_EDUCATION_
_Knowledge and Intelligence_--Education is a good thing, and
blessed is the man who has it, and can use it for the dissemination of
the Gospel without being puffed up with pride. 11:214.
When we speak upon education, it is not to be understood that it alone
consists in a man's learning the letters of the alphabet, in being
trained in every branch of scholastic lore, in becoming a proficient
in the knowledge of the sciences, and a classical scholar, but also in
learning to classify himself and others. 1:66.
Find a true philosopher and you find one who has the true principles of
Christianity. He delights in them; and sees and understands the hand of
Providence guiding and directing in all the affairs of this life. 14:82.
A firm, unchangeable course of righteousness through life is what
secures to a person true intelligence. 8:32.
Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of
God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods, and become associated with
the highest intelligencies that dwell in eternity. We are now in the
school, and must practice upon what we receive. 8:160.
When we have faith to understand that he must dictate, and that we
must be perfectly submissive to him, then we shall begin to rapidly
collect the intelligence that is bestowed upon the nations, for all
this intelligence belongs to Zion. All the knowledge, wisdom, power,
and glory that have been bestowed upon the nations of the earth, from
the {378} days of Adam till now, must be gathered home to Zion. 8:278.
This people have embraced the philosophy of eternal lives, and in
view of this we should cease to be children and become philosophers,
understanding our own existence, its purpose and intimate design,
then our days will not become a blank through ignorance, but every
day will bring with it its useful and profitable employment. God has
placed us here, given us the ability we possess, and supplied the means
upon which we can operate to produce social, national, and eternal
happiness. 9:190.
When a man is capable of correcting you, and of giving you light, and
true doctrine, do not get up an altercation, but submit to be taught
like little children, and strive with all your might to understand.
1:47.
Learning a, b, c, d, does not hinder me learning e, f, g. 16:27.
_A Religion of Improvement_--Ours is a religion of improvement; it
is not contracted and confined; but is calculated to expand the minds
of the children of men and lead them up into the state of intelligence
that will be an honor to our being. 10:290.
Every art and science known and studied by the children of men is
comprised within the Gospel. Where did the knowledge come from which
has enabled man to accomplish such great achievements in science and
mechanism within the last few years? We know that knowledge is from
God, but why do they not acknowledge him? Because they are blind to
their own interests, they do not see and understand things as they
are. Who taught men to chain the lightning? Did man unaided of himself
discover that? No, he received the knowledge from the Supreme {379}
Being. From him, too, has every art and science proceeded, although
the credit is given to this individual, and that individual. But where
did they get the knowledge from, have they it in and of themselves?
No, they must acknowledge that, if they cannot make one spear of
grass grow, nor one hair white or black without artificial aid, they
are dependent upon the Supreme Being just the same as the poor and
the ignorant. Where have we received the knowledge to construct the
labor-saving machinery for which the present age is remarkable? From
Heaven. Where have we received our knowledge of astronomy, or the
power to make glasses to penetrate the immensity of space? We received
it from the same Being that Moses, and those who were before him,
received their knowledge from; the same Being who told Noah that
the world should be drowned and its people destroyed. From him has
every astronomer, artist and mechanician that ever lived on the earth
obtained his knowledge. By him, too, has the power to receive from one
another, been bestowed, and to search into the deep things pertaining
to this earth and every principle connected with it. 12:257.
It is highly gratifying to the Lord, to angels, and to all good men,
to see intelligent beings organized to receive a great amount of
intelligence--seeking to possess eternal life. 8:136.
The Lord has chosen the poor of this world,--rich in faith--and
the time will come when he will give the earth to his poor for an
everlasting inheritance. I speak this for the comfort of my brethren
and sisters who have been poor. They have come here, and what do we
see? The youth, the middle-aged and the old improving in letters, in
mechanism and in the arts and sciences. We bring them {380} here to
improve them, and if the Lord will bless us sufficiently, and the
people will bless themselves, we will have a nation that understands
all things pertaining to the earth that it is possible for man
to grasp. Will this people be praiseworthy? Yes, and honored and
honorable. Will they be looked to as examples? Yes; and it is the
duty of the Latter-day Saints to live their religion so that all the
world can say there is a pattern for us, not only in our business and
worship, but in our knowledge of things that are, things that have been
and of things that are yet to come, until the knowledge of Zion shall
reach the uttermost parts of the earth, and the kings and great men
shall say, "Let us go up to Zion and learn wisdom." 12:257.
The greatest difficulty we have to meet is what may be termed
ignorance, or want of understanding in the people. 7:63.
