Heber C. Kimball

“ It is just as much a crime to steal a penny or a cent as it is to steal a quarter of a dollar—the quarter of a dollar is more in value than the cent, but what difference is there in the crime? These little things we are apt to pass over unnoticed, but they will operate materially against your obtaining that glory which you design to inherit in the next existence. ”

“ The earth is enlightened by the same light which enlightens our eyes, which is the light of Christ, which enlighteneth every son and daughter of Adam and Eve who cometh into the world, and it is the same light by which I see you this morning. ”

“ There is not a day passes over my head that I do not bow before the Lord once, twice, or thrice; that is the way I have got to live, in order to be a good man, and retain the light of the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth; and the same faithfulness is required of you, because you are members of the same body and of the same Priesthood. We should all be alive in the performance of our duties. ”

“ Seeing that we have only a few days allotted us to secure so great a blessing, why can we not be faithful every day and every hour of our lives; and why do we yield the point to wicked influences and spend our precious moments in that which yieldeth no profit? ”

“ We cannot live the religion of, Jesus and not pray. I have had an experience in this Church of some thirty-two years. I commenced to pray before I heard of the Work of the last days, and I have prayed every day from that day until the present time. I have never been in a circumstance or place wherein I could not pray, if I was disposed to do so. As faith without works is dead, being alone, so our religion is of no benefit to us without prayer. I cannot live and be prospered in the kingdom of God only by a faithful attendance to every duty. ”

“ May peace be with you, and comfort and consolation be multiplied upon you and all the Saints in these valleys and in all the world. I do not fear the wicked, they can do nothing against the truth; let us be troubled about doing right ourselves, and I am willing to risk all the rest. ”

“ If our sons could fully and clearly see the propriety of living their religion, they would from this day cease to mingle with wicked persons; and our daughters, too, if they understood the consequences, would never be found giving themselves in marriage to wicked men. As parents and teachers, we should try with all of our ability to impress upon the minds of our young people, by precept and example, principles of truth, that they may not remain uncontrolled and exposed to all the allurements of sin. ”

“ It would be nonsense for me to undertake to preach righteousness, virtue, truthfulness, and justice, and not be a righteous, virtuous, and just man myself. You hold a portion of that same holy Priesthood which I hold; it is no matter what office you hold in that Priesthood, and it has all emanated out of the holy Apostleship, making these different offices and callings branches of the Apostleship. We all have a Priesthood to honor, which it is impossible for us to do unless we honor ourselves; and all who hold the Priesthood and honor themselves, are worthy of honor ”

“ The spirit of truth is the spirit of revelation, which we may all possess, for it is the privilege of all Latter-day Saints so to live and honor God as to receive of his attributes and nature in greater perfection, and become more like Him. ”

“ It is as much my duty as it is the duty of any other member of this Church to learn how to be a Saint. I have got to learn how to be a truthful man, an honest man, an upright man, and I have got to make myself competent, through faithfulness to God and my brethren, to teach others with propriety. It is a common saying, "Do as I say but not as I do;" but I want to do just as I teach you to do without any deviation. There is not anything in my calling that will justify me in doing wrong. ”

“ It is by the influence of such wicked spirits that men and women are all the time tempted to tell little lies, to steal a little, to take advantage of their neighbor a little, and they tell us there is no harm in it. It is by the influence and power of evil spirits that the minds of men are prejudiced against each other, until they are led to do each other an injury, and sometimes to kill each other.
We are the sons and daughters of God if we are faithful and honor our calling, and he has respect unto one as much as unto another. ”

“ The more people stray away from God the harder it is to make them sensible of their danger; and the more light that men and women possess, the easier it is to correct them when they go astray; because they are more like the clay that is in the hands of the potter, and they can be moulded and fashioned according to the will and pleasure of the master potter. ”

“ When I was in England, twenty-eight years ago next June, I saw more devils than there are persons here to-day; they came upon me with an intention to destroy me; they are the spirits of wicked men who, while in the flesh, were opposed to God and his purposes. ”

“ God is the great father of our race, and as a man is not perfect without the woman, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord they depend upon each other, and are necessary to each other for the propagation of our species. ”

“ When one or two among a family are wayward and break the laws of the land, see what sorrow, and tears, and disgrace it brings upon the whole family. It is just so with us. But oh! my desires are for you to do right, and honor your calling, and work faithfully under the dictation of President Young and others who are co-workers with him in the great Work of the last days. ”

