(3/23/98)
"If your neighbour suffers his cattle or his children to trespass upon your property, never retaliate or speak an angry reply, for this will engender a spirit of anger in him. Consider well before you suffer your minds to be irritated in the least. Suffer them not to be agitated until your blood is boiling with rage before you are aware; but stop and reflect, coolly consider, and quietly reason with the person or persons who have trespassed upon you, and show them the nature of their transgression against you. If they continue in the same course of conduct, reason the stronger with them, without quarrelling. Thus bring your passions down into subjection to your will, and cultivate an even unruffled temper, until you can perfectly control yourselves at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. Then our affections and feelings would become congenial to those of the Angels of God, and we should continue to increase in that Holy Spirit which would prepare us for the society of holy beings. This is our school, and a profitable one it is to the Elders of Israel." — Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," Vol.6, p.316

(3/25/98)
"Some say, 'I feel as though I must boil over, and I must talk to relieve myself.' All hell is boiling over; but does that make it any better? No. If you let your tongue run, and it scatters the poison that is in you, it sets the whole being on fire. The Apostle James says, 'And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.' And again, 'But the tongue can no man tame: it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.' Are you aware of this, sisters and brethren? If you keep silent, you can master your feelings, can subdue your passions, and ultimately become masters of them and banish them from you. If you give way to your unbridled tongues, you increase anger within you, and the first you know your blood is boiling with wrath. That is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, 'It setteth on fire the whole course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.' It is hell that sets it going. If you find that you cannot keep your tongue still, get some India-rubber and chew it with all your might." — Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," Vol.6, p.74 - 75

(6/26/98) 
"The Lord is here with us, not in person, but his angels are around us, and he takes cognizance of every act of the children of men, as individuals and as nations.  He is here ready by his agents, the angels, and by the power of his Holy Spirit and Priesthood, which he has restored in these last days, to bring most perfect and absolute deliverance unto all who put their trust in him, when they are ready to receive it." — Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 11:14

(1/11/99)
"This Gospel will save the whole human family; the blood of Jesus will atone for our sins, if we accept the terms he has laid down; but we must accept those terms or else it will avail nothing in our behalf." — "Discourses of Brigham Young," p. 7

(2/21/00)
"There is but one witness--one testimony, pertaining to the evidence of the Gospel of the Son of God, and that is the Spirit that he diffused among his disciples. Do his will, and we shall know whether he speaks by the authority of the Father or of himself. Do as he commands us to do, and we shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God or not. It is only by the revelations of the Spirit that we can know the things of God." — "Journal of Discourses," Vol.9, p. 2, April 6, 1861

(2/22/00)
"You will see plenty of the world--it will be before you all the time--but if you live so as to possess the Holy Ghost you will be able to understand more in relation to it in one day than you could in a dozen days without it, and you will at once see the difference between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God, and you can weigh things in the balance and estimate them at their true worth." — "Journal of Discourses," Vol.12, p. 34, April 14th, 1867

(2/23/00)
"Let us take a course to be saved today, and, when evening comes, review the acts of the day, repent of our sins, if we have any to repent of, and say our prayers; then we can lie down and sleep in peace until the morning, arise with gratitude to God, commence the labors of another day, and strive to live the whole day to God and nobody else." — "Discourses of Brigham Young," p.16

(2/24/00)
"When we speak, let us speak good words; when we think, think good thoughts; and when we act, perform good acts; until it shall become the delight of every man and woman to do good instead of evil, and to teach righteousness by example, and precept rather than unrighteousness." — "Journal of Discourses," Vol.10, p. 360, November 6, 1864

(2/25/00)
"The providences of God are all a miracle to the human family until they understand them. There are no miracles, only to those who are ignorant. A miracle is supposed to be a result without a cause, but there is no such thing. There is a cause for every result we see; and if we see a result without understanding the cause we call it a miracle." — "Journal of Discourses," 14:79

(2/26/00)
"Say your prayers always before going to work. Never forget that. A father—the head of the family—should never miss calling his family together and dedicating himself and them to the Lord of Hosts, asking the guidance and direction of his Holy Spirit to lead them through the day—that very day. Lead us this day, guide us this day, preserve us this day, save us from sinning against thee or any being in heaven or on earth this day! If we do this every day, the last day we live we will be prepared to enjoy a higher glory." — "Journal of Discourses," 12:261

(8/19/03)
"Every man and woman has got to have clean hands and a pure heart, to execute judgment, else they had better let the matter alone." — "Discourses of Brigham Young," Compiled by John A. Widtsoe. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978, 3:247

(7/2/04)
"The greatest mystery a man ever learned, is to know how to control the human mind, and bring every faculty and power of the same in subjection to Jesus Christ; this is the greatest mystery we have to learn while in these tabernacles of clay." - Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 1:47

(4/1/05)
"There is no spirit but what was pure and holy when it came here from the celestial world.... He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, 'My son, my daughter, I have you again;' and the child would say, 'O my Father, my Father, I am here again.'" - Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 4:268

(10/5/05)
"It was said here this morning that no person ever apostatized, without actual transgression. Omission of duty leads to commission. We want to live so as to have the Spirit every day, every hour of the day, every minute of the day, and every Latter-day Saint is entitled to the Spirit of God, to the power of the Holy Ghost, to lead him in his individual duties." - Brigham Young, "Discourses of Brigham Young," selected and arranged by John A. Widtsoe, p.8