Not only does the religion of Jesus Christ make the people acquainted
with the things of God, and develop within them moral excellence and
purity, but it holds out every encouragement and inducement possible,
for them to increase in knowledge and intelligence, in every branch of
mechanism, or in the arts and sciences, for all wisdom, and all the
arts and sciences in the world are from God, and are designed for the
good of his people. 13:147.
_Knowledge to be Sought_--The religion embraced by the Latter-day
Saints, if only slightly understood, prompts them to search diligently
after knowledge. There is no other people in existence more eager to
see, hear, learn, and understand truth. 8:6.
Let there be a mutual desire in every man to disseminate knowledge,
that all may know. I have always followed {381} out the rule of
dispensing what I know to others, and been blessed in so doing. 9:370.
Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the
strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then
distribute your knowledge to the people. 8:146.
We, who believe in and have obeyed this Gospel, look forward with the
anticipation of obtaining a great amount of knowledge and wisdom. When
we embraced the Gospel, the spirit opened up to our minds the fact that
the wisdom, the knowledge and the power of God would increase in the
midst of the Saints. This is our experience, knowing for myself, what
the Spirit of the Lord brings to the understanding, testify what it
reveals to others. 18:236.
Let us train our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely
and holy, seeking continually after that intelligence which will enable
us effectually to build up Zion, which consists in building houses,
tabernacles, temples, streets, and every convenience and necessity to
embellish and beautify, seeking to do the will of the Lord all the days
of our lives, improving our minds in all scientific and mechanical
knowledge, seeking diligently to understand the great design and plan
of all created things, that we may know what to do with our lives and
how to improve upon the facilities placed within our reach. 10:177.
If we wish to be taught, to receive, and understand, we must train
ourselves. 6:99.
We are in a great school, and we should be diligent to learn, and
continue to store up the knowledge of heaven and of earth, and read
good books, although I cannot say that I would recommend the reading
of all books, for it is not all books which are good. Read good books,
and extract {382} from them wisdom and understanding as much as you
possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God. 12:124.
Every man and woman that has talent and hides it will be called a
slothful servant. Improve day by day upon the capital you have. In
proportion as we are capacitated to receive, so it is our duty to do.
7:7.
It is our duty and calling, as ministers of the same salvation and
Gospel, to gather every item of truth and reject every error. Whether
a truth be found with professed infidels, or with the Universalists,
or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of England, the
Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers, or any other of
the various and numerous different sects and parties, all of whom have
more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders of this Church
(Jesus, their Elder Brother, being at their head) to gather up all the
truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation, to the Gospel we
preach, to mechanism of every kind, to the sciences, and to philosophy,
wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people
and bring it to Zion. 7:283.
_Continuous Education_--This is our labor, our business, and our
calling--to grow in grace and in knowledge from day to day and from
year to year. 6:268.
I shall not cease learning while I live, nor when I arrive in the
spirit-world; but shall there learn with greater facility; and when
I again receive my body, I shall learn a thousand times more in a
thousand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, but
shall still continue my researches. 8:10.
We shall never see the time when we shall not need to be taught, nor
when there will not be an object to be gained. I never expect to see
the time that there will not {383} be a superior power and a superior
knowledge, and, consequently, incitements to further progress and
further improvement. 10:221.
If I do not learn what is in the world, from first to last, somebody
will be wiser than I am. I intend to know the whole of it, both good
and bad. Shall I practice evil? No; neither have I told you to practice
it, but to learn by the light of truth every principle there is in
existence in the world. 2:94.
We need constant instruction, and our great heavenly Teacher requires
of us to be diligent pupils in his school, that we may in time reach
his glorified presence. If we will not lay to heart the rules of
education which our Teacher gives us to study, and continue to advance
from one branch of learning to another, we never can be scholars of the
first class and become endowed with the science, power, excellency,
brightness and glory of the heavenly hosts; and unless we are educated
as they are, we cannot associate with them. 10:266.
And inasmuch as the Lord Almighty has designed us to know all that is
in the earth, both the good and the evil, and to learn not only what
is in heaven, but what is in hell, you need not expect ever to get
through learning. Though I mean to learn all that is in heaven, earth,
and hell. Do I need to commit iniquity to do it? No. If I were to go
into the bowels of hell to find out what is there, that does not make
it necessary that I should commit one evil, or blaspheme in any way the
name of my Maker. 2:94.
The extent of knowledge incorporated within the salvation extended to
the children of men, will vastly exceed the researches of the human
family, and when they have {384} passed the veil, they will then
understand that they have but just commenced to learn. Brother Morley
says he never expects to be too old to learn; I believe that doctrine.
