_WEALTH_
_Wealth Belongs to the Lord_--Earthly riches are concealed in
the elements God has given to man, and the essence of wealth is power
to organize from these elements every comfort and convenience of life
for our sustenance here, and for eternal existence hereafter. The
possession of all the gold and silver in the world would not satisfy
the cravings of the immortal soul of man. The gift of the Holy Spirit
of the Lord alone can produce a good, wholesome, contented mind.
Instead of looking for gold and silver, look to the heavens and try
to learn wisdom until you can organize the native elements for your
benefit; then, and not until then, will you begin to possess the true
riches. 10:35.
There is any amount of property, and gold and silver in the earth
and on the earth, and the Lord gives to this one and that one--the
wicked as well as the righteous--to see what they will do with it, but
it all belongs to him. He has handed over a goodly portion to this
people, and, through our faith, patience and industry, we have made
us good, comfortable homes here, and there are many who are tolerably
well off, and if they were in many parts of the world they would be
called wealthy. But it is not ours, and all we have to do is to try
and find out what the Lord wants us to do with what we have in our
possession, and then go and do it. If we step beyond this, or to the
right or to the left, we step into an illegitimate train of business.
Our legitimate business is to do what the Lord wants us to do with that
which he bestows upon us, and dispose of {469} it just as he dictates,
whether it is to give all, one-tenth, or the surplus. 16:10.
No person on the earth can truly call anything his own, and never
will until he has passed the ordeals we are all now passing, and has
received his body again in a glorious resurrection, to be crowned by
him who will be ordained and set apart to set a crown upon our heads.
Then will be given to us that which we now only seem to own, and we
will be forever one with the Father and the Son, and not until then.
9:106.
The elements are to be brought into shape and operation for the
benefit, happiness, beauty, excellency, glory, and exaltation of the
children of men that dwell upon the earth. 9:242.
_Uncertainty of Temporal Possessions_--Do you not know that the
possession of your property is like a shadow, or the dew of the morning
before the noonday sun, that you cannot have any assurance of its
control for a single moment! It is the unseen hand of Providence that
controls it. 1:114.
We cannot trust to the certainty of mortal possessions; they are
transitory, and a dependence upon them will plunge into hopeless
disappointment all those who trust in them. 2:122.
We should find that the things of this world called riches, are in
reality not riches. Wee should find they are like mirages to the
ignorant, mere phenomena to the inhabitants of the earth; to-day
they are, to-morrow they are not; they were, but now they are gone,
it is not known where. The earthly king upon his throne, who reigns
triumphantly over his subjects, is blasted, with all his kingdom, and
brought to naught at one breath of him who possesses true riches. Let
him who possesses the true riches say to the {470} elements around
that kingdom, "produce no wheat, nor oil, nor wine, but let there be a
famine upon that people," in such a circumstance where is the wealth of
that king, his power, his grandeur, and his crown? There is no bread,
no oil, there are no flocks, no herds, for they have perished upon the
plains, his wheat is blasted, and all his crops are mildewed. What good
does his wealth do him? His subjects are lying all around him lifeless
for want of bread; he may cry to them, but in vain; his wealth, power,
and influence have vanished, they are swept away like the flimsy fabric
of a cobweb. 1:266.
_The Sin of Covetousness_--How the Devil will play with a man who
so worships gain! 10:174.
I am more afraid of covetousness in our Elders than I ami of the hordes
of hell. 5:353.
Those who are covetous and greedy, anxious to grasp the whole world,
are all the time uneasy, and are constantly laying their plans and
contriving how to obtain this, that, and the other. 3:119.
Men are greedy for the vain things of this world. In their hearts they
are covetous. It is true that the things of this world are designed to
make us comfortable, and they make some people as happy as they can be
here; but riches can never make the Latter-day Saints happy. Riches of
themselves cannot produce permanent happiness; only the Spirit that
comes from above can do that. 7:135.
When I cast my eyes upon the inhabitants of the earth and see the
weakness, and I may say, the height of folly in the hearts of the
kings, rulers, and the great, and those who should be wise and good
and noble; when I see them grovelling in the dust; longing, craving,
desiring, contending for the things of this life, I think, O foolish
men, to set {471} your hearts on the thing's of this life! To-day they
are seeking after the honors and glories of the world, and by the time
the sun is hidden by the western mountains the breath is gone out
of their nostrils, they sink to their mother earth. Where are their
riches then? Gone forever. As Job says, "Naked I came into the world."
