Snow Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 People wrote in their diaries that they met Joseph Smith in their 20’s and that the encounter stayed with them vividly for rest of their life. What would it have been like? What was HE like? He must have been a man dripping with passion and charisma. Big, impressive physique, capable of dominating most men he met. Yet he was warm and gracious, mischievous. In his personal diaries Joseph reveals himself as a complex and human religious leader and innovative thinker. "I enjoyed myself by my own fireside with many friends around me," he recalled of a quiet moment at home. "I drank a glass of beer at Moisser's," he dictated with equal frankness. An enthusiast for winter activities, Smith would often close his office whenever it snowed to go sledding with his son Frederick or to take his wife Emma sleighing. Occasionally short-tempered, Smith once told detractors to "hide their heads in a hollow pumpkin and never take it out." He could lose patience with people who left meetings before the benediction and with young men who sneaked onto the women's side of the congregation. People asked him why he used "such flat and vulgar expressions," but on occasion he could transcend his frontier parlance and speak in eloquent metaphor, such as when he described the resurrection: "It is pleasing for friends to lie down together locked in the arms of love, to sleep, and [awake] locked in each others' embrace [to] renew their conversation." (Scott Faulring - An American Prophet's Record). I like this description the best: He was a self made man, rising from poverty to power, from semiliteracy to knowledge of both worldly and heavenly mysteries, from anonymity to fame, from being nobody to being somebody. He was a shaper of both present and future, a man who seemed to make history rather than merely reacting to it - qualities much prized in America. Personally he exemplified other ideals; he was big, strong, blond, handsome, virile, young ambitious, hearty, humorous, at once earthy and godlike, articulate but not pedantic, possessed of a vanity and pomposity more admired than ridiculed and enormously attractive to both men and women. That is enough to make any American some kind of hero, to name at least one town after. (Robert Flanders, Dream and Nightmare: Nauvoo Revisited) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 I totally 'get' Joseph. He is one cool dude. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisRuptive1 Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Attractive to both men and women. Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tax106 Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 He must have been a man dripping with passion...That was Joseph alright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadway Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Originally posted by Snow@Mar 29 2004, 11:40 PM People wrote in their diaries that they met Joseph Smith in their 20’s and that the encounter stayed with them vividly for rest of their life.What would it have been like? What was HE like?He must have been a man dripping with passion and charisma. Big, impressive physique, capable of dominating most men he met. Yet he was warm and gracious, mischievous.In his personal diaries Joseph reveals himself as a complex and human religious leader and innovative thinker. "I enjoyed myself by my own fireside with many friends around me," he recalled of a quiet moment at home. "I drank a glass of beer at Moisser's," he dictated with equal frankness. An enthusiast for winter activities, Smith would often close his office whenever it snowed to go sledding with his son Frederick or to take his wife Emma sleighing. Occasionally short-tempered, Smith once told detractors to "hide their heads in a hollow pumpkin and never take it out." He could lose patience with people who left meetings before the benediction and with young men who sneaked onto the women's side of the congregation. People asked him why he used "such flat and vulgar expressions," but on occasion he could transcend his frontier parlance and speak in eloquent metaphor, such as when he described the resurrection: "It is pleasing for friends to lie down together locked in the arms of love, to sleep, and [awake] locked in each others' embrace [to] renew their conversation." (Scott Faulring - An American Prophet's Record).I like this description the best:He was a self made man, rising from poverty to power, from semiliteracy to knowledge of both worldly and heavenly mysteries, from anonymity to fame, from being nobody to being somebody. He was a shaper of both present and future, a man who seemed to make history rather than merely reacting to it - qualities much prized in America. Personally he exemplified other ideals; he was big, strong, blond, handsome, virile, young ambitious, hearty, humorous, at once earthy and godlike, articulate but not pedantic, possessed of a vanity and pomposity more admired than ridiculed and enormously attractive to both men and women. That is enough to make any American some kind of hero, to name at least one town after. (Robert Flanders, Dream and Nightmare: Nauvoo Revisited) I thought Joseph Smith had brown hair and was medium build??? That, at least, is what the pictures of him show. In what way was he powerful? The church? Just curious.broadway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ammon Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Odd. The antimormons, through all kinds of journal entries and historical accounts, depict him as an adulterer, child molester, cheat, gold-digger, and scam artist. They also compare him to Mohamed. It is very interesting to see the different lights in which this one man is seen. On the one had, he is a saint, on the other, he is a vile sinner. Most interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Originally posted by broadway@Mar 30 2004, 07:20 AM I thought Joseph Smith had brown hair and was medium build??? That, at least, is what the pictures of him show. In what way was he powerful? The church? Just curious.broadway I believe he was 6'1" or taller, which must have been tall for the time. He had a muscular build and a large chest. He could physically dominate others and enjoyed besting them in good natured competition such as wrestling. I think that because of his atheliticism he had developed a propensity to settle some issue with his fists when he was younger and later seems bothered by it as he felt that such was not consonant with one called by God.Beyond being physically powerful, he was the type of man that exuded authority and charisma. People listened to him. People claimed to feel the spirit emanating from him and kept the memories of it with them.I remember that a couple years ago Trident maintained that JS was an ugly man (as if a man of God would not be ugly). That would make Joseph's accomplishments all the more impressive but alas, he was also very personable and persuasive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Originally posted by Ammon@Mar 30 2004, 12:20 PM Odd. The antimormons, through all kinds of journal entries and historical accounts, depict him as an adulterer, child molester, cheat, gold-digger, and scam artist. They also compare him to Mohamed. It is very interesting to see the different lights in which this one man is seen. On the one had, he is a saint, on the other, he is a vile sinner. Most interesting. His name was to behad for good and evil...right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 I feel like I know him personally...on a level few would understand... He was falable, sometimes even stupid....but he tried very very hard to do the right thing...trouble was...he wasn't really good at long-term relationships because of his honest....and forthrightness. He didn't ever kiss ####. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest curvette Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I've never read firsthand accounts of Joseph being ugly. He did have quite a schnoz on him, but people described him as handsome. The thing that cracks me up is when modern LDS people characterize him as ordinary. There was absolutely nothing ordinary about him. He was extraordinarily charismatic and gifted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadway Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by curvette@Mar 30 2004, 06:01 PMI've never read firsthand accounts of Joseph being ugly. He did have quite a schnoz on him, but people described him as handsome. The thing that cracks me up is when modern LDS people characterize him as ordinary. There was absolutely nothing ordinary about him. He was extraordinarily charismatic and gifted.Well, if one thinks about it, he probably had to have been. He brought many to the church. broadway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 You see pictures of Joseph like this that look like the artist was in love with him:You see the same kind of idealized images of Christ.Smith may have been handsome but probably not like Soap Opera handsome: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I don't know...I think he is drop dead gorgeous... As for those girly looking dudes on the soaps....they don't apeal to me at all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFDaw Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 That picture is one of the better ones. Who's the artist that came out with that book about the Smiths? I love the one where he's brushing Emma's hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by AFDaw@Mar 30 2004, 05:24 PM That picture is one of the better ones. Who's the artist that came out with that book about the Smiths? I love the one where he's brushing Emma's hair. I have never seen that one....oh please ...if someone has it...post it here for me...okay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFDaw Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Let me try searching for it online....Artwork by Liz Lemon Swindle. She did this book Joseph Smith: Impressions of a Prophet GREAT Artwork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 and here's a picture of me brushing my own hair:http://www.sithly.com/meetme/weblog/images...2april02-04.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFDaw Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 So when you grow up you wanna be like you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Thank you AFDaw! that is awesome...I have never seen this one before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Starsky Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by Snow@Mar 30 2004, 06:11 PM and here's a picture of me brushing my own hair:http://www.sithly.com/meetme/weblog/images...2april02-04.jpg ROFL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srm Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by broadway+Mar 30 2004, 07:20 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (broadway @ Mar 30 2004, 07:20 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Snow@Mar 29 2004, 11:40 PM People wrote in their diaries that they met Joseph Smith in their 20’s and that the encounter stayed with them vividly for rest of their life.What would it have been like? What was HE like?He must have been a man dripping with passion and charisma. Big, impressive physique, capable of dominating most men he met. Yet he was warm and gracious, mischievous.In his personal diaries Joseph reveals himself as a complex and human religious leader and innovative thinker. "I enjoyed myself by my own fireside with many friends around me," he recalled of a quiet moment at home. "I drank a glass of beer at Moisser's," he dictated with equal frankness. An enthusiast for winter activities, Smith would often close his office whenever it snowed to go sledding with his son Frederick or to take his wife Emma sleighing. Occasionally short-tempered, Smith once told detractors to "hide their heads in a hollow pumpkin and never take it out." He could lose patience with people who left meetings before the benediction and with young men who sneaked onto the women's side of the congregation. People asked him why he used "such flat and vulgar expressions," but on occasion he could transcend his frontier parlance and speak in eloquent metaphor, such as when he described the resurrection: "It is pleasing for friends to lie down together locked in the arms of love, to sleep, and [awake] locked in each others' embrace [to] renew their conversation." (Scott Faulring - An American Prophet's Record).I like this description the best:He was a self made man, rising from poverty to power, from semiliteracy to knowledge of both worldly and heavenly mysteries, from anonymity to fame, from being nobody to being somebody. He was a shaper of both present and future, a man who seemed to make history rather than merely reacting to it - qualities much prized in America. Personally he exemplified other ideals; he was big, strong, blond, handsome, virile, young ambitious, hearty, humorous, at once earthy and godlike, articulate but not pedantic, possessed of a vanity and pomposity more admired than ridiculed and enormously attractive to both men and women. That is enough to make any American some kind of hero, to name at least one town after. (Robert Flanders, Dream and Nightmare: Nauvoo Revisited) I thought Joseph Smith had brown hair and was medium build??? That, at least, is what the pictures of him show. In what way was he powerful? The church? Just curious.broadway Physically, he was always one of the strongest man around (usually the strongest). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr2 Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I believe he was 6'1" or taller, which must have been tall for the time. He had a muscular build and a large chest. He could physically dominate others and enjoyed besting them in good natured competition such as wrestling. I think that because of his atheliticism he had developed a propensity to settle some issue with his fists when he was younger and later seems bothered by it as he felt that such was not consonant with one called by God.He could leap tall buildings, fun faster than a speeding bullet........... yada yada yada. Hard to take this all seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srm Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by Tr2@Mar 30 2004, 08:35 PM I believe he was 6'1" or taller, which must have been tall for the time. He had a muscular build and a large chest. He could physically dominate others and enjoyed besting them in good natured competition such as wrestling. I think that because of his atheliticism he had developed a propensity to settle some issue with his fists when he was younger and later seems bothered by it as he felt that such was not consonant with one called by God.He could leap tall buildings, fun faster than a speeding bullet........... yada yada yada. Hard to take this all seriously. the reports from both friend or foe are that he was unusually strong. is that a problem for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restornu Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Originally posted by AFDaw@Mar 30 2004, 06:58 PMLet me try searching for it online....Artwork by Liz Lemon Swindle. She did this book Joseph Smith: Impressions of a Prophet GREAT Artwork!I love the painting where he is helping Helen Mar with her arithmetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgallan Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I'd wrestle him..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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