Anthony W. Ivins – Gospel Study

Anthony W. Ivins

First Counselor in th First Presidency (May 25, 1925 – September 23, 1934)

Second Counselor in the First Presidency (March 10, 1921 – May 25, 1925)

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 6, 1907 – September 23, 1934)

General Conference Addresses

April 1934 General Conference
- The Devil
  - “While Satan thus seeks to destroy the peace and happiness of mankind, Christ strives to draw them to him. The same controversy which resulted in the fall of Lucifer persists until the present moment. It is the question of the redemption of man from the fall, and the penalty of death which resulted from it.”
October 1933 General Conference
- Prophets
  - “The daydawn is breaking, when Christ our Lord shall come, not only to assume dominion over his Church, of which we form a part, but over the world at large.”
April 1933 General Conference
- The Restoration
  - “It was not because of his familiarity with the scriptures that Joseph Smith was capable of formulating a plan of restoration, organization and administration so completely in harmony with the revealed word of the Lord. The knowledge came to him little by little, line upon line, precept after precept, as the Lord revealed it to him.”
  - “Never before has either the state or the Church been confronted with circumstances more pregnant of good and evil than at the present time, when more ominous clouds have hung over a troubled world. Confusion reigns among the nations, our own included. The very elements combine to add to the uncertainty and distress.”
October 1932 General Conference
- State of the Church
  - “This is a dispensation the greatest that was ever ushered in in the history of the world, because it comprehends all that has been before it and all that shall come after it.”
- Destiny of the Nation
  - “Whatever my profession, whether it be as a citizen of the government to which [I have given allegiance, or a member of the Church with which I am affiliated, it becomes my duty to magnify in my life and to teach others to do so, the ideals for which my country stands, and the creed which my Church teaches.”
  - “Where much is given much is expected. This land, to God our Father, is a chosen land, dedicated as I have said to the principle of liberty and freedom, not license.”
April 1932 General Conference
- Tomorrow
  - “Tomorrow is a sealed book to all of us, except as we are able to penetrate it by the eye of faith.”
October 1931 General Conference
- No One Knows the Time
  - “The Church does not depend upon Pyramids of Gizeh nor the conclusions of scientific investigators, however helpful they may sometimes be in the study of these questions, for an interpretation of the scripture which refers to the return of Christ our Lord to earth and the millennium of peace and good-will which is to be enjoyed under his personal administration.”
  - “Just be calm and turn to the Lord. It is not the result of any occurrence of the immediate past. We have been gradually drifting toward it for years and years, and personally I have known that it would come, and I bore witness of it from this stand to the people a year ago. I applied it to my own affairs. I pleaded with the people to put their houses in order and get out of debt, for I knew this was coming, because God himself through his Only Begotten Son had declared it.”
April 1931 General Conference
- Easter
  - “Christ, our Lord, came to earth first, to break the bands of death, and make the resurrection from the dead an established fact. He came to teach us the story of human life, for he lived it, as we should live it. He came to teach us the source from which we came, and to which we shall return.”
October 1930 General Conference
- Are We Better Today?
  - “With these increased conveniences and blessings which have come to us, there should have been manifested in our lives both by example and precept, greater faith in and service to our Father who is in heaven, who is the author of all these blessings.”
  - “I have no desire to go back to that day, to exchange automobiles for ox teams, which I have driven, nor to exchange our wonderful harvesting machinery for the cradle with which I have harvested grain, and the flail with which I threshed it. But I do appeal to you, my brethren and sisters, to return to the old paths of virtue, honor and integrity which your fathers trod.”
April 1930 General Conference
- Following the Lord
  - “The intelligence and will of man is a part of godliness which the Father has bestowed upon all of his children, and will, if properly applied and developed, make man like unto his Creator.”
  - “If we love the Lord it will be a pleasure to serve him. We could not, if we love him, be guilty of murder. The fact that murder is of almost daily occurrence is evidence that this great commandment is not properly observed. Next to murder the Lord has declared that the contamination of the fountains of life through the promiscuous intercourse of sexes is an abomination in his sight.”
