Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith recurs across Kyle’s reading as both a historical figure and a source of frequently-cited teachings. In Saints — No Unhallowed Hand he appears as a young man (he “was only fifteen, after all,” feeling “his own weakness and insignificance”) and later as one of the leaders — alongside John Taylor and George Q. Cannon — who led the church “through the crisis” of the polygamy/Manifesto era, writing to his sister that “I do not believe as a people we have lived as near to God as we should have done.”

His most-quoted line in Kyle’s notes is a counsel against leader-worship: “I want no man to lean upon me nor to follow me, only so far as I am a consistent follower in the footsteps of the Master” — cited in Faith is Not Blind and echoed in Kyle’s margin note in Discipline Is Destiny. In the book’s argument the line sits alongside Michael Polanyi on learning by example and submission to tradition, and just before Kyle’s note on Camden Harrison’s MTC teaching — together making the case that authority and discipleship are pointed past the leader toward Christ, not toward the leader himself. The Priesthood Power of Women draws on him for the home as “a divine institution” and his charge that women are “to lead … the women of the world, in everything that is praise-worthy.” Working Toward Zion quotes his temporal-salvation doctrine: “a religion which has not the power to save people temporally … cannot be depended upon to save them spiritually.” Chad’s Big Quote Book lists him among its recurring quoted authorities.

Context: Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving from 1901 to 1918. He was a son of Hyrum Smith and nephew of the church’s founder, Joseph Smith; he led the church through the early-20th-century transition out of polygamy and is known for the vision of the redemption of the dead (now D&C 138).

Where this appears

• Faith is Not Blind — his “I want no man to lean upon me” counsel against leader-worship
• Saints — No Unhallowed Hand — youth and later leadership through the Manifesto-era crisis
• The Priesthood Power of Women — the home as a divine institution; women called to lead the world
• Working Toward Zion — temporal-and-spiritual salvation doctrine
• Discipline Is Destiny — Kyle’s margin quote of “follow the footsteps of the Master”