Interesting Tidbits: Part 2

A selection of interesting quotes from volume 2 We're through volume 2; only 24 more to go! During the course of Volume 2 there were many interesting tidbits that didn't fit within the concept of a full post. Rather than overlooking them, the next few days I'll throw them all together in a mish-mash of quotes so we don't miss out on the little things. Turn the other cheek: "We have been taught that it is contrary to nature to live without sin. If a man should spit in my face, it would be natural for me to knock him down, or in return spit in his face. But suppose one should injure me in person, or estate, and I should overlook it, and show mercy to the individual, it would cause him to reflect upon his conduct, and show him the true bearings of his unjust act, and make him ashamed of it much better than if I retaliated. If I were to pay him back in his own coin, I should render myself worthy of what I have received. If I bear an insult with meek patience, and do not return the injury, I have a decided advantage over my adversary. And if the person is susceptible of feeling such a rebuke, he will say, 'I have done wrong; my conscience condemns me, and my neighbor, or my brother, did not retaliate.' It at once causes the evildoer to reflect, and he will say, 'Why did I do it? The devil tempted me; I will go and confess my sin to my neighbor…and from henceforth I will mind my own business, and keep a guard upon my passions.' Is it, not better in all such cases to be guided by that principle, than by the principle of retaliation?" (Brigham Young 2:90). Who cares what the world thinks? Brother Heber doesn't: “What do I care for what the world says? I care no more about it than I do for the squawking of a goose. It is none of their business if I have a mind to be a Saint, and keep the commandments of God...” (Heber C. Kimball, 2:105). Where did the Urim and Thummim go: "The question is asked many times, ‘Has brother Brigham got the Urim and Thummim?’ Yes, he has got everything; everything that is necessary for him to receive the will and mind of God to this people. Do I know it? Yes, I know all about it; and what more do you want? That is true, gentlemen; I am one of his witnesses in the last days, and to bear testimony of the truth of 'Mormonism.'" (Heber C. Kimball, 2:105). Sanctification is complete when our will is swallowed up in His: "When the will, passions, and feelings of a person are perfectly submissive to God and His requirements, that person is sanctified. It is for my will to be swallowed up in the will of God, that will lead me into all good, and crown me ultimately with immortality and eternal lives," (Brigham Young, 2:121). Mormonism is too big to grasp: "I will inform you how I became a 'Mormon'-how the first solid impression was made upon my mind. When I undertook to sound the doctrine of 'Mormonism,' I supposed I could handle it as I could the Methodist, Presbyterian, and other creeds of Christendom, which I had paid some considerable attention to, from the first of my knowing anything about religion...I found all religions…so deficient in doctrine that when I tried to tie the loose ends and fragments together, they would break in my hands. When I commenced to examine 'Mormonism,' I found it impossible to take hold of either end of it; I found it was from eternity, passed through time, and into eternity again. When I discovered this, I said, 'It is worthy of the notice of man.' Then I applied my heart to wisdom, and sought diligently for understanding," (Brigham Young, ibid.) If you're unwilling to sacrifice all, you're unworthy of inheriting all: "If I did not love the Lord enough to leave houses, lands, father, mother, wives, and children, and even be ready to lay down my life freely for the kingdom of God's sake, I should not consider I was worthy of it. Were I to forsake all for it, I should lose nothing; for the man who honors and serves God, cannot suffer loss," (Brigham Young, ibid.) As good increases in the world, so will evil: “…as this work progresses, the works of Satan will increase, and he will continue to present one thing after another, following up the work of God, and increasing means of deception, to lead astray such men and women, and take them captive. As the work of God increases in power and extent upon the earth, so will the works of Satan increase. I expect that tribulation will be upon the wicked, and continue from this time until they are swept off from the earth," (Heber C. Kimball, 2:150). Misery vs. happiness: "When a person is miserable, wretched, and unhappy in himself, put him in what circumstances you please, and he is wretched still. If a person is poor, and composes his mind, and calmly submits to the providences of God, he will feel cheerful and happy in all circumstances, if he continues to keep the commandments of God. But you may fill the house of a dissatisfied person with everything the world can produce, and he will be miserable with all. All heaven could not satisfy discontented persons; they must first be satisfied with themselves, and content in the situation in which they are placed, and learn to acknowledge the hand of God in all things," (Heber C. Kimball, ibid.)