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James E. Talmage

Portrait of James E. Talmage
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

AUTHOR PROFILE

James E. Talmage

James E. Talmage is described in biographical records as a Religious leader and academic (1862–1933). The selections gathered here touch on celestial kingdom, resurrection, friendship. This profile brings the attributed quotations together with their available source information.

FEATURED QUOTE
“No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state.”
— James E. Talmage

Biography at a glance

  • Profile: Religious leader and academic
  • Life: 1862–1933
  • Quotes in this collection: 18

Life and work

Biographical records connect James E. Talmage with Johns Hopkins University and Brigham Young University. This collection includes 18 quotations credited to James E. Talmage. Each quotation page preserves its own citation, when supplied, so readers can follow the passage back to its stated context.

Reading the quotations

The selections gathered here touch on celestial kingdom, resurrection, friendship. These topic links make it easier to compare these words with other voices in the LDS Flow library. Citations are shown on the individual quotation pages where the source collection provided them.

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Sources and further reading

Quotes by James E. Talmage

18 quotes

“Discrepancies that trouble us now will diminish as our knowledge of pertinent facts is extended. The creator has made a record in the rocks for man to decipher; but He has also spoken directly regarding the main stages of progress by which the earth has been brought to be what it is, The opening chapters of Genesis … were never intended as a textbook of geology, archeology, earth-science or man-science. Holy scripture will endure, while the conceptions of men change with new discoveries.”

“The Earth and Man”

— James E. Talmage

The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one sided, but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion and criticism is worth defending.

— James E. Talmage

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms her possession of divine authority for the use of the sacred name, Jesus Christ, as the essential part of her distinctive designation. In view of this exalted claim, it is pertinent to inquire as to what special or particular message the Church has to give to the world concerning the Redeemer and Savior of the race, and as to what she has to say in justification of her solemn affirmation, or in vindication of her exclusive name and title. As we proceed with our study, we shall find that among the specific teachings of the Church respecting…”

Jesus the Christ

— James E. Talmage

“The purpose . . . is that of promoting among the members of the Church a vital, active interest in the compilation of genealogical records, in the collating of items of lineage and in the formulation of true family pedigrees, so that the relationship between ancestry and posterity may be determined and be made readily accessible. . . . It is a notable fact that the last seven or eight decades have witnessed a development of interest in genealogical matters theretofore unknown in modern times. . . . There is . . . an influence operative in the world, a spirit moving upon the people, in response to which the living are yearningly reaching backward to learn of their dead.”

“Genealogical Work Is Essential to Redemption of the Dead in the Holy Temples of the Lord”

— James E. Talmage

“It is well to know that prayer is not compounded of words, words that may fail to express what one desires to say, words that so often cloak inconsistencies, words that may have no deeper source than the physical organs of speech, words that may be spoken to impress mortal ears. The dumb may pray, and that too with the eloquence that prevails in heaven. Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition and pure desire.”

Jesus the Christ

— James E. Talmage

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