Quotes by Joseph Smith

“If my life is of no value to my friends, then it is of no value to me.”

“Man is that he might have joy.”

“I am like a sheep going to the slaughter; but I am as calm as a summers day.”

“When I have proved that I am right, and get all the world subdued under me, I think I shall deserve something.”

“The laundry has its hands on my dirty shirts, sheets, towels and tablecloths, and who knows what tales they tell.”

“If thou art called to pass through tribulations; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why cant you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; and if thou shouldest be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep, if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) hath descended below them all; art thou greater than he?”

“Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar. Youre gonna go far, fly high, Youre never gonna die, Youre gonna make it if you try; Theyre gonna love you...And did we tell you the name of the game, boy, We call it Riding the Gravy Train.”

“The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and dependent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah will say, ‘The work is done.”

We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons.

doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Man is that he might have joy.

Although I do wrong, I do not the wrongs that I am charged with doing; the wrong that I do is through the frailty of human nature, like other men. No man lives without fault.

A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.

Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.

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.

An angel of God never has wings.

One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.

Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top.

“We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons.”