  - “Any person who knowingly deprives another of that which rightfully belongs to him, without giving value received for it, is guilty of theft, no matter what the process may be by which the transaction is made.”
October 1929 General Conference
- The Mountains of the Lord’s House
  - “It is possible that knowledge not previously possessed may come from God our Father to his children who are here upon earth. It is probably true that Peter himself did not understand the direct source from which the impulse that prompted his answer had come, but this scripture makes it plain that it came from God our Father, who spoke to him through the influence, or whisperings, of the Holy Ghost.”
  - “So the words of Isaiah are being fulfilled; the mountain of the Lord’s house is established in the top of the mountains. That is what we are particularly interested in. It has been exalted above the hills, and many people have come here for the purpose of learning the way of the Lord, that they may learn to walk in his paths.”
April 1929 General Conference
- False Claims About the Book of Mormon
  - “So I say one by one criticisms which have been made regarding the Book of Mormon are falling by the way through the investigation of scientists who understand their business. I thank the Lord for them and that which they are undertaking to do. I have never had any fear that a thing would be discovered to disprove the truths contained in this book.”
October 1928 General Conference
- The Path of Truth
  - “An office-seeker, whether for political or church advancement, was a dangerous man.”
  - “The truth does not change with time. It is always the same. The same obligations of righteousness, justice, mercy and charity which have been in force from the beginning are still in force.”
April 1928 General Conference
- The Hill Cumorah
  - “Without doubt these treasures lie concealed today, some of them, at least, to be brought forth in the not distant future. How soon this will be we do not know, but this is certain, we are more than a century nearer that time than we were at the time when Joseph Smith took from their resting place in the Hill Cumorah, the plates from which he translated the contents of the Book of Mormon.”
- Good and Evil
  - “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the friend of every man or woman, every association of men or women which is formed that has for its purpose the accomplishment of good.”
  - “We are irrevocably opposed to any association, whether it be religious, political, or social, which denies these eternal truths, which binds men in the bonds of ignorance, which shackles them as the people of the world were shackled in the middle ages, which slays men because they do not accept their point of view. It is anti-Christ, and not the doctrine of Christ our Lord.”
  - “This is the attitude of the Church. We do not want to be at enmity with any good man or woman, or with any good institution. But we are against that which leads men and women into evil.”
October 1927 General Conference
- Citizenship
  - “We want you to understand that the salvation of this nation rests in the hands of its citizens, not in the hands of those who control, its civil affairs at present, but those who hold the franchise, and are to exercise it in the future. It appears to me that if the importance of this were understood, greater care would be exercised in the selection of men for public office.”
April 1927 General Conference
- Proclaiming the Gospel
  - “We do, however, claim the right to carry the message of the restored gospel to all men; it is our mission, as it was the mission of the disciples of Christ. Go ye into all the world, he said to his disciples, and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
  - “We do appeal to those who differ from us to speak the truth, that honest men and women be not led astray by their sophistry and misrepresentations. Time will determine who is right, and we abide the verdict of the future for our vindication.”
October 1926 General Conference
- The Latter Days
  - “Do you see anything, my brethren and sisters, in current events which indicate the approach of a period of this kind? Be prepared then for it. In what way? Just by serving the Lord. Just by continuing in devoted work in the gospel of his kingdom. Just by observing the laws of the land and the laws of the Lord as they are exemplified in the discipline of the Church.”
  - “Priestcraft is that system by which men pretend to speak and act in the name of the Lord without authority and without power; Priesthood is the keys and authority to properly act and speak in the name of the Lord, and the power of the Priesthood will be manifest in the works of those who exercise it.”
April 1926 General Conference
- Are We Christian?
  - “A Christian is one who professes faith in, and follows the teachings of Christ, and that a body of people, organized as a worshiping assembly, professing faith in the Redeemer, would be regarded as a Christian church.”
  - “That any group of persons may associate themselves together as a worshiping assembly, and call themselves a church is conceded, and they are at liberty to choose any name they may desire by which their organization shall be known. For all the good which such an organization may accomplish the Lord will give them credit, and they will be rewarded for their efforts to establish faith in the hearts of people, I believe far beyond their expectations, for everything that is good, and persuadeth men to do good, cometh from God. The Latter-day Saints wish all people who are thus striving God-speed.”
