Joseph Smith Jr. Quotes & Sayings

It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind. — Joseph Smith Jr.

21 And they shall pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. — Joseph Smith Jr.

If you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons of God ... — Joseph Smith Jr.

Let us this very day begin anew, and now say, with all our hearts, we will forsake our sins and be righteous. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The secret of masonry is to keep a secret. — Joseph Smith Jr.

If I was to show the Latter-day Saints all the revelations that the Lord has shown unto me, there is scarce a man that would stay with me, they could not bear it. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Noah came before the flood. I have come before the fire. — Joseph Smith Jr.

It is one thing to see the kingdom of God, and another thing to enter into it. We must have a change of heart to see the kingdom of God, and subscribe the articles of adoption to enter therein. — Joseph Smith Jr.

No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The Constitution, when it says, "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America," meant just what it said without reference to color or condition, ad infinitum. — Joseph Smith Jr.

By their complying with your request to leave they [the Saints in Clay County] are surrendering some of the dearest rights guaranteed in the Constitution of our country; and that human nature can be driven to a certain extent when it will yield no further. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We are friendly to our country, and when we speak of the flag of our Union, we love it, and we love the rights the Constitution guarantees to every citizen. What did the Prophet Joseph say? When the Constitution shall be tottering we shall be the people to save it from the hand of the foe. — Joseph Smith Jr.

No one can ever enter the celestial kingdom unless he is strictly honest. — Joseph Smith Jr.

9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I would not have suffered my name to have been used by my friends on anywise as President of the United States, or candidate for that office, if I and my friends could have had the privilege of enjoying our religious and civil rights as American citizens, even those rights which the Constitution guarantees unto all her citizens alike. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Trust in God, always take care of each other. — Joseph Smith Jr.

25 Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war. — Joseph Smith Jr.

And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Eternity is full of thrones, upon which dwell thousands of children reigning on thrones of glory, with not one cubit added to their stature. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Men of the present time testify of heaven and hell, and have never seen either. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Truth revealed from heaven is worth more than all the notions of men. — Joseph Smith Jr.

and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. — Joseph Smith Jr.

If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The root of masculine is stronger, and of feminine weaker. The sun is a governing planet to certain planets, while the moon borrows her light from the sun, and is less or weaker. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The Constitution should contain a provision that every officer of the Government who should neglect or refuse to extend the protection guaranteed in the Constitution should be subject to capital punishment; and then the president of the United States would not say, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you." — Joseph Smith Jr.

For a man to be great, he must not dwell on small things, though he may enjoy them. — Joseph Smith Jr.

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. — Joseph Smith Jr.

37 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them. 38 And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! — Joseph Smith Jr.

Patriotism is a passion which induces hot youth to rush forth to get shot and half shot, while sober, conservative age waves the flag and corrals the contracts. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The things of God are of great import; and time, and experience,and careful, and ponderous, and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, oh man, if thou wilt lead a man unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanses of eternity; thou must commune with God! — Joseph Smith Jr.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Perhaps I am meant to swim in deep waters ... better deep than shallow! — Joseph Smith Jr.

And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth ... — Joseph Smith Jr.

Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The heads (Plural) of the Gods appointed one God for us; and when you take that view of the subject, it sets one free to see all the beauty, holiness and perfection of the Gods. — Joseph Smith Jr.

They have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually; and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Meekness,love, purity, these are the things that should magnify us. — Joseph Smith Jr.

thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; — Joseph Smith Jr.

I am not learned, but I have as good feelings as any man. — Joseph Smith Jr.

our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings. — Joseph Smith Jr.

To get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything which God has commanded ... The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what he tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular; I will always maintain a true principle even if I stand alone in it. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We have not enjoyed unmolested those rights which the constitution of the U.S.A. and our Charters grant. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The purposes of our God are great, His love unfathomable, His wisdom infinite, and His power unlimited; therefore, the Saints have cause to rejoice and be glad. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I made this my rule: When the Lord commands, do it. — Joseph Smith Jr.

In your hands or that of any other person, so much power would, no doubt, be dangerous. I am the only man in the world whom it would be safe to trust with it. Remember, I am a prophet! — Joseph Smith Jr.

Alma baptizes in the Waters of Mormon — Joseph Smith Jr.

for behold, I know that if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it. 6 Wherefore, if ye are cursed, behold, I leave my blessing upon you, that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Mosiah 2:17
And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book. — Joseph Smith Jr.

All our losses will be made up if we are faithful. — Joseph Smith Jr.