Could we live to the age of Methuselah, and eat the fruits which the
earth would produce in her strength, as did Adam and Eve before the
transgression, and spend our lives in searching after the principles of
eternal life, we would find, when one eternity had passed to us, that
we had been but children thus far, babies just commencing to learn the
things which pertain to the eternities of the Gods.
We might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion
about it: never, never. 3:202.
If we continue to learn all that we can, pertaining to the salvation
which is purchased and presented to us through the Son of God, is there
a time when a person will cease to learn? Yes, when he has sinned
against God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost--God's
minister; when he has denied the Lord, defied him and committed the sin
that in the Bible is termed the unpardonable sin--the sin against the
Holy Ghost. That is the time when a person will cease to learn, and
from that time forth, will descend in ignorance, forgetting that which
they formerly knew. They will cease to increase, but must decrease.
These are the only characters who will ever cease to learn, both in
time and eternity. 3:203.
I ask, have the great and learned men completed their education? No,
they are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. 1:70.
I will not say, as do many, that the more I learn the more I am
satisfied that I know nothing; for the more I learn the more I discern
an eternity of knowledge to improve upon. {385}
One scholar in a school may far outstrip the rest; but give them
sufficient time, and they can learn what the quick, bright scholar has
learned so easily and quickly. If we are capacitated to learn one thing
today, we can learn another tomorrow. It is the height of folly to say
that a man can only learn so much and no more. The further literary men
advance in their studies, the more they discern there is to learn, and
the more anxious they are to learn.
We may live here year after year, and store up knowledge all the time,
and yet not have an opportunity of exhibiting it to others; it is on
hand; whenever the time comes it should be used. 6:274.
Experience has taught us that it requires time to acquire certain
branches of mechanism, also all principles and ideas that we wish to
become masters of. The closer people apply their minds to any correct
purpose the faster they can grow and increase in the knowledge of the
truth. When they learn to master their feelings, they can soon learn
to master their reflections and thoughts in the degree requisite for
attaining the objects they are seeking. But while they yield to a
feeling or spirit that distracts their minds from a subject they wish
to study and learn, so long they will never gain the mastery of their
minds. 6:94.
No matter what your circumstances ate, whether you are in prosperity
or in adversity, you can learn from every person, transaction, and
circumstance around you. 4:287.
_Effects of Education_--The results of the education and
traditions of the inhabitants of the earth, are interwoven with their
feelings, and are like a cloak that envelops them, in the capacity of
societies, neighborhoods, people, or individuals; they frame that kind
of government and religion, {386} and pursue that course collectively
or individually, that seemeth good to themselves. 3:88.
Every principle of true philosophy convinces a person who understands
the spirit of the Gospel and has received the good word of life, that
the darkness is in proportion to the light that has been forsaken.
Rear a child in a cell which only admits a small glimmer of light, and
the child will pass its time with some degree of satisfaction, when a
person accustomed to the bright light of day could not at first see
anything. And the greater the light bestowed upon an individual or upon
a people, the greater the darkness when that light is forsaken. 8:121.
Will education feed and clothe you, keep you warm on a cold day, or
enable you to build a house? Not at all. Should we cry down education
on this account? No. What is it for? The improvement of the mind; to
instruct us in all arts and sciences, in the history of the world, in
the laws of nations; to enable us to understand the laws and principles
of life, and how to be useful while we live. 14:83.
What is the religion of the day? What are all the civil laws and
governments of the day? They are merely traditions, without a single
exception. Do the people realize this--that it is the force of their
education that makes right and wrong with them? It is not the line
which the Lord has drawn out; it is not the law which the Lord has
given them; it is not the righteousness which is according to the
character of him who has created all things, and by his own law governs
and controls all things; but by the prejudice of education--the
prepossessed feeling that is begotten in the hearts of the children of
men, by surrounding objects. 3:86.
If I should hear a man advocate the erroneous principles {387} he had
imbibed through education, and oppose those principles, some might
imagine that I was opposed to that man, when, in fact, I am only
opposed to every evil and erroneous principle he advances. 6:331.
There is not a law of God, nor a law of any nation that exercises so
strong an influence upon us as do our traditions at times, to, bind us
to certain customs, habits and ceremonies. 8:58.
_Educate our Children_--Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, obey
his doctrine, cease your warring and contention, beat your swords
into ploughshares and your spears into pruning hooks; make railroads,
build colleges, teach the children, give them the learning of the
world and the things of God; elevate their minds, that they may not
only understand the earth we walk upon, but the air we breathe, the
water we drink, and all the elements pertaining to the earth; and then
search other worlds, and become acquainted with the planetary system,
the dwellings of the angels and the heavenly beings, that they may
ultimately be prepared for a higher state of being, and finally be
associated with them. I wish we would do it; I pray the Lord to do it,
but he will not, unless we help him. 14:210.