  - “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian Church in the fullest sense of the word, the declarations of the so-called Christian churches of the world to the contrary notwithstanding. In its establishment and accomplishments the words of the Redeemer, and the declarations of the prophets who lived before and after him are fulfilled.”
October 1925 General Conference
- Man
  - “Of all created things man alone is endowed with reason, which is the glory and intelligence of God. Of man alone the Creator has said: The man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil.”
April 1925 General Conference
- Gathering of Israel
  - “So will the Lord continue to use the nations for the accomplishment of his purposes, until the words of his servants the prophets have all been fulfilled, until Zion is established, Judea redeemed, and his will done upon earth, as it is done in heaven.”
October 1924 General Conference
- The Roads We Blaze
  - “I have gone hastily over the history of the past, which brings us to the present, to us the most important period of the world’s history, because it is our day, the day in which the conduct of world affairs, with which we are directly associated has been entrusted to us, when we are to prove whether or not we are to benefit by the experiences of the past, avoiding the pitfalls into which our predecessors have fallen, and profiting by the markers which they have placed along the road which leads to happiness and success, while we avoid those which the experience of the past teach us inevitably lead to disappointment and failure.”
  - “We are rapidly converting the Sabbath day, which should be observed as a day of rest and devotion, into one of pleasure, rather than worship. Are we becoming lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God? If so, we are traveling in one of those blazed trails which lead to death, rather than life.”
April 1924 General Conference
- Simply Indispensible Doctrines
  - “To be admitted into the Church, then, is but to have our feet placed in the straight and narrow path which, if we diligently pursue our way, will lead us back to God from whence we came. Having been born to newness of life, Latter-day Saints should lay off the habiliments of the carnal man, and clothe themselves in robes of righteousness, that is to say, our mode of life should correspond, in all respects, with our profession of faith.”
  - “Prayer is the outward act by which we manifest our faith in the Lord. It is not the multiplicity of words which are uttered, that brings the desired blessings, but the degree of faith with which we approach our Father who is in heaven.”
  - “It is mockery to pray to a being in whose power to hear and answer we have no faith, as I have often thought that some men do today.”
  - “Latter-day Saints should seek wisdom and learn the value of righteousness and justice; they should patiently submit to persecution when it is for righteousness sake, be slow to anger, quick to forgive, merciful, but always just. They should be peacemakers constantly striving both by precept and example to bring to pass the universal brotherhood of man.”
  - “The fountains of life, designed by the Creator for the reproduction of humankind, and sacred to the marital relation only, are made the plaything of faithless, godless men and women. The holy bonds of matrimony, the only order which gives proper sanction to the association of the sexes, is entered into and dissolved at will. These conditions are, in my opinion, the most dangerous menaces to our national life which exists today.”
  - “The Lord pleads with us to honor the association of man and woman in lawful wedlock, and makes plain to us the penalties which are attached to the violation of laws of chastity and virtue, both in this life and that to come, and appeals to us that we shall observe these laws, which are the crown of matrimony, and should be held by us as sacred as life itself.”
  - “Many people who had entered into the straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life, as we have done, lost their way and perished. But those who seized and held fast to the rod of iron, which is the word of God, found their way safely through the dark night until they reached the tree of life, and partook of its fruit, which is more desirable than all others.”
October 1923 General Conference
- The Book of Mormon
  - “I want the members of the Church who are not familiar with its contents, to know that there is no necessity for alarm because of the unjustifiable things that people say about the Church, for as I said before, the Church must be judged by what it is, not by what people say of it.”
  - “It is only through the proper development of the intelligence of man, assisted by the gift of God, our Father, that men can come to understand his great purposes, the plan of human redemption which has existed from the beginning of time, and its application to us, who live in the dispensation of the fulness of times.”
  - “So in civil affairs we honor and respect and uphold the civil law, and in things which pertain to the word of the Lord we adhere to his written word, as it is contained here in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon.”
