Brigham Young

“ Who give the key to the nations of the earth with regard to their feelings, pride, prejudices; their religion, habits and customs, and, I may say, who, in a great degree, govern, that lay the foundation for the ability that is exhibited among the nations of men? It is the mothers. Who have laid the foundations in the hearts of children to prepare them to be great and good men? It is not the fathers—it is the mothers. It is like the saying of the Savior with regard to the poor. ”

“ We ask the question, can mortal beings live so that they are worthy of the society of angels? I can answer the question for myself—I believe that they can; I am sure that they can. But in doing this, they must subdue the sin that is within themselves, correct every influence that arises within their own hearts that is opposed to the sanctifying influences of the grace of God, and purify themselves by their faith and by their conduct, so that they are worthy. ”

“ You can sow the seeds of infidelity and they will grow there. Teach the children so that when they go out from the presence of their father and mother, God is in all their thoughts. Can you come to this understanding, mothers? If I were talking to the brethren, I should say no man in this Church has the privilege or right to enter into business, or go at anything without having God in his thoughts, and asking for guidance and direction in all his ways. And I will say to the mothers and sisters, now give your children this correct tradition in their youth. ”

“ These societies are for the improvement of our manners, our dress, our habits, and our methods of living. Now, sisters, will you take notice, and instruct those who are not here to-day, to adopt this rule—stop your children from eating meat, and especially fat meat; let them have composition to drink, instead of unhealthy water; let them eat a little milk porridge; let them eat sparingly and not oppress the stomach so as to create a fever. No matter whether it is a child or a middle-aged person, whenever the stomach is over-loaded and charged with more than is required it creates a fever ”

“ I wish the sisters would think of this. A few pounds of silk gives you a little money. It is easily raised; where there is a little care taken you can preserve the eggs so that you can raise two crops of cocoons in a year. There is no trouble to preserve them in our ice-houses, until the first are disposed of, and so you can keep the crops growing along. You can raise more money than the farmers, and beat them in the production of wealth. Take a woman with her children, and they will make twice the amount of money by raising silk that the man can make with the farm. ”

“ You must depend upon Him always. If you are in danger in the least, you must believe in God, and ask Him to rescue you, to preserve you; and your faith must be in the name of Him that He has given, whom He calls His only begotten son, to die a ransom for our sins. ”

“ The whole earth is composed of these small atoms of sand. Our lives are made up of little, simple circumstances that amount to a great deal when they are brought together, and sum up the whole life of the man or woman ”

“ And teach them—I am sorry to say there are not many mothers who do teach it—that they may grow up with this understanding, that our Heavenly Father takes cognizance of all our acts and doings, and of us, as individuals, and that His eye is over us, and there is not so much as a hair of our heads falls to the ground without the notice of our Heavenly Father. ”

“ A great many people are fond of the fruit; it is healthy for children.
When you feel disposed to make a little money, go into the raising of silk, which is one of the easiest branches of business that was ever followed. There is no other work the women can do that will yield the same amount of profit. ”

“ One of the nicest things in the world is to let an enemy alone entirely, and it mortifies him to death. If your neighbors talk about you, and you think that they do wrong in speaking evil of you, do not let them know that you ever heard a word, and conduct yourselves as if they always did right, and it will mortify them, and they will say, "We'll not try this game any longer." I have seen men, and women also, that are never happy until they are miserable, and never easy until they are in pain. ”

“ When we come to finances, I want the people to be rich, instead of poor. The course we are now taking is beggaring the people—running into debt for this folly and that folly, and everything that they can see. ”

“ When we commence to shape our lives according to the judgment, that is given to us, and we exercise a proper portion of thought, and study the laws of life, to know what to give, and how to guide and direct our children and ourselves, we shall find that the longevity of this people will increase. Although it is a fact that the longevity of this people is as great perhaps as that of any other people at the present time ”

“ We might bring every dollar in here, and live within fifty cents on the dollar, and save the other fifty cents. How long would it take the men to go down to the bed rock, where we were brought up? I can see women who, when they were twenty years old, six yards of calico was all they asked for for a gown, and that was good enough to wear to meeting or to a party; good enough anywhere. If my mother and her grandmother got one silk dress, and they lived to a hundred years old, it was all that they wanted. ”

“ One is clothed upon with mortality, the other has passed through mortality and has received the celestial glory of our heavenly Father, and is free from the contaminating influences of sin that we have to contend with. ”