Destitute and forlorn, they have to travel a path that is untried and
unknown to them, and wend their way into the spirit world. They know
not where they are going nor for what. The designs of the Creator are
hidden from their eyes; darkness, ignorance, mourning and groaning
take hold of them and they pass into eternity. And this is the end of
them concerning this life as far as they know. A man or a woman who
places the wealth of this world and the things of time in the scales
against the things of God and the wisdom of eternity, has no eyes to
see, no ears to hear, no heart to understand. What are riches for? For
blessings, to do good. Then let us dispense that which the Lord gives
us to the best possible use for the building up of his Kingdom, for
the promotion of the truth on the earth, that we may see and enjoy the
blessings of the Zion of God here upon this earth. I look around among
the world of mankind and see them grabbing, scrambling, contending,
and every one seeking to aggrandize himself, and to accomplish his
own individual purposes, passing the community by, walking upon the
heads of his neighbors--all are seeking, planning, contriving in their
wakeful hours, and when asleep dreaming, "How can I get the advantage
of my neighbor? How can I spoil him, that I may ascend the ladder of
fame?" This is entirely a mistaken idea. You see that nobleman seeking
the benefit of all around him, trying to bring, we will say, his
servants, if you please, his tenants, to his knowledge, to {472} like
blessings that he enjoys, to dispense his wisdom and talent among them
and to make them equal with himself. As they ascend and increase, so
does he, and he is in the advance. All eyes are upon that king or that
nobleman, and the feelings of those around him are, "God bless him! How
I love him! How I delight in him! He seeks to bless and to fill me with
joy, to crown my labors with success, to give me comfort, that I may
enjoy the world as well as himself." But the man who seeks honor and
glory at the expense of his fellow-men is not worthy of the society of
the intelligent. 15:18.
I hope to see the day when there will be no such thing as one man
taking usury from another. 13:92.
_True Riches_--There is no such thing as a man being truly rich
until he has power over death, hell, the grave, and him that hath the
power of death, which is the Devil. For what are the riches, the wealth
possessed by the inhabitants of the earth? Why, they are a phantom, a
mere shadow, a bubble on the wave, that bursts with the least breath
of air. Suppose I possessed millions on millions of wealth of every
description I could think of or ask for, and I took a sudden pain in
my head, which threw me entirely out of my mind, and baffled the skill
of the most eminent physicians, what good would that money do me, in
the absence of the power to say to that pain, "Depart"? But suppose I
possessed power to say to the pain, "Go thou to the land from whence
thou comest;" and say, "Come, health, and give strength to my body;"
and when I want death, to say, "Come you, for I have claim upon you, a
right, a warranty deed, for this body must be dissolved;" says death,
"I want it, to prey upon;" but again I can say to death, "Depart from
me, thou canst not touch me;" would I not be {473} rich indeed? How is
it now? Let the slightest accident come upon one of the human family,
and they are no more. Do we then possess true riches in this state? We
do not. 1:271.
To possess this world's goods is not in reality wealth, it is not
riches, it is nothing more nor less than that which is common to all
men, to the just and the unjust, to the Saint and to the sinner. The
sun rises upon the evil and the good; the Lord sends his rain upon the
just and upon the unjust; this is manifest before our eyes, and in our
daily experience. Old King Solomon, the wise man, says, the race is not
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither riches to men of
wisdom. The truth of this saying comes within our daily observation.
Those whom we consider swift are not always the ones that gain the
mastery in the race, but those who are considered not so fleet, or not
fleet at all, often gain the prize. It is, I may say, the unseen hand
of Providence, that over-ruling power that controls the destinies of
men and nations, that so ordains these things. The weak, trembling, and
feeble, are the ones frequently who gain the battle; and the ignorant,
foolish, and unwise will blunder into wealth. This is all before us, it
is the common lot of man; in short, I may say, it is the philosophical
providence of a philosophical world. 1:267.
_Gold is Not Wealth_--What use is gold when you get enough to eat,
drink, and wear without it? 1:250.
