- “The inconsistent conduct of parents has a tendency to blunt the sensibilities of children, and to lead them from the way of life and salvation, for if parents teach their children principles which they do not practice themselves, that teaching is not likely to have much weight or effect, except for evil. We do not look at and reflect upon these things as we should.”
- “The path is clear, so that all may know whether we speak the truth and have received the Holy Ghost and the Gospel of the Son of God or not—repent of your sins by forsaking them; be baptized by one having authority, for the remission of sins, and have hands laid on you for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and you shall know whether the doctrine we preach is true or false, and whether or not this is, as we say, the only way in which man can obtain eternal life. We invite all men to walk in this path, and we are fearless as to the result, for in my own experience, in hundreds and thousands of instances, I have received a witness and testimony that this is the truth.”
The Sacrament, Etc., Discourse delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Jan. 10, 1869
- “It is a great privilege, after a lapse of 1,800 years; to participate in the memorials of the shed blood and broken body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And whilst we are doing this we look forward to the time when Jesus will again come, and when we shall eat bread with Him in the Kingdom of our God. These are thoughts that naturally crowd upon the mind while partaking of the Sacrament of the Lord’s supper. The ordinance has a tendency to draw our minds from the things of the world and to place them upon things that are spiritual, divine, and heavenly; and that are in accordance with the nature, desires, and attributes of man. It is a great privilege to have one day in seven set apart for the worship of the living God.”
- “Notwithstanding our many weaknesses, imperfections and follies the Lord still continues His mercy, manifests His grace and imparts unto us His Holy Spirit, that our minds may be illuminated by the light of revelation. He is still leading us onward, very slowly, it is true, in the paths of life, in the way that leads to principalities, powers, thrones and dominions in the eternal worlds.”
- “Our religion is not a religion of a day, a month, a year or a lifetime; but it reaches back into eternity, operates in time and stretches forth again into eternity. It embraces every truth that ever did exist, that exists now, or ever will exist. It is adapted to the wants and capacious desires of immortal minds. It emanated from God and leads back again to Him, and it is very properly said that in Him we live and move and have our being.”
- “The fact is the Gospel of Christ embraces all truth. It found us, when first revealed, ignorant, dark, benighted, besotted, depraved, corrupted, and degenerated, ignorant of God and of almost every true principle. It is humiliating to reflect that, after all our boasted intelligence and knowledge of collect principles, government, morals and religion, we should be found so weak, ignorant, degraded, and debased. It is humiliating in the highest degree to reflect, that, after all the boasted intelligence of men, we can scarcely find one true principle in existence. Men say, “we have been taught good morals.” To a certain extent good morals are taught, but even their teachers did not know them correctly; they exist in most instances in principle only, and not in practice. They think they have had some tolerably good religion, but their religion is little better than that of the ancient heathens who used to bow down to sticks and stones. “
- “What knowledge have we, of ourselves, of our relationship to eternity? None. Where is the man on the face of the wide earth who has a claim to a wife in eternity? There is not one outside of this church. They do not profess it, they know nothing of such a principle. The extent of their covenants is that they are married until death parts them, and that ends the matter. Who is there who has any idea of associating with their children in the eternal world? They think about it. There is nature, or a kind of instinct that leads to reflections of this sort. But they have not the privilege of entering into covenants of this kind. There are a great many other principles connected with this Gospel of which, as the scriptures say, they are as ignorant as brute beasts that were made to be taken and destroyed.”
The Testimony, Etc., Discourse delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Nov. 25, 1868
- “We testify that the barriers which separated man from God have been overcome, that the Lord again communicates His will to man. “But,” says one, “How shall we become acquainted with these things? How can we know that you are not deceived?” To all such we say, repent of your sins in all sincerity, then go forth and be baptized, and have hands laid upon you for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that spirit will bear record to you of the truth of our testimony, and you will become witnesses of it as we are, and will be able to stand forth boldly and testify to the world as we do.”
- “We are working for the triumph of righteousness, for the subjugation of sin and the errors of the age in which we live. It is a great and glorious work.”
- “We believe it is necessary to live our religion every day in the week, every hour in the day, and every moment.”
None Perfect Except Revealed from God, Discourse delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Feb 17, 1867
- “Why should we fear to stand up and speak the truth, although aware of our weakness and feeling our dependence on God? Have we not the promise that God will give us strength according to our day, and that he will help those who desire it to accomplish all the good that is in their hearts? God has made this promise, and it is our duty to go forward and engage in the work he requires of us, fearlessly and with a determination to carry it out regardless of man. God being our helper.”
- “I desire so to live continually that my thoughts and feelings may be right before God, that my heart may be pure and open to the influences and dictations of the Holy Spirit, that I may be led wholly by the truth, and in the path that leads to eternal life.”
- “So far as they have light and knowledge and understand the principles of truth, so far do thousands of the inhabitants of the earth today honor them in their lives, But that does not constitute them the people of God, neither does it argue that they have the holy priesthood, nor that the Gospel in its purity and fulness has been revealed to them; nothing of the kind. Then I say that they are wanting. Although I feel liberal in my heart towards mankind, and willing to accord this truth to the benefit of the honest in heart; yet I am compelled to acknowledge that they are lacking.”
- “One cause of the diversity in our thoughts and reflections is that some have had greater experience and comprehend the truth more perfectly than others.”
- “There was a time when we could walk up and down the streets and tell by the very countenances of men whether they were Latter-day Saints, or not; but can you do it now? You can not, unless you have greater discernment and more of the Spirit and power of God than I have. Why? Because many are trying as hard as they can to transform themselves into the very shape, character, and spirit of the world. Elders in Israel, young men, mothers and daughters in Israel are conforming to the world’s fashions, until their very countenances indicate its spirit and character. This course is to the shame and disgrace of those who are so unwise.”

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Joseph F. Smith

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