Joseph F. Smith (remember the “F”) was not only the son of Hyrum Smith, but an important leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his own right, whose quotes are important, even today. He was known for his focus on Church organization and the cosmology of the afterlife and the resurrection, as well as for laying the foundations for the systematic theology that would later be expressed through his son (Joseph Fielding Smith) and his grandson-in-law (Bruce R. McConkie). Much like the Dallin H. Oaks Quotes page, this page is a curated collection of quotes dealing with topics ranging from advice to the priesthood, the scriptures, and more.
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Table of Contents
- Advice
- Afterlife and Resurrection
- Caring for Those in Need
- Community and Friendship
- Doctrine
- Faith
- Family
- Jesus Christ
- Holy Ghost
- Humanity
- Mortal Life
- Prayer
- Priesthood
- Repentance
- Scripture
Advice from Joseph F. Smith
Avoid Debt
Get out of debt as fast as you can, and keep out of debt.
In Conference Report, April 1915, 11.
Teach Children to Work
Let the parents in Zion give their children something to do that they may be taught the arts of industry, and equipped to carry responsibility when it is thrust upon them. Train them in some useful vocation that their living may be assured when they commence in life for themselves. Remember, the Lord has said that “the idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer,” but all in Zion should be industrious [see D&C 42:42].
Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 52 (January 1917): 19–20.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About the Afterlife and Resurrection
Death is a Transition to Life
There is one mighty consolation for those who have drunk at the fountain of light and truth in the contemplation of the change which is called death. We know that it is but the transition from mortality to immortality, from death unto life! That the dead, both great and small shall live gain. … Death is regarded as a release from suffering and pain, to the pure and innocent, preparatory to the possession of a fulness of joy, in a happy reunion, a joyous meeting of father, mother, son, daughter, husband and wife, parents and children, kindred and friends in the glorious court of Father’s mansion.
Henry P. Richards papers, 1854-1900; CORRESPONDENCE; Joseph F. Smith letter, Liverpool, to Henry P. Richards, 1874 January 28; Church History Library.
We Are Surrounded by Heavenly Beings
I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. We begin to realize more and more fully, as we become acquainted with the principles of the Gospel, as they have been revealed anew in this dispensation, that we are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world.
We cannot forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break, that we can not dissolve or free ourselves from. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend better than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and to wrong doing; hence their solicitude for us and their love for us and their desire for our well being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.
In Conference Report, April 1916, 2–3.
We Will Look the Same After Resurrection
What a glorious thought it is, to me at least, and it must be to all who have conceived of the truth or received it in their hearts, that those from whom we have to part here, we will meet again and see as they are. We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh— not some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence, even to the wounds in the flesh. Not that a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects or infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper time, according to the merciful providence of God. Deformity will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning.
Joseph F. Smith, “Speech at the funeral services of Rachel Grant,” Improvement Era, Vol 12 (June, 1909): 592.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Caring for Those in Need
A Religion Needs to Offer Both Temporal and Eternal Salvation
It has always been a cardinal teaching with the Latter-day Saints, that a religion which has not the power to save people temporally and make them prosperous and happy here, cannot be depended upon to save them spiritually, to exalt them in the life to come.
“The Truth about Mormonism,” Out West: A Magazine of the Old Pacific and the New, Sept. 1905, 242.
Love is the Greatest Principle
Charity, or love, is the greatest principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it.
In Conference Report, April 1917, 4.
Fasting Helps Provide for the Poor
We submit the equitable fast-day plan of the Lord to the churches of the world as a wise and systematic way of providing for the poor. … It would be a simple matter for people to comply with this requirement to abstain from food and drink one day each month, and to dedicate what would be consumed during that day to the poor, and as much more as they pleased.
The Lord has instituted this law; it is simple and perfect, based on reason and intelligence, and would not only prove a solution to the question of providing for the poor, but it would result in good to those who observe the law. It would call attention to the sin of over-eating, place the body in subjection to the spirit, and so promote communion with the Holy Ghost, and ensure a spiritual strength and power which the people of the nation so greatly need. As fasting should always be accompanied by prayer, this law would bring the people nearer to God, and divert their minds once a month at least, from the mad rush of worldly affairs and cause them to be brought into immediate contact with practical, pure and undefiled religion—to visit the fatherless and the widow, and keep themselves unspotted from the sins of the world.