There is no happiness in gold, not the least. It is very convenient
as an article of exchange, in purchasing what we need; and instead
of finding comfort and happiness in gold, you exchange it to obtain
happiness, or that which may conduce to it. There is no real wealth in
gold. People talk about being wealthy--about being rich; but place the
{474} richest banking company in the world upon a barren rock, with
their gold piled around them, with no possible chance of exchanging it,
and destitute of the creature comforts, and they would be poor indeed.
Where then is their joy, their comfort, their great wealth? They have
none. 8:168.
True wealth consists in the skill to produce conveniences and comforts
from the elements. All the power and dignity that wealth can bestow
is a mere shadow, the substance is found in the bone and sinew of the
toiling millions. Well directed labor is the true power that supplies
our wants. It gives regal grandeur to potentates, education and
supplies to religious and political ministers, and supplies the wants
of the thousands of millions of earth's sons and daughters. There are
conditions and panics in society that all the power of earthly wealth
cannot avert. 10:189.
It has been supposed that wealth gives power. In a depraved state
of society, in a certain sense it does, if opening a wide field for
unrighteous monopolies, by which the poor are robbed and oppressed
and the wealthy are more enriched, is power. In a depraved state of
society money can buy positions and titles, can cover up a multitude
of incapabilities, can open wide the gates of fashionable society to
the lowest and most depraved of human beings; it divides society into
castes without any reference to goodness, virtue or truth. It is made
to pander to the most brutal passions of the human soul; it is made to
subvert every wholesome law of God and man, and to trample down every
sacred bond that should tie society together in a national, municipal,
domestic and every other relationship. Wealth thus used is used out of
its legitimate channel. 10:3.
_How to Become Wealthy_--When men act upon the {475} principles
which will secure to them eternal salvation, they are sure of obtaining
all their hearts' desire, sooner or later; if it does not come today,
it may come tomorrow; if it does not come in this time, it will in the
next. 2:122.
I am not for hoarding up gold and other property to lie useless, I wish
to put everything to a good use. I never keep a dollar lying idly by
me, for I wish all the means to be put into active operation. 3:160.
I can witness one fact, and so can others, that by paying attention to
the building up of the Kingdom of God alone we have got rich in the
things of this world; and if any man can tell how we can get rich in
any other way, he can do more than I can. We leave our business and our
families and go out to preach the peaceable things of the Kingdom, and
pay attention to that, never thinking of our business or our families,
except when we ask the Lord to bless our families in common with all
the families of the Saints everywhere. 11:116.
Do you want wealth? If you do, do not be in a hurry. Do you want the
riches pertaining to this world? Yes, we acknowledge we do. Then, be
calm, contented, composed; keep your pulses correct, do not let them
get up to a hundred and twenty, but keep them as high as you can,
ranging from seventy to seventy-six; and when there is an appointment
for a meeting be sure to attend that meeting. If there is to be a
two-days' meeting, come to it; spend the time here and learn what is
going on. Watch closely, hear every word that is spoken, let every
heart be lifted to God for wisdom, and know and understand every word
of prophecy, every revelation that may be given, every counsel that may
be presented to the people, that you may be able to weigh, measure,
comprehend and decide between {476} that which is of God and that which
is not of God. Refuse the evil, learn wisdom, and grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the truth. 15:35.
The course pursued by men of business in the world has a tendency to
make a few rich, and to sink the masses of the people in poverty and
degradation. 11:348.
This is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints today. Stop,
do not be in a hurry. I do not know that I could find a man in our
community but what wishes wealth, would like to have everything in his
possession that would conduce to his comfort and convenience. Do you
know how to get it? "Well," replies one, "if I do not, I wish I did;
but I do not seem to be exactly fortunate--fortune is somewhat against
me." I will tell you the reason of this--you are in too much of a
hurry; you do not go to meeting enough, you do not pray enough, you do
not read the Scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all
the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that you do not know what to
do first. This is not the way to get rich. I merely use the term "rich"
to lead the mind along, until we obtain eternal riches in the celestial
kingdom of God. Here we wish for riches in a comparative sense, we wish
for the comforts of life. If we desire them let us take a course to get
them. Let me reduce this to a simple saying--one of the most simple and
homely that can be used--"Keep your dish right side up," so that when
the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full. 15:36.
