Brigham Young

“ Doubtless we are about the best looking people to-day upon this footstool, and about the healthiest; but where is the iron constitution, the marrow in the bone, the power in the loins, and the strength in the sinew and muscle of which the ancient fathers could boast? These have, in a great measure, passed away; they have decayed from generation to generation, until constitutional weakness and effeminacy are bequeathed to us through the irregularities and sins of our fathers. The health and power and beauty that once adorned the noble form of man must again be restored to our race ”

“ A great proportion of the leading men of our nation have sprung from wealthy and influential families, have been reared and educated in the midst of circles where the vices of the age flourish the most vigorously, destroying moral force and the love of truth and virtue, making education and refinement mere cloaks to cover sins of the blackest dye. ”

“ Let me assure you, my friends, that there does not exist another people in all the world who will take good counsel as readily as the Latter-day Saints do. All men are free to do right or to do wrong, to take good advice or reject it, to pursue the path that leads to eternal life, or to go down to death their own way. ”

“ The Lord will waste away the wicked as He said He would. A curse will come upon them to the third and fourth generation, saith the Lord Almighty, if they repent not, and refrain not from their sins. There is no likelihood of their doing this.
The destruction of property and life during the war has been enormous; but I am satisfied that the destruction of the love of virtue—the love of every exalted principle of honor, and of political and social government—has been greater, comparatively, than the destruction of property and life. Religious societies abound in the nation. ”

“ Religion is the ruling power. The conscience of the masses in regard to religion, to politics, and social life is moulded from the pulpit. In my early life I was acquainted with ministers of the sects of the day, and am satisfied that many of them lived honorably in their families, praying, and desiring, and seeking for guidance from on high. ”

“ Premature death is in the marrow of their bones, the seeds of early dissolution are sown in their bodies, they feel old at fifty, sixty, and seventy years, when they should feel like boys of fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. Instead of feeling decrepit at those years they should feel full of strength, vigor, and life, having attained to early maturity, prepared now to enter upon the duties of a long future life, and when two hundred years have been attained, they should then feel more vigorous than the healthiest of men do in this age at forty and fifty years. ”

“ If we are, we are trifling with our salvation. Then hearken, O ye Latter-day Saints, and hear the Words of Wisdom which the Lord has given unto you. It is written: "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." There is a just reason for this saying. But the Latter-day Saints who hearken to the words of the Lord, given to them touching their political, social, and financial concerns, I say, and say it boldly, that they will have wisdom which is altogether superior to the wisdom of the children of darkness, or the children of this world. ”

“ Thirty-five years ago we were called upon to reform in our lives, by giving heed to the same Words of Wisdom; and if any man comes to you and tells you that you must have a little tea and a little coffee, by the same rule he may urge you to take a little tobacco and a little intoxicating liquor, or a little of any other substance which is hurtful to man. ”

“ Instead of doing two days' work in one day, wisdom would dictate to our sisters, and to every other person, that if they desire long life and good health, they must, after sufficient exertion, allow the body to rest before it is entirely exhausted. When exhausted, some argue that they need stimulants in the shape of tea, coffee, spirituous liquors, tobacco, or some of those narcotic substances which are often taken to goad on the lagging powers to greater exertions, but instead of these kind of stimulants they should recruit by rest. ”

“ I have never yet had a feeling to drive them from one plant in my garden; but I look upon them as the armies of the Lord, and with them it is easy for Him to consume a great nation. We had better lay up bread instead of selling it to strangers, and thus avoid a great calamity that otherwise might overtake us. If the people refuse to hearken to this timely counsel they will commit a great error. Good actions always result in blessings. The history of the people of God in all ages testifies that whenever they have listened to the counsel of heaven they have always been blessed. ”

“ The great majority of that class of persons appear in society as polished gentlemen, whose suavity of manners would deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. They have been educated in our seminaries of learning, and this class of men are now seeking to denude the Constitution of the United States of all its protective and saving powers. ”

“ These lay the foundation of disease and death in the systems of men, and the same are committed to their children, and another generation of feeble human beings is introduced into the world. Such children have insufficient bone, sinew, muscle, and constitution, and are of little use to themselves, or to their fellow creatures; they are not prepared for life, but for the grave; not to live five, six, eight, and nine hundred years, but to appear for a moment, as it were, and pass away. Now, when a person is fifty years of age he or she is considered an old man or an old woman ”