“Editor’s Table,” Improvement Era, Vol. 10, No. 10 (August 1907): 831–833.
Respect All Humankind
Our children should be taught to respect not only their fathers and their mothers, and their brothers and sisters, but they should be taught to respect all mankind, and especially should they be instructed and taught and brought up to honor the aged and the infirm, the unfortunate and the poor, the needy, and those who lack the sympathies of mankind.
“Children’s Rights: Respect for the Sacred,” Juvenile Instructor, Vol 39, No. 21 (November 1, 1904): 657.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Community and Friendship
We Work Together
There is no such thing in the science of life as a man laboring exclusively for himself. We are not intended to be alone in time nor in eternity. Each individual is a unit in the household of faith, and each unit must feel his or her proportion of the responsibility that devolves upon the whole. Each individual must be diligent in performing his duty.
Sermon, Sunday, June 12, 1898.
Helping Others is Greatness
The test … of our soul’s greatness is … to be sought in our ability to comfort and console, our ability to help others, rather than in our ability to help ourselves and crowd others down in the struggle of life.
Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 38, No. 6 (March 15, 1903): 179.
Help Others
We should always aim to help [others] to victory—not to defeat them!
Joseph F. Smith to his son Hyrum M. Smith, 31 July 1896, in Truth and Courage: Letters of Joseph F. Smith, ed. Joseph Fielding McConkie (n.d.): 52.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Doctrine
Adam-God Theory
The [Adam-God] Doctrine was never submitted to the Councils of the Priesthood, nor to the Church for approval or ratification and was never formally or otherwise accepted by the Church. It is therefore in no sense binding upon the Church nor upon the consciences of any of the members thereof
January 9, 1897, Joseph F. Smith, to Alfred Saxey.
Avoid the Mysteries
It is certainly unwise for the Elders or any other member of the Church to advocate doctrines that are not clearly set forth in the revealed word of God, and concerning which, in consequence, difference of opinion exist. No good can come from it, but on the contrary, much evil may result. Had the Lord desired or designed that such doctrines should be promulgated, He would have clearly and fully defined them, as he has those beautiful and simple laws and ordinances known) as “the first principles of the Gospel.” …
What is called the Adam God doctrine may properly be classed among the mysteries. The full truth concerning it has not been revealed to us; and until it is revealed all wild speculations, sweeping assertions and dogmatic declarations relative thereto, are out of place and improper. We disapprove of them and especially the public expression of such views.
Joseph F. Smith, letter to Edward Bunker, February 27, 1902, Joseph F. Smith papers, 1854-1918, MS 1325, Church History Library.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Faith
Faith in Christ is Foundational
Our faith in Jesus Christ lies at the foundation of our religion, the foundation of our hope for remission of sins, and for exaltation after death, and for the resurrection from death to everlasting life. Our faith in the doctrines that have been restored through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith confirms and strengthens us and establishes beyond a question or doubt, our faith and belief in the divine mission of the Son of God.
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1998, 2011), 51.
Belief Leads to Works
Belief in Jesus is well and good, but it must be of a living kind which induces the believer to work out his own salvation, and to aid others to do the same.
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1998, 2011), 53.
Obedience is the First Law
Obedience is the first law of heaven.
Discourse October 7, 1873, Journal of Discourses 16:247–248.
Testimony Comes Gradually
As a boy … I would frequently … ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line … , until He made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did He have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the spirit of the living God, He gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power He will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them, and it will make them to know the truth, as God knows it, and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it. And no amount of marvelous manifestations will ever accomplish this.
In Conference Report, April 1900, 40–41.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Family
The Temple of the Family
The typical “Mormon” home is the temple of the family, in which the members of the household gather morning and evening, for prayer and praise to God, offered in the name of Jesus Christ. … Here are taught and gently enforced, the moral precepts and religious truths, which, taken together, make up that righteousness which exalteth a nation, and ward off that sin which is a reproach to any people.
In Conference Report, April 1907, 3–16.