April 1923 General Conference
- The Law
  - “That it is the duty of each member of the Church to honor and obey the law of the land, and sustain the men who are chosen to administer it, in so far as they do so in righteousness and justice. That the Priesthood is conferred upon us for the development and control of the Church of Christ, and that it cannot be legitimately used for any other purpose. That whenever we use it for the promotion of personal interests, to gratify personal pride, or ambition, or apply it by compulsion or restraint, we are upon dangerous ground, and not in harmony with the word of the Lord. My conception is that the exercise of the Priesthood can only be legitimately used where the purpose is to provide equal opportunity for all, in the sphere occupied by each member of the Church, and special privileges to none, except as men may have merited honor and distinction through devotion to the work of the Lord.”
October 1922 General Conference
- Warning to the World
  - “It is true that the Lord has decreed certain definite unchangeable purposes, and these he will accomplish. How may we know, then, the will of the Lord, and distinguish between his works and those of Satan? The key is a simple one. Everything which persuades to do that which is good, is from the Lord. Whatever is evil, and persuades men to do that which is not good, is from the evil one.”
April 1922 General Conference
- Trust in the Lord
  - “The past is of inestimable worth to us, provided we profit by the lessons which it teaches. The future, in so far as the Lord has revealed it, through his servants the prophets, is a sure guide by which we may prepare for coming events. The present is the day of our probation.”
  - “If we put our trust in the Lord, and devotedly serve Him, as our predecessors have done, we shall triumph; if we forget Him, and depend upon the arm of flesh, we shall fail, as all who have traveled down this broad road have hitherto done.”
October 1921 General Conference
- Beware of Debt
  - “There is no doubt in my mind that this condition can be greatly modified, if not entirely relieved, by returning to the fundamental principles of economy and simplicity of life which characterized the early-day administration of the affairs of both the State and the Church. I do not mean by this that we are to return to the methods employed by our fathers, but that we cease the unnecessary expenditure of money, as it applies to our every-clay life. That we think less of pleasure, and more of the development of the work of the Lord. That we live within our means, and cease the frantic struggle for riches, which is taking hold upon us like the tentacles of an octopus.”
April 1921 General Conference
- The Book of Mormon
  - “So, my brethren and sisters, we commend the Book of Mormon to you and to the people, particularly of this country in which we live; for this record is of special and transcendent importance to them.”
- Cultivate the Spirit of Revelation
  - “So that revelation, the gift of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, who manifests the truth and leads us into it, is given to all of the members of the Church, but in affairs which refer to the Church at large, its doctrines, its policies, its purposes, the keys remain with the man who has been chosen, whom we have sustained here, by our vote, to occupy that special calling and to speak in the name of the Lord for the Church at large, and revelations for the benefit of the Church, its government, its doctrine, must be so confined. They will never come through emotional women; they will never come through men whose right it is not, and never has been, to receive them. That is what we mean when we say that they key of authority vests in and belongs to the president of the Church. It has no application to other people. It applies only to the Church.”
October 1920 General Conference
- Repentance and Forgiveness
  - “I take it for granted that except we are pure in heart, we are not pleasing our Father in heaven; that if we are not peacemakers, living at peace with each other and with the world, we are not in harmony with this command which he gave us.”
  - “It was not because the prodigal son had left his father’s home, not because he had dissipated his heritage, not because he had lived a life of riotous living and immorality until he had been reduced to a condition of poverty, that the arms of his father were held out to him in forgiveness, but because he returned, humble in his spirit.”
  - “So, my brethren and sisters, this is the thought that I desire to leave with you : Do not, as the greatest church in the world has done, ever confuse this doctrine of God’s mercy and forgiveness which comes to the penitent sinner, with the thought of unconditional forgiveness. It must come through repentance. We must abstain from sin. We must live humble, simple lives, the lives of Latter-day Saints.”
April 1920 General Conference
- Apostasy and Renewal
  - “It appears to me that we may look forward with absolute confidence and faith in the future, knowing, because of the experiences of the past, that the Lord is on our side, and that with his help the development of the Church will continue; that in this dispensation in which we live he will consummate his purposes; his covenant people will be gathered; Christ will come to reign personally upon the earth; all of the purposes of the Lord will be consummated, and his kingdom be established upon the earth as it is in heaven.”
