Brigham Young

“ For any individual in the world to teach what he does not practice is a stumbling block to all beholders; then if the Latter-day Saints know the truth and do it not, certainly, great will be their condemnation. Hence it stands us in need to be on the watch continually. I do not know of a more absolute monarch that ever reigned on earth than the one who has perfect control over his passions. ”

“ I can tell you that I would rather have the practice of a good moral religion without any faith at all in a Supreme Being, than to have faith in a Supreme Being without any moral good action, and a life filled with vice, sin and iniquity. That is my choice. I will say that sin or evil is simply doing that which injures some thing or being. ”

“ Look at the community that we have in our country and in other countries! You take the sons of those flaming divines! If you want to find the most polished, complete and perfect outlaws that can be found, you hunt up the son of some priest who has received a liberal education; after having been taught the highest branches of education, away he goes. At least the son of such a man is just as apt to do so as the son of the lawyer, farmer, mechanic, judge or statesman. This is for the lack of correct tradition, and this shows the force of early training and of the traditions imbibed in childhood. ”

“ They believe in a God who has body, parts and passions, possessed of principle and power; who can see, handle, walk, talk and communicate. This is their faith; whether it is through tradition I cannot say. If they have no traditions on these points they have certainly imbibed these ideas from some source, and whether natural or by tradition it is immaterial to me. They are a people who know nothing of the Bible or of the Christian religion, and still their ideas are more correct than many of ours. ”

“ It makes no difference how children are brought up so far as the permanence of the impressions and habits of childhood are concerned. Whether surrounded with error or truth, the web woven around them in childhood's days lasts, and seldom wears threadbare; but in many instances it grows brighter and brighter and stronger and stronger until its possessor goes down to the grave. ”

“ He is our Father; He is our God, the Father of our spirits; He is the framer of our bodies, and set the machine in successful operation to bring forth these tabernacles that I now look upon in this building, and all that ever did or ever will live on the face of the whole earth. ”

“ Well, the Latter-day Saints know better than to teach their children one thing at one time and another at another time; they also know better than to teach their children principles and doctrines in theory which they deny in practice. The Latter-day Saints are not at liberty to do this; we are not so called; we have not so received the Gospel; but having received the truth in our hearts, we should practice it in our lives, and on this basis—the truth as it is in Jesus—should the traditions which we instil into the minds of our children be built. ”

“ If we did but understand truth from error, light from darkness, and knew the will of God perfectly and were disposed to do it, it would be just as easy to give our children an education to profit themselves and others, to enable them to be profitable to the human family, and to show forth that wisdom which God has given us, as to take a course to fill their lives with error and wrong. Many, very many, people regret much of their lives, because, through circumstances over which they have had no control, they have been deprived of the knowledge that some few possess. ”

“ You will see occasionally a child that is ready to give up everything rather than have contention; and why not have it so with all. It might be so, just as easy as it is otherwise. Let mothers be possessed of a meek, humble, quiet spirit in child-bearing, and when their children come forth into the world and commence on this stage of action, teach them correct principles, and by imbibing them they will be enabled to lead lives of purity, joy, peace and tranquility that surpasses all understanding. So let our traditions be, and never do or say a wrong thing. ”

“ Never give a promise for good or for evil, but let the reward come in consequence of well doing, and chastisement in consequence of doing ill. Silence is a thousand times better than words, especially if those words are not in wisdom. But so great is the love of the mother for her offspring, so tender the feeling with which she regards it, that many cannot see wrong in the acts of their children; and if they do, they will pass it without chastisement, even if chastisement has been promised. ”

“ The reasons why He did it are plain and obvious, though we may not say anything about them to-day; yet there are reasons for all this, and that that we may call eternal philosophy, God's philosophy, the philosophy of angels—natural philosophy, reasonable philosophy, that that commends itself to the human mind, to the intelligence that man possesses, will explain it. If men understood the religion that we believe in they would receive it; it naturally commends itself to the conscience of every just and righteous person, and none such would refuse it if they understood it. ”

“ Train ourselves with regard to our faith. Believe the Scriptures as they are. I have met with a great many gentlemen who refer to the dead languages for the proper interpretation of the Scriptures, which, to my mind, is folly, and absurd in the extreme. If I were a divine, and had all the learning which could be bestowed upon a mortal being, and considered that the Bible is translated incorrectly, I should hold myself accountable and responsible to give a correct translation as quickly as time and opportunity would permit, that all people might know the truth. ”

“ There is a certain class of our Christians by whom the first day of the week must be devoted to labor, just to show to their fellow-Christians that they are not sectarian in their feelings. Say they, "One day to us is as good as another. God is the author of all days; all days are His, and to show to the Christian world that we are free from their narrow, illiberal views, we labor on the first day of the week." ”

“ The spirit and essence of his teaching to his child is, "You must not break the law, if you do you will be chastened by the law; but at the same time," says the father, and he may be a deacon or a priest, "if you can take advantage of the poor in their daily labor, in purchasing your neighbor's property"—for instance, perhaps he owns a small farm by the side of him, who, through necessity, is obliged to sell, and if he can purchase it for one-half or one-third its value in cash he will do it, because the law will not condemn such an act. ”

“ Love God and keep His commandments, and, in the words of the Scripture, "Eschew evil!" Have nothing to do with it. Let us seek continually to do good to ourselves and each other, that when we sleep in our mother dust, when these tabernacles take that happy nap in the bosom of our mother earth, our spirits may be prepared for higher society than we enjoy here. ”