Eternal Marriage
To the Latter-day Saints, marriage is not designed by our heavenly Father to be merely an earthly union, but one that shall survive the vicissitudes of time, and endure for eternity.
In Conference Report, April 1907, 3–16.
Family Home Evening
We counsel the Latter-day Saints to observe more closely the commandment of the Lord given in the 68th section of the Doctrine and Covenants (25–28):
“And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.” …
These revelations apply with great force to the Latter-day Saints, and it is required of fathers and mothers in this Church that these commandments shall be taught and applied in their homes.
To this end we advise and urge the inauguration of a “Home Evening” throughout the Church, at which time fathers and mothers may gather their boys and girls about them in the home and teach them the word of the Lord. They may thus learn more fully the needs and requirements of their families; at the same time familiarizing themselves and their children more thoroughly with the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This “Home Evening” should be devoted to prayer, singing hymns, songs, instrumental music, scripture-reading, family topics and specific instruction on the principles of the gospel, and on the ethical problems of life, as well as the duties and obligations of children to parents, the home, the Church, society and the nation. For the smaller children appropriate recitations, songs, stories and games may be introduced. Light refreshments of such a nature as may be largely prepared in the home might be served. …
These gatherings will furnish opportunities for mutual confidence between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, as well as give opportunity for words of warning, counsel and advice by parents to their boys and girls. They will provide opportunity for the boys and girls to honor father and mother, and to show their appreciation of the blessings of home so that the promise of the Lord to them may be literally fulfilled and their lives be prolonged and made happy.
Improvement Era, vol. 18 (June, 1915): 733–734.
Don’t Spoil Children
It is very gratifying to parents to be able to respond to the desires of their children, but it is undoubtedly a cruelty to a child to give it everything it asks for.
Juvenile Instructor Vol. 38, No. 13 (July 1, 1903): 400.
Serve at Your Home
There is no happiness without service, and there is no service greater than that which converts the home into a divine institution, and which promotes and preserves family life.
Juvenile Instructor Vol. 38 (March 1, 1903): 145–146.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Jesus Christ
Jesus Redeems All
Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission.
Funeral Sermon, April 11, 1878, Journal of Discourses, 19:265.
The Atonement Overcomes the Fall
Death came upon us without the exercise of our agency; we had no hand in bringing it originally upon ourselves; it came because of the transgression of our first parents. Therefore, man, who had no hand in bringing death upon himself, shall have no hand in bringing again life unto himself; for as he dies in consequence of the sin of Adam, so shall he live again, whether he will or not, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. Every man that dies shall live again.
Sermon in Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, March 16, 1902.
Jesus Had Power Over Life and Death
[Jesus] came into the world … clothed with double power—power to die, which He derived from His mother; and power to resist death, if He had so willed it, which He had inherited from His Father.
“Latter-day Saints Follow Teachings of the Savior,” Scrap Book of Mormon Literature, 2:558.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost Lights Our Way
There is a course marked out for us to walk in—it is that strait and narrow path which leads back to the presence of God; the lamp to light our onward march is the Holy Ghost, which we received on or after our new birth.
Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, November 28, 1876, 1.
Everyone Can Have Revelation
The spirit of inspiration, the gift of revelation, does not belong to one man solely; it is not a gift that pertains to the Presidency of the Church and the Twelve apostles alone. It is not confined to the presiding authorities of the Church, it belongs to every individual member of the Church; and it is the right and privilege of every man, every woman, and every child who has reached the years of accountability, to enjoy the spirit of revelation, and to be possessed of the spirit of inspiration in the discharge of their duties as members of the Church.
In Conference Report, April 1912, 5.
Malice is Hurtful
It is extremely hurtful for any man holding the Priesthood, and enjoying the gift of the Holy Ghost, to harbor a spirit of envy, or malice, or retaliation, or intolerance toward or against his fellowmen.
In Conference Report, October 1902, 86–87.
President Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Humanity
We Can Become Like Jesus
We are begotten in the similitude of Christ himself. We dwelt with the Father and with the Son in the beginning, as the sons and daughters of God; and at the time appointed, we came to this earth to take upon ourselves tabernacles, that we might become conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus Christ and become like him; that we might have a tabernacle, that we might pass through death as he has passed through death, that we might rise again from the dead as he has risen from the dead.