If God had a church it would not be split up into factions, and that if he taught one society to worship one way, and administer in one set of ordinances, He would not teach another, principles which were diametrically opposed. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We may come to Jesus and ask Him; He will know all about it; if He comes to a little child, he will adapt himself to the language and capacity of a little child. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the gordian knot of powers, and I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth-diamond truth; and God is my 'right hand man'. — Joseph Smith Jr.

According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I [the Lord] have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I Nephi, being exeedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The Elders would go forth, and each must stand for himself ... to go in all meekness, in sobriety, and preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified; not to contend with others on account of their faith, or systems of religion, but pursue a steady course. This I delivered by way of commandment; and all who observe it not, will pull down persecution upon their heads, while those who do, shall always be filled with the Holy Ghost; this I pronounced as a prophecy, and sealed with hosanna and amen. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We think it would be wise in you to try to git [sic] influence by offering to print a paper in favor of the government as you know we are all friends to the Constitution yea true friends to that Country for which our fathers bled. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I never thought it was right to call up a man and try him because he erred in doctrine, it looks too much like methodism and not like Latter day Saintism. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be kicked out of their church. I want the liberty of believing as I please, it feels so good not to be tramelled. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We say that God is true; that the Constitution of the United States is true; that the Bible is true; and that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Christ is true — Joseph Smith Jr.

Mormons can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for a Mormon; If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a Mormon I am bold to declare before heaven that I am just as ready to die for a Presbyterian, a baptist or any other denomination. — Joseph Smith Jr.

All men are, or ought to be free, possessing unalienable rights, and the high and noble qualifications of the laws of nature and of self-preservation, to think, and act, and say as they please, while they maintain a due respect to the rights and privileges of all other creatures, infringing upon none. — Joseph Smith Jr.

My pride has brought me very low. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Stand Fast Through the Storms of Life.
"You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God ... God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial kingdom of God"
-John Taylor recalls the words of Joseph Smith to the Twelve. JS manual page 231 — Joseph Smith Jr.

Hinkle, having made a treaty with the mob on his own responsibility, to carry out his treachery, marched the troops out of the city, and the brethren gave up their arms, their own property, which no government on earth had a right to require.
[DHC3:192] — Joseph Smith Jr.

And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things - 1 Nephi 16:29 — Joseph Smith Jr.

There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which was the convincing power of God unto him of the truth of the Gospel, but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was baptized. Had he not [been baptized], the Holy Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. — Joseph Smith Jr.

When a man works by faith, he works by mental exertion instead of by physical force. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall be said of me-He was murdered in cold blood — Joseph Smith Jr.

Will not the Lord hear my prayers and listen to my cries as soon as he ever did to theirs [the ancient saints'] if I come to him in the manner they did? — Joseph Smith Jr.

All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it. — Joseph Smith Jr.

I had not been married scarcely five minutes, and made one proclamation of the Gospel, before it was reported that I had seven wives ... I am innocent of all these charges ... What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers. — Joseph Smith Jr.

God instituted laws whereby [the Spirits that He would send into the world] could have a privilege to advance life himself. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Every man should esteem his neighbor as himself. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We say, that the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. — Joseph Smith Jr.

It is a time-honored adage that love begats love ... cast your bread upon the waters and ye shall receive it after many days, increased to a hundredfold. — Joseph Smith Jr.

The Constitution of our country [was] formed by the Fathers of liberty ... Exalt the standard of Democracy! Down with that of priestcraft, and let all the people say Amen! that the blood of our fathers may not cry from the ground against us. Sacred is the memory of that blood which bought for us our liberty. — Joseph Smith Jr.

and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. — Joseph Smith Jr.

It is vain to try and hide a bad spirit from the eyes of them who are spiritual, for it will show itself in speaking and in writing as well as in all other conduct, it is also useless to make great pretensions when the heart is not right before God, for God looks at the heart, and where the heart is not right the Lord will expose it to the view of the faithful. — Joseph Smith Jr.

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. — Joseph Smith Jr.

We are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity; God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Salvation could not come to the world without the mediation of Jesus Christ. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of "Mormonism"; [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers — Joseph Smith Jr.

I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods. — Joseph Smith Jr.

When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. — Joseph Smith Jr.

Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. — Joseph Smith Jr.

You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half-that is, baptism of the Holy Ghost. — Joseph Smith Jr.

shorn their heads — Joseph Smith Jr.

Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies, than we are ready to believe or receive. — Joseph Smith Jr.

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret ... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know ... that he was once a man like us ... Here, then, is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves ... the same as all Gods have done before you ... — Joseph Smith Jr.

If there is trouble in the country, neither I nor my people made it, and all that we have ever done, after much endurance on our part, is to maintain and uphold the constitution and institutions of our country, and to protect an injured, innocent, and persecuted people against misrule and mob violence. — Joseph Smith Jr.