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Orson F. Whitney

Portrait of Orson F. Whitney
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

AUTHOR PROFILE

Orson F. Whitney

Orson F. Whitney is described in biographical records as an American religious leader (1855–1931) (1855–1931). The selections gathered here touch on debt, money, temples. This profile brings the attributed quotations together with their available source information.

FEATURED QUOTE
“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”
— Orson F. Whitney

Biography at a glance

  • Profile: American religious leader (1855–1931)
  • Life: 1855–1931
  • Quotes in this collection: 4

Life and work

The available biographical record identifies Orson F. Whitney through the role above. This collection includes 4 quotations credited to Orson F. Whitney. 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 debt, money, temples. 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 Orson F. Whitney

4 quotes

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”

— Orson F. Whitney

This building [the Kirtland Temple] the Saints commenced in 1833, in poverty, and without means to do it. In 1834 they completed the walls, and in 1835–6 they nearly finished it. The cost was between sixty and seventy thousand dollars. A committee was appointed to gather donations; they traveled among the churches and collected a considerable amount, but not sufficient, so that in the end they found themselves between thirteen and fourteen thousand dollars in debt.”

Life of Heber C. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1945), 88

— Orson F. Whitney

“Miracles are extraordinary results flowing from superior means and methods of doing things. When a man wants light he strikes a match, or presses a button, or turns a switch, and lo! there is light. When God wants light, he says: “Let there be light.” It is simply a matter or knowing how to do things in a superior way, and having the power to do them. Man is gradually acquiring this power. It is a far call from the tallow dip to the electric light. But the end is not yet. Improvements will continue to be made, and some day, perhaps men may be able to make light just as the Lord makes it. Paradoxically, it might be said that the time will come when miracles will be so common that there will be none.”

Conference Report, April 1925, pp. 17-20

— Orson F. Whitney

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