“ Infanticide is very prevalent in, our nation. It is a crime that comes within the purview of the law, and is therefore not so boldly practised as is the other equally great crime, which no doubt, to a great extent, prevents the necessity of infanticide. The unnatural style of living, the extensive use of narcotics, the attempts to destroy and dry up the fountains of life, are fast destroying the American element of the nation ”

“ The wife of the servant man is the mother of eight or ten healthy children, while the wife of his master is the mother of one or two poor, sickly children, devoid of vitality and constitution, and if daughters, unfit, in their turn, to be mothers, and the health and vitality which nature has denied them through the irregularities of their parents are not repaired in the least by their education. ”

“ Let them be educated in every useful branch of learning, for we, as a people, have in the future to excel the nations of the earth in religion, science, and philosophy. Great advancement has been made in knowledge by the learned of this world, still there is yet much to learn. ”

“ Who is there among this people who cannot handle the things of this world without loving them in preference to the things of God? If there is such a person, I pray God to make him or her poor. Some among us are so foolish as to lift up their heels against the Almighty as soon as He blesses them sufficiently to make them a little comfortable and independent. ”

“ Work less, wear less, eat less, and we shall be a great deal wiser, healthier, and wealthier people than by taking the course we now do. This whole Yankee nation eat so much, and so many good things, that they are always poor in their bodily habit; now and then only you will see a fleshy person among them; it is also the case with the people of the southern portion of the nation. It is difficult to find anything more healthy to drink than good cold water, such as flows down to us from springs and snows of our mountains. ”

“ Everything they are doing at present in Congress is only calculated to widen the breach, and alienate and destroy every vestige of love and affection that may yet be existing; and this they will continue to do until they have severed the last tie and worked out the entire destruction of the Government. They think they are doing the best that can be done. Many of them are honorable men, and would do good to the nation if they knew how. ”

“ The day has gone by in which the people of God are to be trodden under foot by their enemies, in which they are to be poor outcasts to wander in sheep skins and goat skins, etc., but they had better continue to do that, and dwell in the caves of these mountains, and dress as the Indians do, than to forsake their God and their religion. ”

“ Let the sisters study economy in the labor and management of their homes. I am satisfied that more than one-half of the labor that is done in our houses can be saved by a judicious exercise of thought and good judgment. Then be wise in these things, and we shall not need tea and coffee, or any other stimulant stronger than our natural food. ”

“ Great perfection has been attained in the art of telegraphy, yet there is much more to be learned, and the same may be said of the power of steam, and its application to the wants of mankind. While the wonders of art and science in the present age astonish us, yet there was much useful knowledge possessed by the ancients which is lost to us. ”

“ We are the children of that Being who lives in the heavens, who is filled with all intelligence, and possesses all power. We cannot be prepared to dwell with Him unless we instruct our minds and sanctify ourselves in all things. ”

“ Let the children in our schools be taught everything that is necessary with regard to doctrine and principle, and then how to live; and let mothers teach their daughters regarding themselves, and how they should live in their sphere of existence, that they may be good wives and good mothers. ”

“ So this people if they will take the counsels which the Lord gives to them through His servants with regard to their grain, and prepare for all contingencies to which they are subject in this mountainous country, we shall never see a famine; but if we neglect this counsel, refusing to hearken to good advice, we shall, by taking this course, bring distress upon ourselves and upon all who depend upon us for a subsistence. Let us pursue a course to preserve ourselves and avert every calamity. ”

“ We can enjoy the blessings of heaven, or we can deprive ourselves of that enjoyment. Intelligent beings have the power to exercise their free will and choice in doing good, equally as much as in doing evil. ”

“ While on the other hand, to my certain knowledge, many of them encouraged a practice which to-day exists to an alarming extent, and which is openly and shamelessly acknowledged as a necessity of the age. To check the increase of our race has its advocates among the influential and powerful circles of society in our nation and in other nations. ”

“ It is not necessary for calamity to come upon us, if we will only take a course to prevent it. According to present appearances, next year we may expect grasshoppers to eat up nearly all our crops. But if we have provisions enough to last us another year, we can say to the grasshoppers—these creatures of God—you are welcome. ”

“ Our artificial wants, and not our real wants, and the following of senseless customs subject our sisters to an excess of labor. To supply these wants—to get a ribbon, an artificial flower, this, that, and the other gewgaw, rather than substantial necessaries—our farmers sell their wheat. ”

“ The same practice existed forty-five years ago, and various devices were used by married persons to prevent the expenses and responsibilities of a family of children, which they must have incurred had they suffered nature's laws to rule pre-eminent. ”