These are a few words of consolation to the brethren who wish to keep
their riches, and with them I promise you leanness of soul, darkness of
mind, narrow and contracted hearts, and the bowels of your compassion
will be shut up, and by and by you will be overcome with the spirit
{477} of apostasy and forsake your God and your brethren. 12:127.
My policy is to get rich; I am a miser in eternal things. Do I want to
become rich in the things of this earth? Yes, if the Lord wishes me to
have such riches, and I can use them to good advantage. My policy is to
keep every man, woman, and child busily employed, that they may have no
idle time for hatching mischief in the night, and for making plans to
accomplish their own ruin. 2:144.
I told you the other day what makes me rich, it is the labor of those
whom I feed and clothe; still I do not feel that I have a dollar
in the world that is my own, it is the Lord's and he has made me a
steward over it; and if I can know where the Lord is pleased to have it
appropriated, there it shall go. 3:118.
One-third or one-fourth of the time that is spent to procure a living
would be sufficient, if your labor were rightly directed. People think
they are going to get rich by hard work--by working sixteen hours out
of the twenty-four; but it is not so. A great many of our brethren can
hardly spend time to go to meeting. Six days is more time than we need
to labor. 8:355.
The great majority of men and women do not know how to take care of
themselves. Let me refer the whole of you to a circumstance in Winter
Quarters. We left Nauvoo in February, 1846, made our own roads through
Iowa, except some 40 or 50 miles, built bridges, cut down timber,
turned out 500 men to go to Mexico, came this side of the Missouri
river, and there wintered. How did you live there? Do you know how
you got anything to eat? Brethren came to me, saying, "We must go to
Missouri. Can we not take our families and go to Missouri and get
work?" Do you know, to this day, how you lived? I will tell you, and
then {478} you will remember it. I had not five dollars in money to
start with; but I went to work and built a mill, which we knew we
should want only for a few months, that cost 3,600 dollars. I gave
notice that I would employ every man and pay him for his labor. If
I had a sixpence, I turned it into 25 cents; and a half-bushel of
potatoes I turned into half-a-bushel of wheat. How did I do that? By
faith. I went to Brother Neff, who had just come in the place, and
asked him for and received 2,600 dollars, though he did not know where
the money was going. He kept the mill another year, and it died on his
hands. I say, God bless him forever! for it was the money he brought
from Pennsylvania that preserved thousands of men, women, and children
from starving. I handled and dictated it, and everything went off
smoothly and prosperously. 6:173.
Shall I give you my ideas in brief with regard to business and business
transactions? Here for instance, a merchant comes to our neighborhood
with a stock of goods; he sells them at from two to ten hundred per
cent, above what they cost. As a matter of course he soon becomes
wealthy, and after a time he will be called a millionaire, when perhaps
he was not worth a dollar when he commenced to trade. You will hear
many say of such person, what a nice man he is, and what a great
financier he is! My feeling of such a man is, he is a great cheat, a
deceiver, a liar! He imposes on the people, he takes that which does
not belong to him, and is a living monument of falsehood. Such a man is
not a financier! The financier is he that brings the lumber from the
canyons and shapes it for the use of his fellowman, employing mechanics
and laborers to produce from the elements and the crude material
everything necessary for the sustenance and comfort of man; {479} one
who builds tanneries to work up the hides instead of letting them rot
and waste or be sent out of the country to be made into leather and
then brought back in the shape of boots and shoes; and that can take
the wool, the furs and straw and convert the same into cloth, into
hats and bonnets, and that will plant out mulberry trees and raise the
silk, and thus give employment to men, women and children, as you have
commenced to do here, bringing the elements into successful use for
the benefit of man, and reclaiming a barren wilderness, converting it
into a fruitful field, making it to blossom as the rose; such a man I
would call a financier, a benefactor of his fellow man. But the great
majority of men who have amassed great wealth have done it at the
expense of their fellows. 19:97.
_Wealth Must Be Used_--Few men know what to do with riches when
they possess them. 1:250.
You know very well that it is against my doctrine and feelings for men
to scrape together the wealth of the world and let it waste and do no
good. 9:186.
