Joseph F. Smith Quotes (3 Quotes)

There is no substitute for the home. Its foundation is as ancient as the world, and its mission has been ordained of God from the earliest times. There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home, and every effort made to sanctify and preserve its influence is uplifting to those who toil and sacrifice for its establishment. There is no happiness without service and there is no greater service than that which converts the home into a divine institution which promotes and preserves family life.

A story is told of an English officer in old India, who one day went to the book shelf to take down a book. As he reached his hand up over the volume his finger was bitten by an adder. After a few hours the finger began to swell. Later on the swelling went into his arm, and finally the whole body was affected, and in a few days the officer was dead. There are adders concealed in many a book. Let the Saints beware of the books that enter their homes, for their influence may be as poisonous and deadly as the adder which brought death to the English officer in old India.

God has given to all men an agency and has granted to us the privilege to serve him or serve him not, to do that which is right or that which is wrong, and this privilege is given to all men irrespective of creed, color or condition. The wealthy have this agency, the poor have this agency, and no man is deprived by any power of God from exercising it in the fullest and in the freest manner. This agency has been given to all. This is a blessing that God has bestowed upon the world of mankind, upon all his children alike.