October 1919 General Conference
- Peace on Earth
  - “One great difficulty with mankind has been that they have expected the purposes of the Almighty to be accomplished by means different from that which he has used.”
  - “I do not know just how or when peace will be established upon the earth, but of this I feel certain, that it will never be established until the people want it, and are willing to establish and maintain it.”
  - “The Lord himself cannot establish peace on earth, if the people are determined not to have it.”
- Have Faith and Repent
  - “It isn’t sufficient that our parents had faith. We cannot live and survive upon the faith of others.”
  - “If you are in trouble, go to the Lord; if you are tempted, go to him; if you have, in an unguarded moment, done that which is wrong, go to the Lord. He will forgive and pardon transgression and sin, no matter though it may have been grave.”
June 1919 General Conference
- Effect of War
  - “By the experiences of the past, if we are discreet, we learn wisdom. The paths trodden by those who have passed away are paths of safety, or danger, to us as they have been to those who have walked in them before us.”
October 1918 General Conference
- The Salvation of Man
  - “I appeal to you to reflect, and to resolve, in the words of Moroni which I have read, that so long as there is a band of Christians left in the world, they will gird on their armor, the armor of righteousness, that the word of the Lord may be advocated in every nation, and if necessary the arm of every Christian be steeled to fight for the perpetuity of these eternal truths upon which the salvation of the world depends today.”
April 1918 General Conference
- Life and Death
  - “The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as a definite, abstract statement of fact.”
October 1917 General Conference
- Faith, Devotion, and Good Works
  - “I admit that I have not passed my life behind closed doors, reading books written by uninspired men, and accepting their conclusions without reserve.”
  - “In your search after knowledge, in your desire to become profound, in your study of philosophy, do not lose sight of this one thought that God, the Creator of heaven and earth is the author of intelligence and all the light, and knowledge, and wisdom which has come to man or which will ever come to him emanates from that source.”
April 1917 General Conference
- America
  - “For the accomplishment of this great purpose there came to the new world, not people of a single race, speaking one language, to establish here the ideals and race prejudices of their old homes, but a community of men adapted, because of their cosmopolitan character, to evolve the great nation which this was designed of the Lord to be.”
October 1916 General Conference
- Duty, Charity and Good Order
  - “I feel happy in the Lord, happy in the association of the Saints, happy in the character of the men who administer its affairs; and there is no fear in my heart as to the ultimate triumph of this work. God’s kingdom has been established upon earth to endure, never to be thrown down, never to be given to another people, but to stand forever, and through righteousness, and not by the shedding of blood, to bring unto it all nations of the earth.”
April 1916 General Conference
- Vital Questions
  - “We may have the word of the Lord. We may profess righteousness, we may know His will, but if the will of the Lord is not manifest in our works, works being the expression of faith, they amount to nothing.”
  - “The minute we forget the obligation which rests upon us in His service, no matter what may have been our calling, the moment we place our personal affairs before the affairs of the kingdom, the minute we seek to gratify our own ambition or to accomplish our own selfish purposes through the influences of the priesthood, the Lord has told us that we lose the power that He has given us, and amen to the priesthood or authority of that man. He cannot be an immoral or wicked man and hold his place in the Church.”
  - “If conditions of confusion exist in the world I always look to the word of the Lord for a remedy, because I believe in it, I believe in it as He gave it to His people anciently, I believe in it as He revealed it to us through His prophet in this dispensation, I believe in it as it comes to us through living oracles of God who declare His word to us in the day in which we live.”
April 1915 General Conference
- A Great and Marvelous Work
  - “A great and marvelous work was about to come forth, and I believe that we are justified in saying, not boasting, but in humility before the Lord, and giving Him credit for all that has been accomplished, that He has vindicated His word, and that a great and marvelous work has been accomplished through the ministry of His servants, endowed with the Holy Priesthood, as they have gone out from His Church, and promulgated the truths of His Gospel in the world.”
  - “I believe that there is no condition so dangerous, either to an individual, a community, or a nation, as that which leads him to believe that he has reached the point where there is nothing more to do, nothing more to be accomplished, no farther progress, no development; that very moment retrogression begins.”