“ Teach the children to pray, that when they are large enough to go into the field with their father, they may have faith that if they are in danger they will be protected. Teach them that those good angels that are ministering spirits, and their angels, to guard and defend the just and pure watch over them continually. ”

“ If I were invited to your houses to take supper, or breakfast to-morrow morning, if you have it within your reach you will have a platter of meat cooked, and will put this before your children. They are hungry, and require something to satisfy the demands of nature. You place this before them, and, if they choose, in our country, they may gorge themselves to overflowing. You do not stop to ask them if they have eaten sufficient, and ask them now to desist, and eat moderately. You will let your children eat green apples and berries of any kind ”

“ I have had a great deal of sickness in my life. I do not expect to be free from the ills, the weakness, debility and disease that prey upon the human family, but we can amend our ways, and amend our life by being prudent; and I wish the sisters to understand this, and to adopt these instructions ”

“ You can love a woman with a comely dress on of her own make, just as well as though she had on a dress that cost five thousand pounds.
We do not seem to realize that we have to give an account of the days we spend in folly, and that we will be found wanting if we spend our time foolishly. ”

“ That amount of vitality in those little children that they cannot be still. If they cannot do anything else they will tip over the chaira [chairs] , cut up and pull away at anything to raise a row. They are so full of life that they cannot contain themselves; and they are something like ourselves—boys. They have so much vitality in them that their bones fairly ache with strength. They have such an amount of vitality—life, strength and activity, that they must dispose of them; and the young ones will contend with each other. Do not be out of temper yourselves. ”

“ My young sisters, instead of sitting continually at the piano and getting the consumption, take hold and build up Zion. The first thing is to do something for yourselves, and learn to labor; and when one thing is done, take up another item, and continue until we manufacture every thing that we need here.
I will say to those who are raising sheep, do not send your wool away. Why, it will be said, "a fool and his money are soon parted." Save your wool, and send it to the factory. If we want a little cotton cloth we can raise it in the southern country ”

“ He is in the field, at his work; and the mother is all the time making impressions upon the minds of the children. Permit me here to say, mothers, and my sisters, you who are young, it will do you good if you will only observe it. You see, hear and witness a good deal of contention among children—some of you do, if not all—and I will give you a few words with regard to your future lives, that you may have children that are not contentious, not quarrelsome. Always be good-natured yourselves. is the first step. Never allow yourselves to become out of temper and get fretful. ”

“ And as soon as they can understand, teach them with regard to the original sin. Teach them to have implicit confidence in the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ; and every time they need wisdom, to ask for wisdom, and ask for understanding; and every time they are in trouble, ask our Heavenly Father to give them comfort, and they will feel joyous instead of grievous, and will feel a buoyant feeling, instead of being cast down. ”

“ Speaking to his disciples, he says: "For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always." Now the children are always with the mother, and the mother is always with the children, but the father they have not. ”

“ I will say to the Presidency of this Stake of Zion, if you could take one-fourth the time of the men who are idle here and put it on the Temple, and take the other three-fourths and go to the Railroad Companies and say, "Gentlemen, we will turn you out a hundred hands who will work for one dollar a day," we would have the railroads in our hands, and have every dollar that they spend for five hundred miles. ”

“ And I can say still further, with regard to our climate, a dry climate is a healthy climate, much more so than where a damp miasma arises from swamps and decayed materials, which is so frequently the case in low lands, especially in the Mississippi Valley, but not so on this western slope. ”

“ It is susceptible of disease of every kind, and will impregnate the system with disease far quicker than any other food that we eat. Now, mothers, it is well for you to think of these things. I will tell you how you can enjoy health. You let your children have a little milk in the morning. ”

“ Then, sisters, go to work and make up this leather. The labor is in the shade, and a great deal of this work can be done by machinery; but it can be done by hand. We have one sister in Salt Lake City, who started twenty-three years ago boot and shoe making; she has made herself a little fortune; she has plenty to live on; she has worked with her own hands until she has accumulated property enough to sustain her. ”

“ The question is, will you carry out our instructions? We leave each and every one to determine that by their future lives. We hope that the people will hearken and by their acts respond to our requests. ”

“ In a great many places there is a foundation of it laid out, which is very good. Now, I want you to go to work and say, we will make all our head-dresses, we will make all the hats that the men need to wear ”