Prophetic Statements
Brigham Young
#1:
Now to the brethren, I will apply it to two fathers, is a man responsible for the acts of his wife? Yes, to a certain extent, but he cannot take away her agency. A woman many have seven devils after all. Man is not under obligation to make a woman a righteous woman, he is under obligation to teach righteous principles and act upon them. But he cannot sanctify his wife, if he was, where would be her agency? The Lord has given to every man and woman their agency and he does not take that from them, but he requires a man to act a righteous life; and if a woman is a devil after all, that man is not to be responsible for her acts; but let a man teach her wickedness and sin and they do it, that sin is upon the man and all is right. But if a woman does all he tells her to do, throws herself entirely into his arms to do as he tells her, then he is responsible for all her acts. It is my duty to preserve the feelings of my wife, or my wives.
To keep peace in my family, or my families. To keep peace in my bosom. And when I enter into my house, or my houses, my spouse overrules all. I am naturally very fretful, very quick, very spirited, very apt never to yield a point is my natural disposition; but the gospel has made me limber. I have then thousand things to harass me on the right and left, but I calculate to walk over them. Do you feel bad, or irritated, I say that’s none of your business. I keep my trials, my troubles and my own feelings to myself. I just go away, I just go alone, I fight myself and let no one know. When you are in your houses, keep your tempers, give good counsel, teach your wives to keep their tempers. I don’t care how high a man or woman’s temper is, if they control them. If you had no temper, you would not be worthy of anything. You are only tempted by the devil. You cannot control your tempers, every one of you, if you please. It’s my duty to teach humility and do everything to promote their happiness. I do not allow myself even to joke or jest to hurt their feelings. Let me bind up their broken feelings and instead of adding to their misery consider myself able to back up all your troubles. If a woman has a load to carry, I say “Hand it over here and I’ll hide it in my snuff box or jacket pockets, and likely enough not to find it again for years”. But if men are apt to be peevish, I cannot teach women to be subject to their husbands; but in our present weakness, how many are there who are able to pack away all their troubles and waft them away. Then it is the duty of the wife to be perfectly subject to their husbands. There is a great cache of confidence and women pass their own judgment and say it is wrong when they are not judges, but I get along with it the best I can. . . .
Men who have hell in their families blow the blast themselves. If a wife can have influence over her husband, she will lead him to hell. The influence of my women over me is no more that the buzzing of a fly’s wing in winter. I don’t ask for any favors of them.1
#2:
Brethren don’t be discouraged, if your children are rude – the time will come that they will become good to think that we are a mixed multitude as if we were thrown together by an earthquake and blown together by a whirlwind – its great what we have done – every child that comes into the world is perfectly pure and holy – and as soon as the child gets a tabernacle he is in a way to be operated on – whenever a person has the spirit to abuse, he has the spirit of a devil – the devils that are send down have not the privilege of tabernacles when Lucifer fell he drew down one third of those who did belong to this earth – children have no sin about them – but the devil will get into the child and throw fits ready to choke them – how quick devils will take possession of a saint – if his brain get overbalanced – the devil will enter into children and crazy people, they are not to blame for it – if the devil has power to kill them he cant take that soul to hell but it will be saved.2
- Complete Discourses of Brigham Young. ↩︎