The education of our children is worthy of our attention, and the
instruction of the Elders from this stand. It is a subject that should
be thoroughly impressed upon the minds of parents and the rising
generation; and those who wish to preach from this text may do so.
13:262.
It is a duty we owe to our children to educate and train them in every
principle of honor and good manners, in a knowledge of God and his
ways, and in popular school education. I am happy to hear the little
children sing, and {388} hope they are also learning to read and write,
and are progressing in every useful branch of learning. 11:111.
See that your children are properly educated in the rudiments of
their mother tongue, and then let them proceed to higher branches of
learning; let them become more informed in every department of true
and useful learning than their fathers are. When they have become
well acquainted with their language, let them study other languages,
and make themselves fully acquainted with the manners, customs, laws,
governments and literature of other nations, peoples, and tongues. Let
them also learn all the truth pertaining to the arts and sciences, and
how to apply the same to their temporal wants. Let them study things
that are upon the earth, that are in the earth, and that are in the
heavens. 8:9.
I wish this people to pay particular attention to the education
of their children. If we can do no more, we should give them the
facilities of a common education, that when our sons are sent into the
world as ministers of salvation and as representatives of the Kingdom
of God in the mountains, they can mingle with the best society and
intelligibly and sensibly present the principles of truth to mankind,
for all truth is the offspring of heaven, and is incorporated in the
religion which we have embraced.
Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful attainment
in mathematics, music, and in all science and art belongs to the
Saints, and they should avail themselves as expeditiously as possible
of the wealth of knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and
persevering scholar. 10:224.
The education of youth is an important text for the brethren to preach
from. A very high value should be {389} placed upon it by the Saints.
We have the privilege of enjoying the spirit of revelation and the
knowledge which comes from above, and in addition to this, every branch
of education known in the world should be taught among and acquired by
us. 13:263.
My policy is to keep everybody busy in building up this Kingdom;
in building houses; in breaking up land; in setting out fruit and
ornamental trees; in laying out fine gardens, pleasant walks, and
beautiful groves; and in building academies and other places of
learning.
There are hundreds of young men here who can go to school, which is far
better than to waste their time. Study languages, get knowledge and
understanding; and while doing this, get wisdom from God, and forget it
not, and learn how to apply it, that you may be good with it all the
days of your lives. 2:145.
_Establish Schools_--Is it not a blessing to have schools in
our community, where our teachers can teach our children correct
principles, and impart to them education that will be useful? 8:92.
Let a few schools be started by those who are capable of teaching
the sciences. The science of architecture, for instance, is worthy
the attention of every student. It yields a great amount of real
pleasure to be able to understand the grand architectural designs of
those magnificent structures that are scattered over Europe and other
countries. 9:173.
Go to work and start some schools, go to school and study; have the
girls go, and teach them chemistry, so that they can take any of these
rocks and analyze them. The sciences can be learned without much
difficulty. I want to have schools to entertain the minds of the people
and draw {390} them out to learn the arts and sciences. Send the old
children to school, and the young ones also; there is nothing I would
like better than to learn chemistry, botany, geology, and mineralogy,
so that I could tell what I walk on, the properties of the air I
breathe, what I drink, etc. 16:170.
Let our teachers ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to bestow upon
them and upon their scholars the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence from
heaven; ask for skill to control and ability to teach on the part of
the teacher, and willingness to be controlled and adaptability to be
taught on the part of the scholars. Let parents aid the teacher in his
labors, by seeing that their children attend school punctually, with a
proper supply of books, slates, pencils, etc., and permit not a good
diligent, faithful school-teacher to suffer for the common necessaries
of life, while he is laboring to educate and bless their children.
9:369.
I will now urge it upon the people--the young men and middle-aged--to
get up schools and study. If they are disposed to study physic or
surgery, all right; they will know then what to do if a person is
sickly, or has his elbow, wrist, or shoulder put out of joint, or his
arm or any bone broken. It is just as important to learn such things
as it is to learn to plant potatoes. Pay more attention to arithmetic
and other things that are useful, instead of acquiring a little French
and German and other fanciful studies that are not of so much practical
importance. I do not know how long it will be before we call upon the
brethren and sisters to enter upon business in an entirely different
way from what they have done. I have been an advocate for our printing
to be done by females, and as for men being in stores, you might as
well set them to knitting stockings as to sell tape. Such business
ought to be done by the sisters. It would {391} enable them to sustain
themselves, and would be far better than for them to spend their time
in the parlor or in walking the streets. Hardy men have no business
behind the counter; they who are not able to hoe potatoes, go to the
canyon, cut down the trees, saw the lumber, etc., can attend to that
business. Study arithmetic and bookkeeping. Introduce stenography into
every school; it is an excellent thing to learn. By its means we can
commit our thoughts and reflections to paper with ease and rapidity,
and thus preserve that which will be of benefit to ourselves and
others, and which would otherwise be forever lost. Introduce every kind
of useful studies into our schools. Get up classes for the study of
law. The laws of this Territory, of the United States, of the different
States, of England, and foreign lands. Do this instead of riding over
the prairies hunting and wasting your time, which is property that
belongs to the Lord our God, and if we do not make good use of it we
shall be held accountable. 12:31-32.
