Brigham Young

“ Praise the name of our God, who, in the fulness of his mercy, hath provided a great salvation and eternal life for all the Saints, without money and without price.
I do not hate any man on earth or in hell. The worst wish I have for the wicked is that they may be obliged to live according to good and wholesome laws. ”

“ Much of the most important information is alone derived through the power and testimony of the Holy Ghost in the speaker, revealing itself to the understanding and spirit of the hearer. This is the only way you can convey a knowledge of the invisible things of God. By way of illustration, though a meagre one, suppose that a man may discern in his mind how the principle of perpetual motion can be made to operate, but cannot explain it to his neighbours. ”

“ Thousands and thousands know, by their inward and invisible sensations, things that have been, things that are, and things that are in the future, as well as they know the colour of a piece of cloth by means of their outward or physical vision. When this inner light is taken from them, they become darker than they were before, they cannot understand, and turn away from the things of God.
With regard to evidence, testimony, the acquirements of the children of men pertaining to the invisible things of God, who is it that requires a miracle done? ”

“ We know when we touch anything with our hands. When we discern an object with our eyes, we know that we see. How do we know? By a principle common to all intelligent beings—by the sensations God has placed within us. ”

“ What a pleasing thought!—what an entrancing idea it would be, if we had the privilege of making a selection of one of the most beautiful locations on this earth, where we could have our grounds, gardens, and walks laid out after the most enchanting and beautiful order, with every variety of trees, with fountains of water, and everything to make us happy and comfortable, with our carriages to ride in, &c., &c., and then live ten thousand millions of years upon that beautiful possession! ”

“ Still that period of time would ultimately come to an end; and when the last moment had come, the possession ceases to be worth a groat, for it is not eternal. Boundless wealth and the most beautiful possessions cannot give pleasure and happiness of that exquisite and heavenly nature that is not in itself eternal. ”

“ Men rise up here and say they do know that this is the work of God, that Joseph was a Prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, that the revelations through Joseph Smith are true, that this is the last dispensation and the fulness of times, wherein God has set to his hand to gather Israel for the last time, and redeem and build up Zion on this land. How do they know this? Persons know and will continue to know and understand many things by the manifestations of the Spirit, that through the organization of the tabernacle it is impossible otherwise to convey. ”

“ The Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him, "All things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." ”

“ There is no ornament, no beauty, no excellency, nothing that you can imagine that is great, grand, and useful on earth, but what is typical of the immortal and eternal riches that are in store for all those who overcome. ”

“ I give it as my opinion that you may go to any part of the United States or of the world, where parents are not obliged by law to send their children to school, and you will find more schools in the midst of this people, notwithstanding their poverty, their drivings, sufferings, and persecutions, and more persons that can read and write, in proportion to our population, than in any other place on this earth. ”

“ Let the spirit reign predominant over the flesh, and bring into subjection the whole man, every feeling and every desire of his heart, and let him be devoted wholly, body and spirit, to the end for which he has been created. ”

“ You who are spiritually-minded, who have the visions of your minds opened—have studied yourselves, your organizations, the power by which you have been organized, and the influences that act upon you, can understand that the power that has given you physical sensation is the power of the same God that gives you understanding of the truth. ”

“ There are the kingdoms and worlds which God has prepared, and which are waiting for the just. There are more beauty, glory, excellency, knowledge, power, and heavenly things than I have time to talk about, without spending my time in talking about the hells prepared for the damned. ”

“ That the dust, our mother earth, that composes the house of the spirit, may be purified by passing through this ordeal, and be prepared to be called up and united with the intelligent heavenly body that God has prepared. This is nothing but a change. It is not the dissolution of the creature; it is merely putting off the flesh that pertains to this world. ”

“ The Gospel plan is so devised, that a miracle to make people believe would only be condemnation to them. When you hear people tell what they have seen—that they have seen great and powerful miracles wrought, and they could not help believing, remember that "devils believe and tremble," because they cannot help it. ”

“ Were it not for the intelligent principle God has placed within us, we could neither feel, see, hear, taste, nor smell.
It is recorded that some have eyes to see, and see not; ears to hear, and hear not; hearts have they, but they understand not. ”

“ Pertaining to the school that brother Hyde has been mentioning, we shall devote the large building on the east side of Union Square to school purposes. Tuition will be free, and the school will begin to-morrow morning, with Orson Pratt, jun., and James Cobb, teachers, under the supervision of Orson Pratt, sen. The Union Academy is designed exclusively for boys and young men. So soon as we have a suitable building, we intend to open an Academy for females, in which they will be taught the common branches of English education, music, and probably some of the modern languages. ”

“ We wish those who attend the Union Academy to qualify themselves to be useful to themselves and this community as speedily as possible. We shall urge the study of mathematics, and more particularly their practical application, that as many as have a taste and aptness may become familiar with surveying, which they can fit themselves for in a very short time. ”

“ We should be a people of profound learning pertaining to the things of the world. We should be familiar with the various languages, for we wish to send to the different nations and to the islands of the sea. ”

“ No power can deprive you of this privilege, and God will bless you, and we will bask in his presence with our Elder Brother, and with all the sons and daughters of Adam who have been redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, to live for ever. ”

“ One of the teachers will probably attend to the rudiments of education, though we prefer to have scholars tolerably well advanced in arithmetic, writing, reading, and grammar. Still it may be requisite at the start to admit some in the elementary branches. ”

“ We wish Missionaries who may go to France to be able to speak the French language fluently, and those who may go to Germany, Italy, Spain, and so on to all nations, to be familiar with the languages of those nations. ”

“ Compare those who had their education before they came here with the boys who were born and brought up in this Church in the midst of our being driven, and I will furnish you ten grey-headed men who cannot reckon up the simplest account in figures, where you can find one of our boys fifteen years old that cannot. ”