Then do not hoard up your gold; if you do, it will canker, but put out
every dollar to usury. Instead of your souls being bound up in your
cattle and other property, put it all where it should be placed for the
benefit of the Kingdom of God on earth and for his glory. 9:191.
A man has no right with property, which, according to the laws of the
land, legally belongs to him, if he does not want to use it; he ought
to possess no more than he can put to usury, and cause to do good to
himself and his fellowman. When will a man accumulate money enough to
justify him in salting it down, or, in other words, laying it away in
the chest, to lock it up, there to lie, doing no manner of good either
to himself or his neighbor. It is {480} impossible for a man ever to do
it. No man should keep money or property by him that he cannot put to
usury for the advancement of that property in value or amount, and for
the good of the community in which he lives; if he does, it becomes a
dead weight upon him. Every man who has got cattle, money, or wealth of
any description, bone and sinew, should put it out to usury. If a man
has the arm, body, head, the component parts of a system to constitute
him a laboring man, and has nothing in the world to depend upon but his
hands, let him put them to usury. Never hide up anything in a napkin,
but put it forth to bring an increase. If you have got property of any
kind, that you do not know what to do with, lay it out in making a
farm, or building a saw mill or a woolen factory, and go to with your
mights to put all your property to usury.
If you have more oxen and other cattle than you need, put them in the
hands of other men, and receive their labor in return, and put that
labor where it will increase your property value. 1:252.
If a man comes in the midst of this people with money, let him use
it in beautifying his inheritance in Zion, and in increasing his
capital by thus putting out his money to usury. Let him go and make a
great farm, and stock it well, and fortify all around with a good and
efficient fence. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his money.
Then let him cut it up into fields, and adorn it with trees, and build
a fine house upon it. What for? Why for the purpose of spending his
money. What will he do when his money is gone? The money thus spent,
with a wise and prudent hand, is in a situation to accumulate and
increase a hundred-fold. When he has done making his farm, and his
means still increase by his diligent use of it, he can {481} then
commence and build a woolen factory for instance; he can send and buy
the sheep and have them brought here, and have them herded here, and
shear them here, and take care of them, then set the boys and girls
to cleaning, carding, spinning, and weaving the wool into cloth, and
thus employ hundreds and thousands of the brethren and sisters who have
come from the manufacturing districts of the old country, and have not
been accustomed to dig in the earth for their livelihood, who have
not learned anything else but to work in the factory. This would feed
them and clothe them, and put within their reach the comforts of life;
it would also create at home a steady market for the produce of the
agriculturist, and the labor of the mechanic. 1:253.
_Wealth Brings Happiness Only When Used for the Gospel_--All the
real business we have on hand is to promote our religion. 4:355.
If you come naked and barefooted (I would not care if you had naught
but a deer skin around you when you arrive here), and bring your God
and your religion, you are a thousand times better than if you come
with wagon loads of silver and gold and left your God behind. 4:204.
If, by industrious habits and honorable dealings, you obtain thousands
or millions, little or much, it is your duty to use all that is put in
your possession, as judiciously as you have knowledge, to build up the
Kingdom of God on the earth. 4:29.
If we are destroyed through the possession of wealth, it will be
because we destroy ourselves. If we possessed hundreds of millions of
coin, and devoted that means to building up the Kingdom of God and
doing good to his creatures, with an eye single to his glory, we would
be as much blessed and as much entitled to salvation as the poor {482}
beggar that begs from door to door; the faithful rich man is as much
entitled to the revelations of Jesus Christ as is the faithful poor
man. 10:300.
We must watch and pray, and look well to our walk and conversation, and
live near to our God, that the love of this world may not choke the
precious seed of truth, and feel ready, if necessary, to offer up all
things, even life itself, for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. 11:111.
Look out, ye men of Israel, and be careful that you love not the
world or the things of the world in their present state, and in your
loftiness and pride, forget the Lord your God. We ought to care no more
for the silver and the gold, and the property that is so much sought
for by the wicked world, than for the soil or the gravel upon which we
tread. 11:18.
I do not care what becomes of the things of this world, of the gold, of
the silver, of the houses and of the lands, so we have power to gather
the House of Israel, redeem Zion, and establish the Kingdom of God on
the earth. I would not give a cent for all the rest. True, these things
which the Lord bestows upon us are for our comfort, for our happiness
and convenience, but everything must be devoted to the upbuilding of
the Kingdom of God on the earth. 3:361.
