Brigham Young

“ Read the history of the world and you will find that when God has blessed a people and placed his name upon them, and they afterwards became disobedient, the whole catalogue of curses pronounced by him upon his unworthy children, have come upon them and they have been blotted out. Those who do not profess to know anything of the Lord are far better off than we are, unless we live our religion, for we who know our Master's will and do it not, will be beaten with many stripes; while they who do not know the Master's will and do it not will be beaten with few stripes. ”

“ I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for the man who feels that he is making sacrifices for God. We are doing this for our own happiness, welfare and exaltation, and for nobody else's. This is the fact, and what we do we do for the salvation of the inhabitants of the earth, not for the salvation of the heavens, the angels, or the Gods. ”

“ Here are a people dwelling in these mountains who profess to be the Saints of the Most High, the beloved of the Lord. They have received his Priesthood and its keys, the keys of Government, and the plan of the government of the heavenly hosts, as far as man is capable of receiving this divine, celestial and holy law. When we contemplate the course of the Latter-day Saints, we are almost led to inquire what will be their future history. ”

“ Do they want to know what is done with the Tithing. If the Lord requires one-tenth of my ability to be devoted to building temples, meeting-houses, school-houses, to schooling our children, gathering the poor from the nations of the earth, bringing home the aged, lame, halt and blind, and building houses for them to live in, that they may be comfortable when they reach Zion, and to sustaining the Priesthood, it is not my prerogative to question the authority of the Almighty in this, nor of his servants who have charge of it. If I am required to pay my Tithing, it is my duty to pay it. ”

“ The things pertaining to life are of the opposite character—they are exalting, increasing, multiplying, gaining, receiving a little here and a little there—our minds and understandings expanding by that which we learn by reading, by the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear.
The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the revelations which the Lord has given to his people in the latter days, contain a great deal about the kingdom of God on the earth. We have also histories of the kingdoms established by the children of men. ”

“ A great deal is said to the Latter-day Saints concerning our religion, which does in reality incorporate and circumscribe the whole life of man. We need teaching. We are like children with regard to learning. If we could understand the effects of the fall or of sin upon intelligence, we would see that its tendency is downward, that it is retrograde in its nature. ”

“ Compare the condition of the people in some of the German States, and in any nation on the face of the earth that we know anything about, with that of the people in this Territory, and I will say that the people of these mountains wallow and revel in luxury, wealth and independence more than any other people on the face of the earth, and yet we have not a dollar to pay Tithing! ”

“ It is for my own benefit, it is for your benefit; it is for my own wealth and happiness, and for your wealth and happiness that we pay Tithing and render obedience to any requirement of Heaven. We can not add anything to the Lord by doing these things. Tell about making sacrifices for the kingdom of heaven. There is no man who ever made a sacrifice on this earth for the kingdom of heaven, that I know anything about, except the Savior. He drank the bitter cup to the dregs, and tasted for every man and for every woman, and redeemed the earth and all things upon it. ”

“ Our united purpose is to labor to build up the kingdom of heaven on the earth, and to overcome every sin, all wickedness, and the power of Satan, until the earth is renovated, purified, sanctified and glorified. ”

“ If we could see and understand things as they are, if we could have the vail withdrawn from our eyes and behold the things of eternity, and the connection and relationship that we sustain to the eternal worlds, and to heavenly things, our minds would be very much inspired to speak, sing, pray, listen attentively, meditate upon and contemplate the wonderful things of God. ”

“ The Lord, through this Prophet, declared—"This whole nation have robbed me."' I also declare that this whole people, called the Latter-day Saints, are guilty of the same sin—they have robbed the Lord in their Tithes and in their offerings. What would the people like? ”

“ Now we are in plenty, in the very heart of the luxuries of the world. There is no place in the world where they are enjoyed in greater profusion than they are here. Go into boasted France, with its forty millions of people, and out of this large number not more than eight millions enjoy the luxury of eating meat ”

“ I have never paid my Tithing, and if I turn to the right, left, front and rear, I shall seek in vain for a man in this Church who has paid his Tithing strictly. There is no man who has paid his Tithing. I have watched the thing closely, and according to my understanding of the literal meaning, spirit and intent of the term, I am compelled to come to the conclusion that there is not a man or woman in this Church who has paid his or her Tithing ”

“ They lied before God, holy angels and the whole heavens, before the servants of God, and unless they repent they will have their portion in hell. You need not wonder to see men apostatizing who have been in the Church thirty or thirty-five years. They have been in the habit of lying to God, to angels, to themselves, and to their holy religion. Ask them for a little Tithing, and their answer is"No, we have not anything." What do you suppose the Lord thinks about such men? He thinks they will have their portion with the disobedient. ”

“ A remnant of the people of Israel are to be saved, and they will yet be gathered together. But other nations that existed before the flood, and many before the days of Jesus, where are they? Who knows anything about them? They are lost as far as history is concerned; and many people since the days of the Savior have been blotted from the remembrance of man. ”