“ If little wrongs are not checked, they will lead on to greater ones, until we are cheated out of our salvation. By checking these little wrongs, as they are called, we become more grounded and rooted in the faith of Christ, as a tree is rooted and grounded in the earth. ”

“ We shall soon pass away and return again with renewed and immortal bodies that will not be subject to sickness and death; then shall we have plenty of time and opportunity to adorn the earth and make it glorious, as we should be doing now, in order to gain an experience by which we may be profited hereafter. ”

“ Draw near to God and he will draw nigh unto you." Oh! what a great comfort it is to know that you live in the favor of your Father in heaven. If I am faithful, I know it is not in the power of any man upon earth to throw an obstruction between me and Him. ”

“ Let us remember that the liberal man deviseth liberal things, and by his liberality he shall live. I can tell you a hundred instances where I have been poor and penniless, and did not know what course to take, and the evil one would tempt me and seek to make me bow down in sorrow, but I would rise up in the name of the Lord, shake off my cares, exclaiming, I know that my Father in heaven lives and has respect for me ”

“ We must try to overcome all unpleasant and unkind language towards each other, and strive to have our intercourse such as angels will applaud. It is written, "resist the devil and he will flee from you." Some people do not believe that there are any devils. There are thousands of evil spirits that are just as ugly as evil can make them. The wicked die, and their spirits remain not far from where their tabernacles are. ”

“ A man holding the Priesthood of the Son of God, a High Priest for instance, will try to destroy the influence of a better man, causing him to walk in sorrow, that he, the High Priest, may step over him and get to some particular distinction ”

“ Such wicked men will also introduce themselves into Davis County, and among all the settlements throughout these mountains; but where the people are truly righteous and just, wicked men can do them no harm; were the people all righteous who profess to be Latter-day Saints, they would constantly be on their watch against the encroachment of a wicked power. The wicked and corrupt who have settled in our community are taking a course to lead away those who are willing to be led away from the truth—those who have turned away from God ”

“ Every young woman who calculates to be a wife and a mother, should make herself acquainted with these matters. Is there any female in our society too good to learn and work at this home industry? I think not. ”

“ In our deal with each other, it is better to give a man a dollar than to take a cent from him; by wronging a man of a dollar or a few cents, you may thereby cause a division between yourself and one of your best friends. ”

“ I feel that I would be willing to work day and night to do my brethren and sisters good. I want the rising generation to come forth and secure their blessings in the house of the Lord, that they may be saved from the evil into which they might otherwise fall. ”

“ Such social gatherings are always good in their effects, so long as we keep within the purview of the religion of Jesus Christ in all such exercises. It is my privilege and duty to live so as to become a good man, as much so as any man in this Church and kingdom. Being an Apostle does not excuse me in the least from the performance of every duty which the religion of Jesus makes binding upon me ”

“ The atmosphere of many parts of these mountains is doubtless the abode of the spirits of Gadianton robbers, whose spirits are as wicked as hell, and who would kill Jesus Christ and every Apostle and righteous person that ever lived if they had the power. ”

“ We can command the respect of all men as a people by making ourselves self-sustaining, by acquiring a knowledge of all kinds of mechanical business; and our sisters can make themselves honorable by learning to knit, weave, and spin ”

“ If there are any who consider themselves so, they are also too good to wear home-made clothing. The Priesthood is also with the woman, because she is connected with the man, and the man is connected with his God. Being so connected, we must all be honorable if we are good. ”

“ Then let us honor our bodies and spirits, which are made in the likeness of him who has created all things and upholds them by his power.
I have never seen a time since I entered this Church when there was greater necessity for this people living faithfully than now. It is a very prosperous time, and we are gaining property fast; and many, I fear, are losing sight of everything else but the riches of this world ”

“ I do not say but that you are just as good men and women in this place as in any other place in the mountains; yea, I admit that the people are better in the country towns than in Great Salt Lake City, for the froth and scum of hell seem to concentrate there, and those who live in the City have to come in contact with it ”

“ And we have, in addition to this, a holy Priesthood, and have been commanded to go forth and preach the Gospel, and teach the ways of life to all men, and not to be taught by unbelievers. We are also instructed to lead all meetings as we are dictated by the Holy Ghost. ”

“ In a revelation given to Joseph Smith, it is written, "And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself; for what man among you having twelve sons and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one, be thou clothed in robes, and sit thou here ”