It is thought by many that the possession of gold and silver will
produce for them happiness, and, hence, thousands hunt the mountains
for the precious metals; in this they are mistaken. The possession
of wealth alone does not produce happiness, although it will produce
comfort, when it can be exchanged for the essentials and luxuries of
life. When wealth is obtained by purloining, or in any other unfair
and dishonorable way, fear of detection and punishment {483} robs the
possessor of all human happiness. When wealth is honorably obtained by
man, still the possession of it is embittered by the thought that death
will soon strip them of it and others will possess it. What hopes have
they in the future, after they get through with this sorrowful world?
They know nothing about the future; they see nothing but death and
hell. Solid comfort and unalloyed joy are unknown to them. 11:15.
Men and women who are trying to make themselves happy in the possession
of wealth or power will miss it, for nothing short of the Gospel of the
Son of God can make the inhabitants of the earth happy, and prepare
them to enjoy heaven here and hereafter. 11:329.
It matters little, though we have many times left our houses and other
possessions, having been driven from them by our enemies; for the
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the gold and the silver
they are taking from the earth are all in his hands to dispose of at
his pleasure. He sets up kingdoms and casts them down at his pleasure.
The fulness of the earth is in his hands, but it cannot be enjoyed, in
the full sense of the term, without enjoying it in connection with his
Kingdom. 8:161-2.
Though I possessed millions of money and property, that does not excuse
me from performing the labor that it is my calling to perform, so far
as I have strength and ability, any more than the poorest man in the
community is excused. The more we are blessed with means, the more we
are blessed with responsibility; the more we are blessed with wisdom
and ability, the more we are placed under the necessity of using that
wisdom and ability in the spread of righteousness, the subjugation of
sin and misery, and the amelioration of the condition of mankind. The
man that {484} has only one talent and the man that has five talents
have responsibility accordingly. If we have a world of means, we have a
world of responsibility. If we have an eternity of knowledge, we shall
have an eternity of business to transact and to occupy every particle
of the knowledge bestowed upon us. 9:172.
_Some Dangers of Wealth_--The question will not arise with the
Lord, nor with the messengers of the Almighty, how much wealth a man
has got, but how has he come by this wealth and what will he do with
it? 11:294.
If the Lord ever revealed anything to me, he has shown me that the
Elders of Israel must let speculation alone and attend to the duties
of their calling, otherwise they will have little or no power in their
missions or upon their return. 8:179.
The Latter-day Saints who turn their attention to money-making soon
become cold in their feelings toward the ordinances of the house of
God. They neglect their prayers, become unwilling to pay any donations;
the law of tithing gets too great a task for them; and they finally
forsake their God, and the providences of heaven seem to be shut from
them--all in consequence of this lust after the things of this world,
which will certainly perish in handling, and in their use they will
fade away and go from us. 18:213.
If I had only seen in my young days an interest manifested by those
who had wealth, power and influence to reach down a hand to take
the suffering, ignorant poor and elevate them to the standard they
occupied, and to place them in possession of every comfort, it would
have been a matter of great joy to me. But it was not so then, neither
is it now. Men generally use their wealth for selfish purposes, {485}
and do not seek to devote it to God and to the glory of his name.
13:147.
Do not be anxious to have this people become rich, and possess the
affection of the world. I have been fearful lest we come to fellowship
the world. 10:298.
Some say, "If we had a gold mine, we would do well." If I knew where
there was a gold mine, I would not tell you. I do not want you to find
one, and I do not mean that you shall; or, if you do, it shall be over
my faith. We have gold enough in the world, and it is all the Lord's,
and we do not deserve more than we get. Let us make good use of that,
and send out the Elders. 8:204.
I would as soon see a man worshiping a little god made of brass or of
wood as to see him worship his property. 6:196.
Never pray for riches; do not entertain such a foolish thought. In my
deep poverty, when I knew not where I could procure the next morsel of
food for myself and family, I have prayed God to open the way that I
might get something to keep myself and family from dying. Those who do
more than this are off, more or less, from the track that leads to life
eternal. 7:138.
