I finished reading this a couple weeks ago. It was interesting. Brigham Young had a lot to say about a lot of different topics. You has some very good insight into many aspects of the gospel and life. He also has a very blunt way of speaking that can be a turn off for many people, but I didn't really see anything in this book that was all that offensive. On the contrary, you could see that he had a great love for people and would do anything to help anyone. And I think that gets looked over when people talk about Brigham Young. He did have a lot of opinions and you wonder how much of what he said was true gospel principles or partly speculation on his part. I think that was more of a thing back in the day.
Also, I recently listened to a little podcast episode about the reliability of some of Brigham Young's speeches and whether they were accurately recorded. The original transcriptions are often many words different than the printed version. It is pretty interesting and can be listened to here: https://ldsperspectives.com/2017/02/15/in-brighams-words/ So we should be a little hesitant to totally 100% rely on Brigham Young quotations found in the Journal of Discourses.
Some quotes:
"And instead of our classing prayer among the duties devolving upon us as Latter-day Saints, we should live so as to deem it as one of the greatest privileges accorded to us."
"If I ask him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes."
"The first great principle that ought to occupy the attention of mankind, that should be understood by the child and the adult, and which is the main spring of all action, whether people understand it or not, is the principle of improvement."
"It is our privilege to say, every day in our lives, 'That is the best day I ever lived.'"
"It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there."
"No matter how good a government is, unless it is administered by righteous men, an evil government will be made of it."
"The mothers are the moving instruments in the hands of Providence to guide the destinies of nations."
"We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate. Do we realize this? How often we see parents demand obedience, good behavior, kind words, pleasant looks, a sweet voice and a bright eye from a child or children when they themselves are full of bitterness and scolding! How inconsistent and unreasonable this is!"
"If you are ever called upon to chasten a person, never chasten beyond the balm you have within you to bind up."
"We do not wish a man to enter on a mission, unless his soul is in it."
"Now, sisters, I want you to vote also, because women are the characters that rule the ballot box."
"Is the spirit world here? It is not beyond the sun, but is on this earth that was organized for the people that have lived and that do and will live upon it."
"The men and women, who desire to obtain the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle every day."