In Conference Report, October 1899, 70–71.
Learn the Lessons of Life
The important consideration is not how long we can live but how well we can learn the lesson of life, and discharge our duties and obligations to God and to one another.
Improvement Era, Vol. 21, No. 2 (December, 1917): 104.
Master Yourself
No man is safe unless he is master of himself; and there is no tyrant more merciless or more to be dreaded than an uncontrollable appetite or passion.
Deseret Weekly News, Vol. 33 (1884), 130.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Mortal Life
Make the World a Little Better
Every Latter-day Saint ought to learn—and especially every youth in Israel ought to learn—that every one of them should try to make the world a little better for their being in it, if they possibly can. We all ought to try to do some good.
Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, August 8, 1884, 1.
We Learn Good from Evil By Experience
God, doubtless, could avert war, prevent crime, destroy poverty, chase away darkness, overcome error, and make all things bright, beautiful and joyful. But this would involve the destruction of a vital and fundamental attribute in man—the right of agency.
It is for the benefit of His sons and daughters that they become acquainted with evil as well as good, with darkness as well as light, with error as well as truth, and with the results of the infraction of eternal laws. Therefore he has permitted the evils which have been brought about by the acts of His creatures, but will control their ultimate results for His own glory and the progress and exaltation of His sons and daughters, when they have learned obedience by the things they suffer.
The contrasts experienced in this world of mingled sorrow and joy are educational in their nature, and will be the means of raising humanity to a full appreciation of all that is right and true and good. The foreknowledge of God does not imply His action in bringing about that which He foresees, nor make Him responsible in any degree for that which man does or refuses to do.
“A Christmas Greeting from the First Presidency,” Deseret News, December 19, 1914.
Knowledge and Progress
Knowledge is a means of eternal progress.
In Conference Report, April 1907, 3–16.
JFS Quotes About Prayer
Pray Sincerely
My brethren and sisters, do not learn to pray with your lips only. Do not learn a prayer by heart, and say it every morning and evening. That is something I dislike very much. It is true that a great many people fall into the rut of saying over a ceremonious prayer. They begin at a certain point, and they touch at all the points along the road until they get to the winding up scene; and when they have done, I do not know whether the prayer has ascended beyond the ceiling of the room or not.
In Conference Report, October 1899, 71–72.
Be Prudent in Prayer
A man may fast and pray till he kills himself, and there isn’t any necessity for it; nor wisdom in it. I say to my brethren, when they are fasting, and praying for the sick, and for those who need faith and prayer, do not go beyond what is wise and prudent in fasting and prayer. The Lord can hear a simple prayer offered in faith, in half a dozen words, and he will recognize fasting that may not continue more than twenty-four hours, just as readily and as effectually as he will answer a prayer of a thousand words and fasting for a month.
In Conference Report, October 1912, 134–135.
Be Prayerful
Be prayerful in storm and sunshine, then when darkness overtakes you, relief will assuredly come.
Discourse at the M.I.A. Conference of the Utah Stake, held in the Meeting House, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 25, 1891. Cited in Brian H. Stuy, comp, Collected Discourses Delivered by President Wilford Woodruff, His Two Counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others, 5 vols. (1987–92), 2:280.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Priesthood
A Definition of Priesthood
The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man ordained to any degree of the Priesthood has this authority delegated to him.
But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. In their fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality. His Priesthood is not increased by this special appointment; … the president of an elders’ quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in the … quorum, or in other words, the keys of that division of that work.
Improvement Era, Vol. 4, No. 3 (January, 1901): 230.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Repentance
While There is Life, There is Hope
While there is life there is hope, and while there is repentance there is a chance for forgiveness; and if there is forgiveness, there is a chance for growth and development until we acquire the full knowledge of these principles that will exalt and save us and prepare us to enter into the presence of God the Father.
Improvement Era, Vol. 12, No. 8 (June, 1909): 598.
True Repentance
True repentance is not only sorrow for sins, and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them, a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light. Not only so, but to make restitution, so far as it is possible, for all the wrongs we have done, to pay our debts, and restore to God and man their rights—that which is due to them from us. This is true repentance.