We are the greatest speculators in the world. We have the greatest
speculation on hand that can be found in all the earth. I never denied
being a speculator. I never denied being a miser, or of feeling eager
for riches; but some men will chase a picayune five thousand miles when
I would not turn round for it, and yet we are preachers of the same
Gospel, and brethren in the same Kingdom of God. You may consider this
is a little strong; but the speculation I am after, is to exchange
this world, which, in its present state, passes away, for a world that
is eternal {486} and unchangeable, for a glorified world filled with
eternal riches, for the world that is made an inheritance for the Gods
of eternity. 1:326.
_The Poor_--The poor are the people of God, and they shall inherit
the earth. 8:186.
The Gospel of life and salvation does not reduce those who obey it to
beggary; but it takes the poor and the ignorant, makes them wise and
happy, and surrounds them with the comforts of life and everything
desirable, and teaches them to serve God with all their hearts. 14:121.
If a man comes to me and says he is out of food, what of that? He is
out of food; that is all. If a man comes along and says, "My family is
destitute of food and clothing," what of that? Simply that they are
destitute of food and clothing, and still they may be gentlemen and
ladies, for all that, and be honoring their tabernacles and being on
the earth.
The customs of the world have made it degrading to ask for food, but
it is not, when a person cannot honestly procure it in any other way.
The man who is hungry and destitute has as good a right to my food as
any other person, and I should feel as happy in associating with him,
if he had a good heart, as with those who have an abundance, or with
the princes of the earth. They all are esteemed by me, not according to
the wealth and position they hold, but according to the character they
have. 3:245.
The Lord's poor do not forget their covenants, while the Devil's poor
pay no regard to their promises. 3:2.
What causes poverty among this people? It is the want of discretion,
calculation, sound judgment. I am paying men more or less by the day,
and where do you see those who get the least wages? Seated back in the
barber's chair {487} three or four times a week. Next at a store to get
a box of blacking to put upon fifteen dollar boots, if they can get
them. They must have four or five dollar handkerchiefs, as fine things
for their wives and children, and as much in quantity as any other man
has. At the end of the year there are two or three hundred dollars on
the debit side of their accounts. 9:297.
Let the poor, those who have to depend upon their brethren for bread,
after they have done all they can to obtain it themselves be thankful,
and take no more than they require to use in a frugal manner. 3:375.
The poor are filled with idolatry as well as the rich, and covet the
means of those who have helped them; the rich also have the same spirit
of idolatry, and stick to what they have. Let the poor be honest, let
the rich be liberal, and lay their plans to assist the poor, to build
up the Kingdom of God, and at the same time enrich themselves, for that
is the way to build up God's Kingdom. 3:6.
Poor men, or poor women, who have nothing, and covet that which is
not their own, are just as wicked in their hearts, as the miserly man
who hoards up his gold and silver, and will not put it out to use. I
wish the poor to understand, and act as they would wish others to act
towards them in like circumstances. 2:52.
If the poor had all the surplus property of the rich many of them would
waste it on the lusts of the flesh, and destroy themselves in using
it. For this reason the Lord does not require the rich to give all
their substance to the poor. It is true that when the young man came to
Jesus to know what he must do to be saved, he told him, finally, "sell
all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven, and come, follow me;" and a great {488} many think
that he told the young man to give away all that he had, but Jesus
did not require any such thing, neither did he say so, but simply,
"distribute to the poor." If the poor knew what to do with what they
have many, yea very many, in this land would have all that is necessary
to make them comfortable. 13:302.
If they had the privilege of dictating the affairs of this people, or
of any other, they would divide the substance of the rich among the
poor, and make all what they call equal. But the question would arise
with me at once, how long would they remain equal? Make the rich and
the poor of this community, or of any other, equal by the distribution
of their earthly substance, and how long would it be before a certain
portion of them would be calling upon the other portion, for something
with which to sustain themselves? The cry would soon be--"I have no
bread, no house, no team, no farm; I have nothing." And in a very few
years, at the most, large properties would thus pass from the hands of
such individuals, and would be distributed among those who know how to
accumulate wealth and to preserve it when accumulated. 12:56.
It is a disgrace to every man and woman that has sense enough to live,
not to take care of their own relatives, their own poor, and plan for
them to do something they are able to do. 8:145. {489}