Women
Back to Mormon Quotes Index
Note: I'm working on compiling many more quotes for this section - let me know if you have some you want to contribute!
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife... as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”
- Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Latter-day Saint Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1835
“We know so little about the reasons for the division of duties between womanhood and manhood as well as between motherhood and priesthood. These were divinely determined in another time and another place. We are accustomed to focusing on the men of God because theirs is the priesthood and leadership line. But paralleling that authority line is a stream of righteous influence reflecting the remarkable women of God who have existed in all ages and dispensations, including our own.”
- Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, “Women of God,” Women, 1979, p. 94
"[Women] qualify in two vocations—that of homemaking, and that of preparing a living outside the home, if and when the occasion requires. A married woman may become a widow without warning…. Thus a woman may be under the necessity of earning her own living and helping to support her dependent children"
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, v. 7, March 1977, p. 59
“Men and women are complementary. I have mentioned only a few of the special blessings God gives his daughters in helping them to become like him. His sons have their own special opportunities. And in his wisdom and mercy, our Father made men and women dependent on each other for the full flowering of their potential. Because their natures are somewhat different, they can complement each other; because they are in many ways alike, they can understand each other. Let neither envy the other for their differences; let both discern what is superficial and what is beautifully basic in those differences, and act accordingly. And may the brotherhood of the priesthood and the sisterhood of the Relief Society be a blessing in the lives of all the members of this great Church, as we help each other along the path to perfection.”
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.315
“By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.”
- First Presidency, “The Proclamation on the Family”; online at http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html
"Tonight I am attending with a son, sons-in-law, and grandsons. Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home! What are they doing? Making large batches of homemade doughnuts! And when we return home, we will feast on those doughnuts. While we enjoy them, these mothers, sisters, and daughters will listen intently as each of us speaks of things he learned here tonight. It’s a nice family tradition, symbolic of the fact that everything we learn and do as priesthood bearers should bless our families."
- Apostle Russell M. Nelson, ""Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Ensign, May 1999
"Elders, never love your wives one hair's breadth further than they adorn the Gospel, never love them so but that you can leave them at a moment's warning without shedding a tear. Should you love a child any more than this? No. Here are Apostles and Prophets who are destined to be exalted with the Gods, to become rulers in the kingdom of our Father, to become equal with the Father and the Son, and will you let your affections be unduly placed on anything this side that kingdom and glory? If you do, you disgrace your calling and Priesthood. The very moment that persons in this Church suffer their affections to be immoderately placed upon an object this side the celestial kingdom, they disgrace their profession and calling. When you love your wives and children, are fond of your horses, your carriages, your fine houses, your goods and chattels, or anything of an earthly nature, before your affections become too strong, wait until you and your family are sealed up unto eternal lives, and you know they are yours from that time henceforth and for ever.
"I will now ask the sisters, do you believe that you are worthy of any greater love than you bestow upon your children? Do you believe that you should be beloved by your husbands and parents any further than you acknowledge and practise the principle of eternal lives? Every person who understands this principle would answer in a moment, "Let no being's affections be placed upon me any further than mine are on eternal principles-principles that are calculated to endure and exalt me, and bring me up to be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ." This is what every person who has a correct understanding would say."
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 3, p. 354
"Women are queens and priestesses but not gods. The Godhead, the 'Presidency of Heaven,' is a presidency of three male deities, similar to a stake presidency whose members each have wives who are responsible for domestic religious education but not ecclesiastical functions."
- Rodney Turner, retired BYU religion professor, Sunstone Panel Discussion, September 7, 1991.
"'I think no more of taking a wife than I do of buying a cow,' was one of Heber Kimball's delicate remarks. made from the stand in the Tabernacle to a congregation of several thousand. Most of his hearers thought even less of it, for they would have had to pay money for the cow; and as for the other, he had only to throw his handkerchief to some girl, and she would pick it up and follow him.
- Ann-Eliza Snow, Wife No. 19, Chapter 17, "Taking a Wife and Buying a Cow," online at http://www.polygamyinfo.com/wife19_book_ch17.htm
Women and the Priesthood
In 1843 Patriarch Hyrum Smith blessed Leonora Cannon Taylor:
“You shall be blesst with your portion of the Priesthood which belongeth to you, that you may be set apart for you Anointing and your induement [endowment].
- Hyrum Smith patriarchal blessing to Leonora Taylor, July 28, 1843, LDS archives; see Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, p. 36
Patriarch Joseph Young blessed Brigham Young’s daughter Zina Young Card:
“These blessings are yours, the blessings and power according to the holy Melchisedek Priesthood you received in your Endowments, and you shall have them.”
- Joseph Young (member of Seventy and Council of Fifty) to Zina Young Card, May 28, 1878, in Special Collections and Manuscripts Department, Lee Library; see Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, p. 36
“Now, brethren, the man that honors his Priesthood, the woman that honors her Priesthood, will receive an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of God.”
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 17, p. 119
Note: I'm working on compiling many more quotes for this section - let me know if you have some you want to contribute!
