Joseph Smith — "I am a man of temperance, and I will be temperate in all things."
I am a man of temperance, and I will be temperate in all things.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote expresses a commitment to self-control and moderation across all areas of life — not just alcohol, but food, speech, emotion, and behavior. Temperance here means deliberate restraint, choosing to govern oneself rather than be ruled by impulse or excess. It is a pledge of disciplined living where the individual consciously shapes their conduct rather than surrendering to appetite or passion.
Relevance to Joseph Smith
Smith revealed the Word of Wisdom in 1833, a divine health code urging abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea — unprecedented in American religion. As a prophet claiming to channel God, self-mastery was essential to his authority and credibility. Yet historians have documented occasions where he drank wine and beer, creating tension between his public declarations of temperance and his private conduct.
The era
The 1830s–1840s saw America gripped by a temperance crisis — per-capita alcohol consumption peaked near seven gallons of pure alcohol annually. The Second Great Awakening fueled religious reform, and the American Temperance Society, founded in 1826, was rapidly growing. Smith's Word of Wisdom positioned Mormonism as a health-reform faith at a pivotal moment, resonating with a culture increasingly alarmed by alcohol's social and familial destruction.
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