  - “Justice, temperance, and truth are the fundamental doctrines of all good government; and if I see those doctrines threatened, is it not my duty to oppose their enemies?”
  - “The battle with sin is real. Don’t deceive yourselves by thinking that the devil is dead. He is very much alive; he knows the truth, he fears it, he trembles but he will never obey it until he is bound with chains and put where he belongs.”
  - “Better die there than that we compromise with the devil to obtain peace, for he never keeps any contract that he makes, he never did, he never will, and if you accede to him one iota, you are like the fly that goes into the web of the spider, you become so entangled that you never can escape, and there you die.”
October 1914 General Conference
- Scriptures and Prophets
  - “From the time that this earth was created and mankind began to inhabit it the Lord has been very near to His children. He has always guided them or sought to guide them in the right way.”
  - “The Lord sends inspired men to outline to us the future in order that, having that knowledge we may be brought to repentance; that we may avoid, by repentance, the inevitable judgments which come to men because of their wickedness; that we may become partakers of the blessings which are vouchsafed to all those who repent and serve the Lord. This is the purpose of prophecy, this is the spirit of prophecy.”
October 1913 General Conference
- This is God’s Work
  - “Become familiar with the prophets, become familiar with the scripture, understand, so far as it is possible, and it is possible to understand because God will help us if we desire, the importance of this great work in which we are engaged, and that there are yet many of those sacred and precious promises and prophecies in future.”
October 1912 General Conference
- Eternal Laws
  - “All I have to say to you is that we believe in progression, we are a progressive people, and we believe that there will never be an end to it, that we shall continue, and must continue, in this life and in the life to come, to go forward, for water that stands still of necessity becomes stagnant; but as we progress this one fact we must recognize, that there is no progression from these fundamental principles of truth upon which this Church is builded.”
April 1912 General Conference
- Mexico Today
  - “The remedy so far as I am able to observe, and the only remedy must be respect of law. Whenever people go outside of it, whenever they assume by force to accomplish that which they should accomplish by reason and bv argument, by resort to the ballot to which they are entitled, they place themselves without the protection of the law.”
  - “Whenever a government or an administration shall assume to pervert the law, shall entrench itself with power, and disregard the cries of the masses it cannot expect but that confusion will result.”
  - “Let us pray for peace. Let us pray for the maintenance of law and order, for without it anarchy will come; it will come to us whenever we go away from those safeguards, those guarantees which are the fundamental laws of this country of ours.”
October 1911 General Conference
- Repentance and Righteousness
  - “The transgressor is not left without hope of everlasting life. It is only required of him that he come back to the Lord in humility, that he come back to Him in faith, that he repent of his wrongdoing.”
  - “Our Father has placed us here that we may preach repentance to our fellows, extend the hand of sympathy to those who are in error, that we may redeem, if in our power it lies, the sinner in our midst, and bring him back into the fold of Christ.”
  - “I must be a righteous man, and yet I must not be a self-righteous man. I must be righteous in humility before the Lord, never glorying in my own strength, lest I fall. I must be a charitable man, and yet I must, be just, for whenever my charity shall prompt me to subvert justice, that which is righteous and right, I have perverted that great command of the Almighty.”
  - “I must be tolerant in my views, but my tolerance must not lead me to indulgence, or to approve of indulgence in others. I must tolerate them in righteousness, in that which has the approval of the Lord and all good men, but not farther than that, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance.”
  - “I may be ambitious, for the Lord desires that we shall strive for better things; but my ambition, the accomplishment of my own purposes must never be at the expense of that which properly belongs to my fellows.”
April 1911 General Conference
- By Their Fruits
  - “It is not always easy in the beginning to distinguish right from wrong, truth from error; for vice, sometimes, comes clothed in the garb of virtue; and evil is, sometimes, presented in a manner so attractive that it appears to us to be good; but always we know that in the end the truth must be manifest.”
October 1910 General Conference
- Truth and Misrepresentations
  - “I do not believe that it is my prerogative, either, in advocating my own faith, or in criticizing the faith of another, to speak that which is not true. I must not be a false teacher, and it must not be by reason of my words that the truth is evil spoken of.”