Let good schools be established throughout all the settlements of
the Saints in Utah. Let good teachers, who are Latter-day Saints in
principle and at heart, be employed to educate our children. A good
school teacher is one of the most essential members in society; he
relieves parents, in part, of a great responsibility and labor; we
should, therefore, make the business of school teaching a permanent
institution, and the remuneration should be in amount and in kind equal
to the receipts of our best mechanics; it should also be promptly and
willingly paid, and school commissioners and trustees should see to
it that teachers are properly qualified and do earn their pay. Could
I have my wish, I would introduce into our system of education every
real improvement. 10:225. {392}
Understand men and women as they are, and not understand them as you
are. 8:37.
_What to Study_--It is our privilege and our duty to search all
things upon the face of the earth, and learn what there is for man to
enjoy, what God has ordained for the benefit and happiness of mankind,
and then make use of it without sinning against him. 9:243.
Learn everything that the children of men know, and be prepared for
the most refined society upon the face of the earth, then improve upon
this until we are prepared and permitted to enter the society of the
blessed--the holy angels that dwell in the presence of God, for our
God, because of his purity, is a consuming fire. 16:77.
We should be a people of profound learning pertaining to the things of
the world. We should be familiar with the various languages, for we
wish to send missionaries to the different nations and to the islands
of the sea. We wish missionaries who may go to France to be able to
speak the French language fluently, and those who may go to Germany,
Italy, Spain, and so on to all nations, to be familiar with the
languages of those nations.
We also wish them to understand the geography, habits, customs, and
laws of nations and kingdoms, whether they be barbarians or civilized.
This is recommended in the revelations given to us. In them we are
taught to study the best books, that we may become as well acquainted
with the geography of the world as we are with our gardens, and as
families with the people--so far at least as they are portrayed in
print--as we are with our families and neighbors. 8:40.
How gladly would we understand every principle pertaining to science
and art, and become thoroughly acquainted {393} with every intricate
operation of nature, and with all the chemical changes that are
constantly going on around us! How delightful this would be, and what
a boundless field of truth and power is open for us to explore! We are
only just approaching the shores of the vast ocean of information that
pertains to this physical world, to say nothing of that which pertains
to the heavens, to angels and celestial beings, to the place of their
habitation, to the manner of their life, and their progress to still
higher degrees of perfection. 9:167.
Our education should be such as to improve our minds and fit us for
increased usefulness; to make us of greater service to the human
family; to enable us to stop our rude methods of living, speaking, and
thinking. 14:83.
Learn to be good for something. 11:298.
If we could only learn enough to be self-preserving and
self-sustaining, we should then have learned what the Gods have learned
before us, and what we must eventually learn before we can be exalted.
9:169.
Learn all you can. Learn how to raise calves, chickens, lambs, and all
kinds of useful fowls and animals; learn how to till the ground to the
best advantage for raising all useful products of the soil; and learn
how to manufacture molasses and sugar from the sugar-cane. Raise flax,
husbands, and let your wives learn to manufacture fine linen. 9:173.
Let the boys from ten to twenty years of age get up schools to learn
sword exercise, musket and rifle exercise, and, in short, every act
of war. Shall we need this knowledge? No matter; it is good to be
acquainted with this kind of exercise. 9:173.
If I could get my own feelings answered I would have law in our school
books, and have our youth study law at {394} school. Then lead their
minds to study the decisions and counsels of the just and the wise, and
not forever be studying how to get the advantage of their neighbor.
This is wisdom. 16:9.
I have a few things to lay before the Conference, one of which
is--and I think my brethren will agree with me that this is wise and
practicable--for from one to five thousand of our young and middle-aged
men to turn their attention to the study of law. I would not speak
lightly in the least of law, we are sustained by it; but what is called
the practice of law is not always the administration of justice, and
would not be so considered in many courts. 16:9.
Every Elder should have at least one trade, and if possible more than
one. 10:77.
