Woman therefore finds her fulfillment in man as man finds his in God. Brigham Young
Won’t you be so kind and so good as to take those pins or the India-rubber cords out of the back of the skirts of your dresses, so that you will look comely. They make you look uncomely, to see your dresses drawn around you, showing your form. Mothers ought to be ashamed of teaching their children such things. Brigham Young; Journal of Discourses XIX:64-65
You go through the wards in the city, and then through the wards in the country, and ask the Bishops – ‘Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?’ The reply will be, ‘Yes; no, not exactly.’ ‘Do you drink tea?’ ‘No.’ ‘Coffee?’ ‘No.’ ‘Do you drink whisky?’ ‘No.’ ‘Well, then, why do you not observe the Word of Wisdom?’ ‘Well, this tobacco, I cannot give it up.’ And in this he sets an example to every man, and to every boy over ten years of age, in his ward, to nibble at and chew tobacco. You go to another ward, and perhaps the Bishop does not chew tobacco, nor drink tea nor coffee, but once in a while he takes a little spirits, and keeps whiskey in his house, in which he will occasionally indulge – Go to another ward, and perhaps the Bishop does not drink whisky nor chew tobacco, but he ‘cannot give up his tea and coffee’. And so it goes through the whole church. Not every Bishop indulges in one or more of these habits, but most of them do. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses XII:402-403
You have been both to Jerusalem and Zion, and seen both. I have not seen either, for I have never been in Jackson County. Now it is a pleasant thing to think of and to know where the Garden of Eden was. Did you ever think of it? I do not think many do, for in Jackson County was the Garden of Eden. Joseph has declared this, and I am as much bound to believe that as to believe that Joseph was a prophet of God. Brigham Young, Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 15th March 1857
You know that we all profess to believe the Word of Wisdom. There has been a great deal said about it, more in former than in latter years. We, as Latter-day Saints, care but little about tobacco; but, as Mormons we use a vast quantity of it. As Saints, we use but little; as Mormons we use a great deal. How much do you suppose goes annually from this territory, and has for ten or twelve years past, in gold and silver, to supply the people with tobacco? I will say $60,000. Brother William H Hooper, our Delegate in Congress, came here in 1849, and during about eight years he was selling goods his sales for tobacco alone amounted to over $28,000 a year. At the same time there were other stores that sold their share and drew their share of the money expended yearly, besides what has been brought in by the keg and by the half keg. The traders and passing emigration have sold tons of tobacco, besides what is sold here regularly. I say that $60,000 annually is the smallest figure I can estimate the sales at. Tobacco can be raised here as well as it can be raised in any other place. It wants attention and care. If we use it, let us raise it here. I recommend for some man to go to raising tobacco. One man who came here last fall, is going to do so; and if he is diligent, he will raise quite a quantity. I want to see some man go to and make a business of raising tobacco and stop sending money out the territory for that article.
Some of the brethren are very strenuous upon the Word of Wisdom, and would like to have me preach upon it, and urge it upon the brethren, and make it a test of fellowship. I do not think that I shall do so. I have never done so. We annually expend only $60,000 to break the Word of Wisdom and we can save the money and still break it, if we will break it. Some would ask brother Brigham whether he keeps the Word of Wisdom. No: and I can say still further, as I told one of the teachers in Nauvoo, I come as near doing so as any man in this generation. It is not using tobacco that particularly breaks the Word of Wisdom nor is that the only bad practice it corrects; but it is profitable in every path of life. If our young persons were manly enough to govern their appetites a little, they would not contract these bad habits; but they must have some weaknesses; they must not be perfect and exactly right in everything. It is a loathsome practice to use tobacco in any way. A doctor told an old lady in New York, when she insisted upon his telling her whether snuff would injure her brain, ‘It will not hurt the brain: there is no fear of snuff’s hurting the brain of anyone, for no person that has brains will take snuff.’ I will say that the most filthy way of using tobacco is to smoke it. What is the neat way? If you are going to direct any course for the people to use tobacco, let us know what it is. Cannot you who have used it for years point out a neat, modest, judicious way of using it? Brigham Young, Tabernacle Address 7th April 1861
‘You Latter-day Saints. You, my children,’ says the Lord, ‘are not prepared to receive Zion.’ Why, we have heard detailed by Elder Carrington the conduct of Elders at the present time, dishonest in the matter of a few shillings or dollars. Dishonest, covetous, selfish, grasping for that which is not our own; borrowing and not paying; taking that which does not belong to us; dishonest in our deal; oppressing each other. Are we fit for Zion? Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses XV:4
You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation ... When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses VII:336
You must not think, from what I say, that I am opposed to slavery. No! The Negro is damned, and is to serve his master till God chooses to remove the curse of Ham. Brigham Young, New York Herald 4th May 1855; A Journal of Mormon Thought Spring 1973
Your statements tonight – you come out tonight and place them as charges – and have as many against me as I have you. One thing I have thought that I might still have omitted. It was Joseph’s doctrine that Adam was God. Brigham Young to Orson Pratt
You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing of one his brethren [Cain] will be cursed the longest of any children of Adam ... [T]he Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and the black skin. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses VII:290