  - “Think of yourselves; act for yourselves; know for yourselves, right from wrong; do what God shall manifest to you is your duty, every day of your life.”
- State Good Reasons
  - “The Lord desires that every Latter-day Saint should have this knowledge. He desires that every one of us should enjoy the testimony of the gospel which comes to us through the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which we know that this is the work of the Lord.”
  - “I love the gospel of Christ, because it has taught me every virtue which men and women should aspire to. It has taught me that I must be an honest man. It has taught me that I must be a temperate man. It has taught me that I must be a virtuous man. It has taught me. that I must be a merciful man, that I must be a patient man, that I must be an industrious man; that I must love the Lord, my God, and seek in my weakness to serve him, and that as I love him so I must love and serve my fellow men.”
April 1910 General Conference
- Faithfulness of the Saints
  - “The work of the Lord is not finished, by any means. It is only beginning. It is only in its incipiency.”
- Works of Righteousness
  - “We must do the will of the Father, keep the commandments which He has given us, in order that we may be brought back into His presence.”
  - “That which God has ordained for the good of man, that which makes men and women happy, that which makes men and women temperate, that which makes men and women virtuous, that which leads men and women to believe in God and Christ and to serve Them—that we cultivate, that we cherish, that we care for.”
October 1909 General Conference
- Fulfillment of the Lord’s Promises
  - “And if we love the Lord, we will serve Him. It is not they who say “Lord, Lord,” who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but they who do the will of the Father; they are they who shall enter into His rest. It is not sufficient that we acknowledge allegiance to the Lord, but that we give Him our hearts; and if we give Him our hearts, we keep His commandments; we show our love, we show our appreciation by yielding homage, obedience and service to Him whom we acknowledge as our Creator.”
  - “If the love of God is in our hearts, if we have been born again, we love human kind; we love our neighbor; and if we love our neighbor, we seek to do to him as we would that he should do unto us.”
  - “There is nothing in the word of the Lord which indicates that this love of our fellow, of our neighbor, shall extend to the extent that we justify him in wrong-doing, that we join with him in that which is evil. We stand squarely opposed to this, for it is not love that prompts one to indulge his fellow, his brother, his sister, his wife, his son or daughter in that which is wrong. Love may be as destructive, when it leads to indulgence, as it may be beneficial when its restraining influence is exercised over those with whom we are surrounded. So, while I would respect my neighbor in his rights, in his opinions, the Lord does not require me to in any way indorse, to in any way approve of the evil that may be in his life. On the contrary I am expected to use my influence, my example, my words for his reformation. For to love mankind, or to love God, or to love righteousness is to adhere to that which is right and refrain from doing that which is evil. I would that this love for our fellows might be established in the heart of every Latter-day Saint.”
  - “”Thou shalt not lie”—a very important admonition; for what can be more disreputable than a liar. To lie is not simply to speak that which is untrue; it is not to say “yes” when we mean “no,” and “no” when we mean “yes.” A man may conscientiously, be in error; he may adhere to that which is wrong; but if he does it with the thought that it is right, he is true before the Lord. Better such a man than he who for his own personal gain or interest, and against his own conscience, adheres to the right—a hypocrite before the Lord, and untruthful in his life before the people.”
  - “I believe that it is the right of the people to frame such laws in civil government, as will restrain crime, restrain that which is evil; and if men and women will not, of their own volition, adhere to the word of the Lord, they must be restrained. So, if it were in my power, I would see today that these evils which menace us are struck down, in the proper spirit, by the hand of the law.”
  - “I am willing to go just as far as God, our eternal Father is willing to go. No one can be more merciful than He; no one more tolerant; and yet He never compromises with that which is wrong. His laws are as inevitable as fate itself.”
April 1909 General Conference
- Review of an Anti-Mormon Book
  - “When I read it, I thought—how dangerous are lying lips, and what trouble, what misunderstanding may come to individuals or people through a lying pen.”