Discourse, September 30, 1877, Journal of Discourses, 19:190.
Works and Faith
We must have works as well as faith; we must do as well as pretend to do.
Deseret Evening News, December 31, 1870, 2.
I Am Clean – a Dream
I did have a dream one time. To me it was a literal thing; it was a reality.
I was very much oppressed, once, on a mission. I was almost naked and entirely friendless. … I felt as if I was so debased in my condition of poverty, lack of intelligence and knowledge … that I hardly dared look a … man in the face.
While in that condition I dreamed that I was on a journey, and I was impressed that I ought to hurry—hurry with all my might, for fear I might be too late. I rushed on my way as fast as I possibly could, and I was only conscious of having just a little bundle, a handkerchief with a small bundle wrapped in it. I did not realize just what it was, when I was hurrying as fast as I could; but finally I came to a wonderful mansion, if it could be called a mansion. It seemed too large, too great to have been made by hand, but I thought I knew that was my destination. As I passed towards it, as fast as I could, I saw a notice, ‘Bath.’ I turned aside quickly and went into the bath and washed myself clean. I opened up this little bundle that I had, and there was a pair of white, clean garments, a thing I had not seen for a long time. … I put them on. Then I rushed to what appeared to be a great opening, or door. I knocked and the door opened, and the man who stood there was the Prophet Joseph Smith. He looked at me a little reprovingly, and the first words he said: ‘Joseph, you are late.’ Yet I took confidence and said:
‘Yes, but I am clean—I am clean!’
He clasped my hand and drew me in, then closed the great door. I felt his hand just as tangible as I ever felt the hand of a man. I knew him, and when I entered I saw my father, and Brigham and Heber, and Willard, and other good men that I had known, standing in a row. …
That vision, that manifestation and witness that I enjoyed at that time has made me what I am, if I am anything that is good, or clean, or upright before the Lord, if there is anything good in me. That has helped me out in every trial and through every difficulty.
Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5th ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1919, 1939), 541–43.
Joseph F. Smith Quotes About Scripture
Refresh the Soul
There is a peculiarity which I have found accompanies the reading of the word of God, that whenever read it is calculated to refresh the soul, to revive the spirit of man, and to draw him nearer, if possible, to the fountain of light, truth, wisdom, love and knowledge.
Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, February 6, 1893, 2.
Study the New Testament
All members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be as familiar as possible with the words that are recorded in the New Testament, especially with reference to those things spoken as recorded by the apostles, and the Savior Himself.
“Reading,” Young Woman’s Journal, Vol. 28, No. 8 (August 1917): 412–13.
Doctrine and Covenants
I say to my brethren that the book of Doctrine and Covenants contains some of the most glorious principles ever revealed to the world, some that have been revealed in greater fulness than they were ever revealed before to the world; and this, in fulfilment of the promise of the ancient prophets that in the latter times the Lord would reveal things to the world that had been kept hidden from the foundation thereof; and the Lord has revealed them through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
In Conference Report, October 1913, 9.
Ongoing Revelation
The canon of scripture is not full. God has never revealed at any time that he would cease to speak forever to men. If we are permitted to believe that he has spoken, we must and do believe that he continues to speak, because he is unchangeable.
“Editor’s Table: Modern Revelation,” Improvement Era, Vol. 5, No. 10 (August 1902): 805.
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Further Reading
- How Did Joseph F. Smith Become the Prophet?
- What’s in the New Joseph F. Smith Biography?
- What was the Priesthood Reform Movement that Joseph F. Smith Oversaw?
- How did Susa Young Gates React to Joseph F. Smith’s Revelation?
- Joseph F. Smith in Saints 3
Joseph F. Smith Resources
- Like a Fiery Meteor: The Life of Joseph F. Smith (University of Utah Press)
- Scholarly Inquiry: A Conversation with Stephen C. Taysom (Juvenile Instructor)
- The Great World of the Spirits of the Dead: Death, the Great War, and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic as Context for Doctrine and Covenants 138 (BYU Studies)
- Before the Beard: Trials of the Young Joseph Smith (Sunstone)
- Joseph F. Smith’s Succession to the Presidency (BYU Religious Studies Center)