Subordination
of Women
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife... as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”
- Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Latter-day Saint Messenger and Advocate, Nov. 1835
“We know so little about the reasons for the division of duties between womanhood and manhood as well as between motherhood and priesthood. These were divinely determined in another time and another place. We are accustomed to focusing on the men of God because theirs is the priesthood and leadership line. But paralleling that authority line is a stream of righteous influence reflecting the remarkable women of God who have existed in all ages and dispensations, including our own.”
- Apostle Neal A. Maxwell, “Women of God,” Women, 1979, p. 94
"[Women] qualify in two vocations—that of homemaking, and that of preparing a living outside the home, if and when the occasion requires. A married woman may become a widow without warning…. Thus a woman may be under the necessity of earning her own living and helping to support her dependent children"
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, v. 7, March 1977, p. 59
“Men and women are complementary. I have mentioned only a few of the special blessings God gives his daughters in helping them to become like him. His sons have their own special opportunities. And in his wisdom and mercy, our Father made men and women dependent on each other for the full flowering of their potential. Because their natures are somewhat different, they can complement each other; because they are in many ways alike, they can understand each other. Let neither envy the other for their differences; let both discern what is superficial and what is beautifully basic in those differences, and act accordingly. And may the brotherhood of the priesthood and the sisterhood of the Relief Society be a blessing in the lives of all the members of this great Church, as we help each other along the path to perfection.”
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.315
“By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.”
- First Presidency, “The Proclamation on the Family”; online at http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html
"Tonight I am attending with a son, sons-in-law, and grandsons. Where are their mothers? Gathered in the kitchen of our home! What are they doing? Making large batches of homemade doughnuts! And when we return home, we will feast on those doughnuts. While we enjoy them, these mothers, sisters, and daughters will listen intently as each of us speaks of things he learned here tonight. It’s a nice family tradition, symbolic of the fact that everything we learn and do as priesthood bearers should bless our families."
- Apostle Russell M. Nelson, ""Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Ensign, May 1999
"Elders, never love your wives one hair's breadth further than they adorn the Gospel, never love them so but that you can leave them at a moment's warning without shedding a tear. Should you love a child any more than this? No. Here are Apostles and Prophets who are destined to be exalted with the Gods, to become rulers in the kingdom of our Father, to become equal with the Father and the Son, and will you let your affections be unduly placed on anything this side that kingdom and glory? If you do, you disgrace your calling and Priesthood. The very moment that persons in this Church suffer their affections to be immoderately placed upon an object this side the celestial kingdom, they disgrace their profession and calling. When you love your wives and children, are fond of your horses, your carriages, your fine houses, your goods and chattels, or anything of an earthly nature, before your affections become too strong, wait until you and your family are sealed up unto eternal lives, and you know they are yours from that time henceforth and for ever.
"I will now ask the sisters, do you believe that you are worthy of any greater love than you bestow upon your children? Do you believe that you should be beloved by your husbands and parents any further than you acknowledge and practise the principle of eternal lives? Every person who understands this principle would answer in a moment, "Let no being's affections be placed upon me any further than mine are on eternal principles-principles that are calculated to endure and exalt me, and bring me up to be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ." This is what every person who has a correct understanding would say."
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 3, p. 354
"Women are queens and priestesses but not gods. The Godhead, the 'Presidency of Heaven,' is a presidency of three male deities, similar to a stake presidency whose members each have wives who are responsible for domestic religious education but not ecclesiastical functions."
- Rodney Turner, retired BYU religion professor, Sunstone Panel Discussion, September 7, 1991.
"'I think no more of taking a wife than I do of buying a cow,' was one of Heber Kimball's delicate remarks. made from the stand in the Tabernacle to a congregation of several thousand. Most of his hearers thought even less of it, for they would have had to pay money for the cow; and as for the other, he had only to throw his handkerchief to some girl, and she would pick it up and follow him.
- Ann-Eliza Snow, Wife No. 19, Chapter 17, "Taking a Wife and Buying a Cow," online at http://www.polygamyinfo.com/wife19_book_ch17.htm
Women and the Priesthood
In 1843 Patriarch Hyrum Smith blessed Leonora Cannon Taylor:
“You shall be blesst with your portion of the Priesthood which belongeth to you, that you may be set apart for you Anointing and your induement [endowment].
- Hyrum Smith patriarchal blessing to Leonora Taylor, July 28, 1843, LDS archives; see Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, p. 36
Patriarch Joseph Young blessed Brigham Young’s daughter Zina Young Card:
“These blessings are yours, the blessings and power according to the holy Melchisedek Priesthood you received in your Endowments, and you shall have them.”
- Joseph Young (member of Seventy and Council of Fifty) to Zina Young Card, May 28, 1878, in Special Collections and Manuscripts Department, Lee Library; see Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, p. 36
“Now, brethren, the man that honors his Priesthood, the woman that honors her Priesthood, will receive an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of God.”
- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 17, p. 119