Quotes By LDS Prophet Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born on December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont, he is considered by members of the Church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Joseph translated the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ and a record of ancient American peoples as was revealed to him by God.
“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.”
| History of the Church, 4:555
“We are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity. God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do.”
| Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 356.
“At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed, and the plan of salvation made and we sanctioned it.”
| The Words of Joseph Smith
In pitching my tent we found three prairie rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, ‘Let them alone—don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety.’”
| Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 71
“God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, . . . saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself.”
| Teachings, 354.
“The head of the Gods called council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.”
| Joseph Smith, Teachings, 349
“Let this be an [example] to all saints, and there will never be any lack for bread: When the poor are starving, let those who have, fast one day and give what they otherwise would have eaten to the bishops for the poor, and everyone will abound for a long time. … And so long as the saints will all live to this principle with glad hearts and cheerful countenances they will always have an abundance.”
| History of the Church, 7:413.
“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the apostles and prophets, concerning Jesus Christ. That he died, was buried, and rose again at the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”
There will be here and there a stake for the gathering of the Saints. Some may have cried “Peace!” but the Saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the stakes, for God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered, one here, another there. There your children shall be blessed, and you [shall be] in the midst of friends where you may be blessed. The gospel net gathers of every kind. I prophesy that the man who tarries after he has an opportunity of going will be afflicted by the Devil. Wars are at hand; we must not delay. . . .We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object. When wars come we shall have to flee to Zion. The cry is to make haste. The last revelation says, “Ye shall not have time to have gone over the earth until these things come” [cf. Matt. 10:23]. It will come as did the cholera-war, fires burning, earthquake, one pestilence after another.
| Discourse of summer of 1839, recorded in Willard Richards’ “Pocket Companion;” WJS, p. 11
You will always discover in the first glance of a man, in the outlines of his features something of his mind
| Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 299