I am happy to see our children engaged in the study and practice of
music. Let them be educated in every useful branch of learning, for
we, as a people, have in the future to excel the nations of the earth
in religion, science and philosophy. Great advancement has been made
in knowledge by the learned of this world, still there is yet much
to learn. The hidden powers of nature which give life, growth, and
existence to all things have not yet been approached by the wisdom of
this world. There exists around us, in the works of God, an everlasting
variety--no two leaves, no two blades of grass are alike. Natural
philosophy, so far as known, marks these phenomena of nature, and
reveals her wonders, but is incapable of revealing the modus operandi
of the production.
Let the children in our schools be taught everything that is necessary
with regard to doctrine and principle, and then how to live; and let
mothers teach their daughters regarding themselves, and how they
should live in their {395} sphere of existence, that they may be good
wives and good mothers. Let the sisters study economy in the labor
and management of their homes. I am satisfied that more than one-half
of the labor that is done in our houses can be saved by a judicious
exercise of thought and good judgment Then be wise in these things, and
we shall not need tea and coffee, or any other stimulant stronger than
our natural food. 12:122-123.
Study to apply your labor to advantage, and you will accomplish much
more, without wearing yourselves out so fast. If you have to roll
a log, cut down a tree, etc., study how to take advantage of the
work. Contrive to accomplish your work with the least expenditure of
strength. 8:297.
I would advise you to read books that are worth reading; read reliable
history, and search wisdom out of the best books you can procure. 9:173.
"Shall I sit down and read the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Book
of Covenants all the time?" says one. Yes, if you please, and when you
have done, you may be nothing but a sectarian after all. It is your
duty to study to know everything upon the face of the earth in addition
to reading those books. We should not only study good, and its effects
upon our race, but also evil, and its consequences. 2:93-94.
All men should study to learn the nature of mankind, and to discern
that divinity inherent in them. A spirit and power of research is
planted within, yet they remain undeveloped. 7:1.
Novel reading--is it profitable? I would rather that persons read
novels than read nothing. 9:173.
I hope to see the time when we shall have a reformation {396} in the
orthography of the English language, among this people, for it is
greatly needed. Such a reformation would be a great benefit, and would
make the acquirement of an education much easier than at present.
12:174.
I long for the time that a point of the finger, or motion of the hand,
will express every idea without utterance. When a man is full of the
light of eternity, then the eye is not the only medium through which he
sees, his ear is not the only medium by which he hears, nor the brain
the only means by which he understands. When the whole body is full
of the Holy Ghost, he can see behind him with as much ease, without
turning, his head, as he can see before him. If, you have not that
experience, you ought to have. It is not the optic nerve alone that
gives the knowledge of surrounding objects to the mind, but it is that
which God has placed in man--a system of intelligence that attracts
knowledge, as light cleaves to light, intelligence to intelligence, and
truth to truth. It is this which lays in man a proper foundation for
all education. I shall yet see the time that I can converse with this
people, and not speak to them, but the expression of my countenance
will tell the congregation what I wish to convey, without opening my
mouth.
_Religious Education_--We have established a school in Salt Lake
City for the instruction of the Elders of Israel in the doctrines which
are contained in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and book of Doctrine and
Covenants, etc., and that is also the place where questions may be
asked, and instructions given touching all doctrines and principles
that may be entertained by them. That is also the place where
correction may be given and explanations be made upon all matters which
pertain to the temporal and spiritual lives {397} of the Saints. It is
about two months since that school was established. 12:159.
We are starting the School of the Prophets. We have been in this
school all the time. The revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ to the
human family are all the learning we can ever possess. Much of this
knowledge is obtained from books, which have been written by men who
have contemplated deeply on various subjects, and the revelation of
Jesus have opened their minds, whether they knew it or acknowledged
it or not. We will start this School of the Prophets to increase in
knowledge. 12:1106.
There are a great many branches of education: some go to college to
learn languages, some to study law, some to study physic, and some to
study astronomy, and various other branches of science. We want every
branch of science taught in this place that is taught in the world.
But our favorite study is that branch which particularly belongs to
the Elders of Israel--namely, theology. Every Elder should become a
profound theologian--should understand this branch better than all the
world. 6:317.
The Christian world is actually coming to the point that they will
dismiss the Bible from their schools; and by and by they will dismiss
it from their pulpits and get one to suit themselves; they will hew out
for themselves cisterns that will hold no water. 13:213.
_Science and Religion_--I am not astonished that infidelity
prevails to a great extent among the inhabitants of the earth, for the
religious teachers of the people advance many ideas and notions for
truth which are in opposition to and contradict facts demonstrated by
science, and which are generally understood. You take, for instance,
our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has been in existence
{398} for thousands and millions of years. They think, and they have
good reason for their faith, that their researches and investigations
enable them to demonstrate that this earth has been in existence as
long as they assert it has; and they say, "If the Lord, as religionists
declare, made the earth out of nothing in six days, six thousand years
ago, our studies are all vain; but by what we can learn from nature
and the immutable laws of the Creator as revealed therein, we know
that your theories are incorrect and consequently we must reject your
religions as false and vain; we must be what you call infidels, with
the demonstrated truths of science in our possession; or, rejecting
those truths, become enthusiasts in, what you call, Christianity."