  - “There is a world of corroborative evidence of the divine authenticity of this Book of Mormon—read it; study it; be governed by the doctrines that are taught in it. Have faith in it; believe in the promises that are contained in it, and you will find inspiration and hope, faith and charity, and everything that is good in human life. It stands for that which is good, for that which is true, for that which is just, for that which is merciful, for that which uplifts, and places before us higher ideals to which we constantly aspire. May we always appreciate the word of truth.”
  - “The Church of Christ is established upon the principles of truth and righteousness, and therefore truth and righteousness should be constantly cultivated and encouraged in the Church and out of it. We need to be taught the principle of truth, because we are not always, perhaps, truthful. A man may be untruthful in other things than what he says; he may be untruthful in what he does; he may be untruthful in the impressions which, he seeks to make. Every misrepresentation of a fact is an untruth.”
October 1908 General Conference
- Gathering of Zion
  - “We have gathered up here to Zion that we might better learn our duties, that we might better learn the will of the Lord, that we may be better able to serve Him and to keep His commandments, in order that His spirit may continue with us, and that we may be instructed, that we may review ourselves, that we may also review the condition of the Church, and thus be able to reach proper conclusions as to its development, to be better able to judge ourselves, that our faith in the Lord may be increased, that our determination to do His will may be greater. That we may have greater power over the weakness of the flesh, we meet together from Sabbath to Sabbath, and twice during the year the whole Church comes together, that we may be taught, that, in fulfillment of the words of the Prophet, we who have gathered up here to the Mountain of the House of the Lord may learn His ways and be able to walk in His path.”
- Walk in the Way of Righteousness
  - “If we walked in His paths, we wouldn’t need courts, very badly, to keep us in the line of duty; it would not be necessary for us to exercise the privileges and prerogatives which the civil law gives us, in order that men might live righteous lives, but righteousness would be written in our hearts, because of the love of it. We would be righteous because we desired righteousness, because we knew that it was the way of the Lord, the narrow path which He had marked out. For that reason, we would be moral men and women, we would be truthful men and women; we would be virtuous men and women; we would be temperate men and women; we would not be drunkards; we would not be blasphemers, because that is not the way of the Lord; that is not the way He taught us, and that is not the example He set for us to follow.”
  - “This, He told us, is charity—not that we give liberally to the poor, not that we administer to the wants of those we know are in need,—but that the love of God actually enters into our hearts, that we sympathize with those who are in distress, that we find joy in administering to their wants, that we love each other and show that love by rendering help where help is needed, that we love righteousness and seek, with all our might, to establish it in the earth.”
  - “I am not a strong believer in the ultimate ends that can possibly be accomplished by coercive means. It is all right to apply the law; it is necessary: we could not very well do without it, but far better and above the civil law is faith and the voluntary love that we have, by which we do good and observe the law without compulsion, but because we love it.”
April 1908 General Conference
- Undoubting Faith
  - “I love the Gospel of Christ, because it taught me that birth was not the beginning of my existence, nor death the end of my life.”
  - “If there is a member of the Church of Christ today who is not a temperate man or woman, if it is necessary to preach temperance, to preach prohibition to the Latter-day Saints, it is because they have been negligent, they have not listened to the word of the Lord, and not because the Gospel does not have in it that which will eliminate this evil.”
  - “We say in the Church, you shall not steal, and if you steal, and repent not, you are unworthy of fellowship, and we cast you out; but with that, our prerogative ceases. The civil law says, you shall not steal—if you do steal, it lays hands upon you; it restrains you of your liberty; it places you in bonds, and casts you into prison. The law of God says, you shall not shed the blood of man, and he who sheddeth the blood of man hath not Eternal Life abiding in him, and with this we cease. The civil law says, he who killeth shall answer with his life. Hands are laid upon him, and the law is executed.”
  - “I heard a man say, the other day, that his politics had nothing to do with his religion. I can think of no obligation resting upon me which is more sacred or nearer a religious duty, than that I see to it, so far as my influence, so far as my voice and my vote may go, that this civil government which we love, which we maintain, be administered by righteous men. To that extent it is my religion, and I don’t want to be muzzled in saying so.”
  - “The past can benefit only as we learn by it; we cannot change it.”

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