Biography at a glance
- Born: December 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont
- Died: June 27, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois
- Family: Married Emma Hale in 1827
- Church service: Organized the Church on April 6, 1830, and served as its first president
- Major works: Book of Mormon translation, recorded revelations, and the organization of temple worship and the Relief Society
Seeking answers in western New York
Joseph grew up in a family whose moves eventually brought them to western New York. Religious disagreement and his own questions about forgiveness led him to pray near the family farm in 1820. He later described a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, an experience Latter-day Saints call the First Vision. Joseph left more than one account of it; the Church’s guide to those accounts helps readers understand when and how they were recorded.
Scripture and a new church
In 1827 Joseph married Emma Hale. The Book of Mormon was published in 1830, and the Church was organized that April. As converts gathered, Joseph’s recorded revelations shaped its worship, leadership, and ideas about Zion. The Church’s historical overview follows these developments through the New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois years.
Nauvoo and his final years
After the Saints were driven from Missouri, Joseph helped establish Nauvoo, Illinois. There he taught about temple covenants and the eternal family, and in 1842 he organized the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo with Emma as its first president. Religious and political conflict intensified around the city. Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed at Carthage Jail in June 1844. His life and the movement he led continued to shape the people who crossed the plains after his death.
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Quotes by Joseph Smith
89 quotes
“Be merciful and you shall find mercy. Seek to help save souls, not to destroy them: for verily you know, that ‘there is more joy in heaven, over one sinner that repents, than there is over ninety and nine just persons [who] need no repentance.’”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 77.
— Joseph Smith
“The inquiry is frequently made of me, ‘Wherein do you differ from others in your religious views?’ In reality and essence we do not differ so far in our religious views, but that we could all drink into one principle of love. One of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’ is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may.”
— Joseph Smith
“A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation, for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your mind by the Spirit of God will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”
History of the Church, 3:381
— Joseph Smith
“The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. . . . How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart!”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 137.
— Joseph Smith
“Faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen and…the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”
“Lectures on Faith”
— Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith also taught that we must be able to endure persecution in order to stand in the day when the Lord shall come: “Those who cannot endure persecution, and stand in the day of affliction, cannot stand in the day when the Son of God shall burst the veil, and appear in all the glory of His Father, with all the holy angels.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 42
— Joseph Smith
“There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which was the convincing power of God unto him of the truth of the Gospel, but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was baptized. Had he not [been baptized], the Holy Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him.”
History of the Church, 4:555
— Joseph Smith
Any reluctance to sacrifice whatever God requires will, to that degree, lessen our ability to have faith in God.“But those who have not made this sacrifice to God do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be. For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time; so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence; and where unshaken confidence is not there faith is weak; and where faith is weak the persons will not be able to contend against all the opposition, tribulations, and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.”
Lectures on Faith, 6:15
— Joseph Smith
“The whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith. It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round their orbits and sparkle forth their glory.”
Lectures on Faith, 72-73
— Joseph Smith
“The Lord gave us power in proportion to the work to be done, and strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs required.”
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
— Joseph Smith
“At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed, and the plan of salvation made and we sanctioned it.”
The Words of Joseph Smith
— Joseph Smith
“[Lucifer] sought for things which were unlawful. Hence he was sent down, and it is said he drew many away with him; and the greatness of his punishment is that he shall not have a tabernacle.”
Teachings, 297.
— Joseph Smith
“God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, . . . saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself.”
Teachings, 354.
— Joseph Smith
The coming of the Son of Man never will be, never can be, till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out, which judgments are commenced. . . . All this must be done before [the] Son of Man will make his appearance: wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above [and] on the earth beneath, [the] sun turned into darkness [and the] moon to blood, earthquakes in diverse places, oceans heaving beyond their bounds, then one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, and so forth. Consequently, the Son of Man will come as the sign of [the] coming of the Son of Man.
Discourse of 6 April 1843, recorded by Willard Richards; WJS, p. 180
— Joseph Smith
“The head of the Gods called council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.”
Joseph Smith, Teachings, 349
— Joseph Smith
Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason there of until all of the events transpire.
History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843]
— Joseph Smith
There will be here and there a stake for the gathering of the Saints. Some may have cried “Peace!” but the Saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the stakes, for God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered, one here, another there. There your children shall be blessed, and you [shall be] in the midst of friends where you may be blessed. The gospel net gathers of every kind. I prophesy that the man who tarries after he has an opportunity of going will be afflicted by the Devil. Wars are at hand; we must not delay. . . .We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object. When wars come we shall have to flee to Zion. The cry is to make haste. The last revelation says, “Ye shall not have time to have gone over the earth until these things come” [cf. Matt. 10:23]. It will come as did the cholera-war, fires burning, earthquake, one pestilence after another.
Discourse of summer of 1839, recorded in Willard Richards’ “Pocket Companion;” WJS, p. 11
— Joseph Smith
Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what pow’r it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.
Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, Page 62
— Joseph Smith
“The purposes of our God are great, His love unfathomable, His wisdom infinite, and His power unlimited; therefore, the Saints have cause to rejoice and be glad.”
— Joseph Smith
Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.
History of the Church, 2:52
— Joseph Smith
“If a man learns nothing more than to eat drink, and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of god, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.”
— Joseph Smith
“You don’t know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it: I shall never undertake it. I don’t blame anyone for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I would not have believed it myself. I never did harm any man since I was born in the world. My voice is always for peace.”
History of the Church, 6:317
— Joseph Smith
“The South holds the balance of power. By annexing Texas, I can do away with this evil. As soon as Texas was annexed, I would liberate the slaves in two or three States, indemnifying their owners, and send the negroes to Texas, and from Texas to Mexico, where all colors are alike.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 334
— Joseph Smith
When God commands, do it!
History of the Church, 2:170; from “History of the Church” (manuscript), book B-1, p. 558
— Joseph Smith
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