In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our
religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in
any particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is true
science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and
deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are;
they are facts--they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made this
earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never made
something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by which the
worlds were, are, or will exist. There is an eternity before us, and
it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the Lord and
his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and organized this
earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not for me to say,
and I do not care anything about it. As for the Bible account of the
creation we may say that the Lord gave it to Moses. If we understood
the process of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would
be all reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to {399}
the ignorant. This we know by what we have learned naturally since we
have had a being on the earth. We can now take a hymn book and read
its contents; but if we had never learned letters and knew nothing
about type or paper or their uses, and should take up a book and look
at it, it would be a great mystery; and still more so would it be to
see a person read line after line, and give expression therefrom to
the sentiments of himself or others. But this is no mystery to us now,
because we have learned our letters, and then learned to place those
letters into syllables, the syllables into words, and the words into
sentences.
Fifty or a hundred years ago, if any one had told the people of the
East Indies that water could be congealed, and form ice so thick
and hard that you could walk on and drive teams over it, they would
probably have said, "We do not believe a word of it." Why? Because they
did not know anything about it. A proper reply for all mankind to make
under similar circumstances would be, "We do not know anything about
what you say, and do not know whether we should have faith in it or
not. Perhaps we should, but we have no evidence at present on which to
found such a belief." You go down south here among some of our native
Indian tribes, where some of the very best of blankets are made, and
you will find them twisting their yarn with their fingers and little
sticks, and their loom attached to the limbs of trees for weaving
purposes. Show them a loom such as white people use, and it would be
a perfect mystery to them. Sixty or seventy years ago a loom worked
by water power would have been a mystery to an American, but there is
no mystery in that today, because the process is understood. So it is
with the East Indians and ice, for the chemist now, by a chemical {400}
process, will congeal the water and make ice of it before their eyes,
and it is in this way, by testimony, evidence, and demonstration that
ignorance and prejudice are removed, faith implanted and knowledge
acquired. It is so with regard to all the facts in existence that we do
not understand. 14:115.
There is no ingenious mind that has ever invented anything beneficial
to the human family but what he obtained it from the one Source,
whether he knows or believes it or not. There is only one Source whence
men obtain wisdom, and that is God, the Fountain of all wisdom; and
though men may claim to make their discoveries by their own wisdom, by
meditation and reflection, they are indebted to our Father in Heaven
for all. 13:148.
It has been observed here this morning that we are called fanatics.
Bless me! That is nothing. Who has not been called a fanatic who has
discovered anything new in philosophy or science? We have all read of
Galileo the astronomer, who, contrary to the system of astronomy that
had been received for ages before his day, taught that the sun, and
not the earth, was the center of our planetary system? For this the
learned astronomer was called "fanatic," and subjected to persecution
and imprisonment of the most rigorous character. So it has been with
others who have discovered and explained new truths in science and
philosophy which have been in opposition to long-established theories;
and the opposition they have encountered has endured until the truth of
their discoveries has been demonstrated by time. The term "fanatic" is
not applied to professors of religion only. How was it with Dr. Morse,
when shut up in the attic of an old building in Baltimore for more {401} than
a year, with a little wire stretched round the room, experimenting upon
it with his battery, he told a friend that by means of that he could
sit there and talk to Congress in Washington? Was he not considered
a fanatic, and wild, and crazy? Certainly he was; and so it was with
Robert Fulton, when he was conducting his experiments with steam and
endeavoring to apply it so as to propel a vessel through the water. And
all great discoverers in art, science, or mechanism have been denounced
as fanatics and crazy; and it has been declared by their contemporaries
that they did not know what they were saying, and they were thought to
be almost as wild and incoherent as the generality of the people now
think George Francis Train to be. 13:270.
How difficult it is to teach the natural man, who comprehends nothing
more than that which he sees with the natural eye! How hard it is
for him to believe! How difficult would be the task to make the
philosopher, who, for many years, has argued himself into the belief
that his spirit is no more after his body sleeps in the grave, believe
that his intelligence came from eternity, and is as eternal, in its
nature, as the elements, or as the Gods. Such doctrine by him would
be considered vanity and foolishness, it would be entirely beyond his
comprehension. It is difficult, indeed, to remove an opinion or belief
into which he has argued himself from the mind of the natural man. Talk
to him about angels, heavens, God, immortality, and eternal lives, and
it is like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal to his ears; it has no
music to him; there is nothing in it that charms his senses, soothes
his feelings, attracts his attention, or engages his affections, in the
least; to him it is all vanity. 1:2. {402}
True principles will abide, while all false principles will fall with
those who choose and cleave to them. 7:65.