2/9/06
"As we prepare materials to build a house or temple, so man can prepare himself for the reception of eternal wisdom. We go where the materials for a house are, and prepare them to answer our purpose; so we may go to where eternal wisdom dwells and there diligently seek to possess it, for its price is above rubies [see Job 28:18]." - Discourses of Brigham Young, p.261-262

11/25/06
"My independence is sacred to me—it is a portion of that same Deity that rules in the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that would be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon other's rights, save by good advice and a good example." - "Discourses of Brigham Young," selected and arranged by John A. Widtsoe, p.62

12/2/06
"Our Heavenly Father does not always reveal to his children the secret workings of his providences, nor does he show them the end from the beginning; for they have to learn to trust in him who has promised to fight our battles, and crown us with victory, if we are faithful as was faithful Abraham. The contest which we have now on hand is chiefly against sin in ourselves. 'For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.' Then let us contend against sin in our families, in our neighbors and friends, and strive to restore to the inhabitants of the earth and to all the creatures which God has made to dwell upon it, that which was lost by the fall of man. Our labor will not end until this is accomplished, our work completed, and the kingdom is the Lord's. 'Know ye not, that they which run a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible.'" - Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 11:14

3/3/07
"This life that you and I possess is for eternity. Contemplate the idea of beings endowed with all the powers and faculties which we possess, becoming annihilated, passing out of existence, ceasing to be, and then try to reconcile it with our feelings and with our present lives. No intelligent person can do it. Yet it is only by the Spirit of revelation that we can understand these things [see 1 Corinthians 2:11]. By the revelations of the Lord Jesus we understand things as they were, that have been made known unto us; things that are in the life which we now enjoy, and things as they will be [see D&C 93:24], not to the fullest extent, but all that the Lord designs that we should understand, to make it profitable to us, in order to give us the experience necessary in this life to prepare us to enjoy eternal life hereafter." - "Teachings Of Presidents Of The Church: Brigham Young," p.49

5/18/07
"I try to better my life, and I believe that my brethren do. I can see a visible improvement in those with whom I am most intimately acquainted. Though we are in the world, yet we should be as perfect as mortals are required to be. We are not required in our sphere to be as perfect as Gods and angels are in their spheres, yet man is the king of kings and lord of lords in embryo. Could I in the flesh become as perfect as God in the spirit, I could not stay on the earth with my friends to hold close communion with them and speak with them face to face as men speak to each other. Earth, home, family and friends have endearments which tie us here until we have accomplished our work in this probation and become ripe for that great change which awaits us all. I would like to stay on this earth in the flesh and fight the Devils until the last one is subdued; and when the earth and its fulness are wholly devoted to the Savior of mankind I will be perfectly satisfied and willing to go into my grave or be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as the Lord will." - Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 26 vols., 10:224

8/17/07
"There is not a single condition of life that is entirely unnecessary; there is not one hour's experience but what is beneficial to all those who make it their study, and aim to improve upon the experience they gain. What becomes a trial to one person is not noticed by another. Among these two thousand persons I am now addressing there cannot be found two that are organized alike, yet we all belong to the one great human family, have sprung from one source, and are organized to inherit eternal life. There are no two faces alike, no two persons tempered alike; we have come from different nations of the world, and have been raised in different climates, educated and traditioned in different and, in many instances, in opposite directions, hence we are tried with each other, and large drafts are made upon our patience, forbearance, charity, and good will—in short, upon all the higher and godlike qualities of our nature—for we are required by our holy religion to be one in our faith, feelings, and sentiments pertaining to things of time and eternity, and in all our earthly pursuits and works to keep in view the building up of the kingdom of God in the last days. Our work is to bring forth Zion, and produce the Kingdom of God in its perfection and beauty upon the earth." - Brigham Young, 'Journal of Discourses,' 26 vols., 9:29

9/24/07
"If this people will believe the testimony contained in these four books concerning the kingdom of God upon the earth, and the hand dealing of the providence of God to his children, and do His will, I promise them eternal life, for such a belief and such a practice will lead them to the fountain where they can know for themselves, as Moses, the Prophets, Jesus, the Apostles and Ancient Saints, Joseph Smith and others of modern times knew; where like them we can receive the Spirit of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, by which we may know the voice of the Good Shepherd, whenever and wherever we hear it. And as we know the voice of the Good Shepherd, so shall we learn to distinguish it from the voice of a stranger-the voice of the evil one. " - Brigham Young, "Journal of Discourses," 26 vols., 10:30

9/27/07
"With God, and also with those who understand the principles of life and salvation, the Priesthood, the oracles of truth and the gifts and callings of God to the children of men, there is no difference in spiritual and temporal labors—all are one. If I am in the line of my duty, I am doing the will of God, whether I am preaching; praying, laboring with my hands for an honorable support; whether I am in the field, mechanics shop, or following mercantile business, or wherever duty calls, I am serving God as much in one place as another; and so it is with all, each in his place, turn and time." - "Teachings Of Presidents Of The Church: Brigham Young," p.21