“There is also another political party, who desire, through the influence of legislation and coercion, to level the world. To say the least, it is a species of robbery… Let this principle exist, and all energy and enterprise would be crushed. Men would be afraid of again accumulating, lest they should again be robbed. Industry and talent would have no stimulant, and confusion and ruin would inevitably follow.”
“…the world have generally made great mistakes upon these points. They have started various projects to try to unite and cement the people together without God; but they could not do it. Fourierism, Communism—another branch of the same thing—and many other principles of the same kind …but all these things have failed, and they will fail, because, however philanthropic, humanitarian, benevolent, or cosmopolitan our ideas, it is impossible to produce a true and correct union without the Spirit of the living God…”
“The United Order is not French Communism. It is not required of those who possess the means of living to expend those means among those who know nothing about taking care of and preserving them. But let no man be oppressed and placed in circumstances where he cannot reach forth and help himself.”
“…it was at Runnymede, in this county of Surrey, in the year 1215 that the Magna Charta was signed, establishing principles in behalf of the freedom and dignity of man. …They have spread from here and have been incorporated in the constitutions and charters of other nations across the earth who also have established governments that derive their powers from the consent of the governed. …We acknowledge thy divine hand in the establishment and preservation of that freedom in this the United Kingdom.”
“We thank thee for this great and sovereign nation of which we are citizens. Touch the minds of those of our Congress that they shall stand…in defense of the liberty of the people. Bless the chief executive… Let thy spirit move upon him to…lift the burdens of government from the backs of the people and keep this nation under God, a citadel of freedom standing as an example to all the world. Bless the Supreme Court of the United States which in recent days has declared unconstitutional a measure designed to secure the religious liberty of the people of this nation. May a way be found under thy divine inspiration to bring to pass another measure which will be sustained by the court.”
‘…the Lord’s way of caring for the needy is different from the world’s way. The Lord has said, “It must needs be done in mine own way.” …As many prophets have instructed us over the years, the welfare principles of the Church are not simply good ideas; they are revealed truths from God—they are His way of helping the needy.’
“I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them…will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law…I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen.”
“Military men are now saying that the atom bomb was a mistake. It was more than that: it was a world tragedy. …And the worst of this atomic bomb tragedy is not that not only did the people of the United States not rise up in protest …not only did it not shock us …but that it actually drew from the nation at large a general approval of this fiendish butchery.”
‘President Wilford Woodruff observed on the same subject: “This agency has always been the heritage of man under the rule and government of God. He possessed it in the heaven of heavens before the world was, and the Lord maintained and defended it there against the aggression of Lucifer and those that took sides with him. … By virtue of this agency you and I and all mankind are made responsible beings, responsible for the course we pursue, the lives we live, [and] the deeds we do.”’
“Sometimes we will receive counsel that we cannot understand or that seems not to apply to us, even after careful prayer and thought. Don’t discard the counsel, but hold it close. If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful.”