“ Worlds are made of crude element which floats, without bounds in the eternities—in the immensity of space; an eternity of matter—no limits to it, in its natural crude state and the power of the Almighty has this influence and wisdom—when He speaks He is obeyed, and matter comes together and is organized. We take the rock, and the lime from the mountains and burn it and make mortar with lime and sand and lay the foundation of houses, and rear the superstructure with bricks, stones, adobies or lumber. We bring these elements together and organize them according to our pleasure. ”

“ Yes, we can by steady application in gathering to ourselves reflections, thoughts and meditations which are according to truth and righteousness and justified of God and of all the good on the face of the earth, we can avoid evil thoughts, communications, reflections and enticements, and can bring the whole man into subjection to the law of Christ. ”

“ Yet there is nothing done only on the science of true philosophy if we did but understand the facts. If we cannot define the power by which these things are done it is not our prerogative to dispute the effects, for they are before us. ”

“ If a mother, for instance, permit her child to bring eggs into the house, when she does not own a fowl, she knows that they come from some other source. If her child pick up a knife that does not belong to her and bring it to the house, she cultivates dishonesty in the child; and from such little circumstances, thousands of which occur, the principles of dishonesty grow and strengthen with the strength of the individuals until they become natural thieves. ”

“ And the child is confused in its mind and does not know what to believe; it is lost in its thought. The same is true of grown people. The children know very little more than their parents, but they would if they were let alone. I will illustrate this by a simple fact, if I do not prove it. You go to the heathen nations, the aborigines of our country, for instance. They believe nothing in religion as we suppose, yet their ideas of God and heaven are far above those entertained by professed Christians. ”

“ Teach your child never to do a wrong; and if your neighbor's child has injured you or yours, or taken anything from you, never mind. You stop until you find out. Perhaps the child has meant no wrong. You should learn the facts in the case, and go with a meek, humble, quiet spirit, and peace will result." How many neighbors become enemies to each other in consequence of contention with children! Woman will contend with woman, "Your child injured my child," and so on. ”

“ I say if we train our children so as to place them in possession of these principles we shall train them in the way they should go, and the saying of the wise man will be verified—they will not depart from it.
In teaching false doctrine there always will be more or less of truth mixed with it; there always has been where anything of importance has been taught. ”

“ It is impossible for man to tell the cause of certain freaks of nature unless it is revealed to him by divine wisdom unless his eyes are open to understand the invisible things of God; for the ways of God and His dealings are very different from the ways and dealings of the children of men. ”

“ We should teach our children that God has so organized the earth from the rude, rough native element. It is true that some believe that it never was created Well, all right then! It is here anyhow; they cannot dispute the fact that the earth is here, no matter how long it has stood! ”

“ Watch yourselves day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute. Keep a guard over yourselves so that you will never do or say anything that you will regret hereafter, and your lives will be filled with usefulness, and you will increase your own peace and promote it among your neighbors, and this will insure a great degree of salvation here, and prepare for a higher degree hereafter. ”

“ I have sometimes said to my sisters, "Do not teach your children to lie." This is the course pursued by many, without designing to do so. The very first lessons that are given to the infant mind capable of receiving impressions is to falsify or tell that which is untrue. ”

“ Our traditions, then, should be correct! We should know how to teach our children correct principles from their youth up. The first thing that is taught by the mother to the child should be true; we should never allow ourselves to teach our children one thing and practice another. ”

“ The traditions of another have been of such a nature, perhaps, that all labor must cease at twelve o'clock on Saturday night sure, and as soon as twelve o'clock on Sunday night comes we are at liberty to work again; and so we might go through the thousand traditions, the effects of which we see manifested by our fellow creatures around us. ”

“ I say, with regard to traditioning children falsely, especially in religious matters, rather let them alone; give a good common education, and no teachings whatever with regard to the Bible, and their own philosophy will teach them there is a Supreme Being, better than many who, though identified with Christian nations, have repudiated their religious notions. ”

“ So many circumstances flood upon my mind with regard to these traditions, that I hardly dare commence saying anything about them, that that I have seen and learned. One man brings up his child to strictly observe the letter of the law. ”

“ Certainly not millions of years as some of the philosophers talk about. All that can be said of such things is that they are phenomena, or freaks of nature, for which the knowledge and science of man cannot account. ”

“ Well, then, we ought, in the first place, to train ourselves to believe correctly, to think correctly, and to practice correctly, and instil correct principles into the minds of the rising generation, so that when they are old they will not depart from them. ”

“ I sometimes bring up circumstances to illustrate the traditions of the fathers. We in this country are acquainted with a great many different classes of people, different sects and beliefs in religion, and with a great variety of beliefs in regard to morality. ”

“ Let us train our minds, first to think aright, believe aright, that the meditations of our hearts may be correct, for our actions will naturally correspond with that that is in the heart. This, my brethren and sisters, is our duty. ”

“ This is the doctrine taught by the ancients, taught by the prophets, taught by Jesus, taught by his Apostles, taught by Joseph Smith, taught by those who believe the same doctrine that Joseph Smith believed in—the revelations that God has given in modern times, who believe in that Being after whose image and in whose likeness man was formed, framed and made, precisely like Him that made him. This is the doctrine. To believe that He lives; He is a Being of place, of habitation. He dwells at home ”

“ He has given His son, according to His good pleasure, to redeem the earth, and all intelligent beings thereon, and all inanimate matter, if there is any such thing; to redeem the whole earth and all pertaining to it, and it is His good pleasure to do it. ”