We should seek substantial information, and trust little to that kind
of so-called learning that is based upon theory. We should pluck fruit
from the tree of knowledge, and taste, then shall our eyes be open to
see, our ears to hear and our hearts to understand. I would recommend
the same course to those who have not embraced and tasted the sweets
of "Mormonism." We should get wisdom by reading and by study. We
should introduce the best books into our schools for the education and
improvement of our children. Let our school teachers seek constantly to
fasten upon the young mind useful information, and banish from their
schools, every study that only tends to perplex the student and waste
his valuable time. 9:369.
_The Body and the Mind_--Some think too much, and should labor
more, others labor too much and should think more, and thus maintain
an equilibrium between the mental and physical members of the
individual; then you will enjoy health and vigor, will be active, and
ready to discern truly, and judge quickly. Men who do much thinking,
philosophers for instance, should apply their bodies to more manual
labor in order to make their bodies more healthy and their minds more
vigorous and active. 3:248.
_Studies in Sunday Schools_--We wish in our Sunday and day
schools, that they who are inclined to any particular branch of study
may have the privilege to study it. 13:61.
_Wisdom_--The person that applies his heart to wisdom, and seeks
diligently for understanding, will grow to be mighty in Israel. 3:363.
Let wisdom be sown in your hearts, and let it bring forth a bountiful
harvest. It is more profitable to you than {403} all the gold and
silver and other riches of earth. Let wisdom spring up in your hearts,
and cultivate it. 8:140.
After all our endeavors to obtain wisdom from the best books, etc.,
there still remains an open fountain for all; "If any man lack wisdom
let him ask of God." Let every Latter-day Saint constantly practice
himself in the performance of every good word and work, to acknowledge
God to be God, to be strict in keeping his laws, and learning to love
mercy, eschew evil and delight in constantly doing that which is
pleasing to God. This is the only sure way to obtain influence with God
and all good men. 9:370.
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. 9:250.
Who is it that understands wisdom before God? In some respects we have
to define it for ourselves--each for himself--according to our own
views, judgment and faith, and the observance of the Word of Wisdom or
the interpretation of God's requirements on this subject, must be left
partially, with the people. 14:20.
It is our privilege to be as wise in our generation as the children of
this world; and not only so, but it is our duty to be as wise in our
generation as the children of this world. We have the true light and
knowledge and we ought to know as much as the philosophical world, or
as any other people on the earth. We ought at least to know as much
about politics as do the political world, or as do any other people. I
expect that we do; and if we only apply our minds in the proper time
and channel, we know as much {404} about the Christian world as do
any other people, and we ought to know as much about the whole world
as do any other people. In fact, we ought to know more upon all those
matters than any other people; for we are privileged with far superior
advantages, through faith and obedience to the Gospel. 4:356.
We pray for wisdom, but God will as soon put bread and meat in our
cupboards without any endeavor of ours, as he will give us wisdom
without our trying to get it. If a man wants a farm, let him make it;
if he wishes an orchard he plants it; if he wants a house for his
family to live in, he must gather the materials and build it. He will
give us wisdom in these things, but he will not come down to do the
manual labor. 9:250.
This people are increasing in the wisdom which cometh from God, and
their power to organize the crude elements around them into the
necessaries of life is in ratio to their increase of intelligence and
application of labor. In this way we ought to understand these great
principles. We need not seek for a revelation to know how to make
cloth, when the mode is plainly marked before our eyes. Sheep produce
a textile material, and how to make it into cloth has been known time
out of mind; we can raise sheep in abundance. I do not look for power
from the heavens that will produce for us wool, cloth, iron, food, or
anything we need, without being made with hands. We should understand
what is required of us to sustain ourselves. 9:255.
It is the privilege of man to search out the wisdom of God pertaining
to the earth and the heavens. 9:242.
Real wisdom is a real pleasure; real wisdom, prudence, and
understanding, is a real comfort. 19:96.
I want our children to go and hear all there is to hear, {405} for the
whole sum of it will be wound up as I once heard one of the finest
speakers America has ever produced say, when speaking on the soul
of man. After laboring long on the subject, he straightened himself
up--he was a fine looking man--and, said he, "My brethren and sisters,
I must come to the conclusion that the soul of man is an immaterial
substance." Said I, "Bah!" 14:198. {406}