William Ellery Channing Quotes
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There is but a very minute portion of the creation which we can turn into food and clothes, or gratification for the body; but the whole creation may be used to minister to the sense of beauty.
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Of all the discoveries which men need to make, the most important, at the present moment, is that of the self-forming power treasured up in themselves. They little suspect its extent, as little as the savage apprehends the energy which the mind is created to exert on the material world.
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The miracles of Christ were studiously performed in the most unostentatious way. He seemed anxious to veil His majesty under the love with which they were wrought.
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God be thanked for books; they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages.
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To do God's will as fast as it is made known to us, to inquire hourly -- I had almost said each moment -- what He requires of us, and to leave ourselves, our friends, and every interest at His control, with a cheerful trust that the path which He marks out leads to our perfection and to Himself, -- this is at once our duty and happiness; and why will we not walk in the plain, simple way?.
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We must not waste life in devising means. It is better to plan less and do more.
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To give a generous hope to a man of his own nature, is to enrich him immeasurably.
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Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.
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A man might pass for insane who should see things as they are.
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O God, animate us to cheerfulness! May we have a joyful sense of our blessings, learn to look on the bright circumstances of our lot, and maintain a perpetual contentedness
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Do anything rather than give yourself to reverie.
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A clear thought, a pure affection, a resolute act of a virtuous will, have a dignity of quite another kind, and far higher than accumulations of brick and granite and plaster and stucco, however cunningly put together.
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Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself.
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A man may quarrel with himself alone; that is, by controverting his better instincts and knowledge when brought face to face with temptation.
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God is another name for human intelligence raised above all error and imperfection, and extended to all possible truth.
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It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great.
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But the ground of a man's culture lies in his nature, not in his calling. His powers are to be unfolded on account of their inherent dignity, not their outward direction. He is to be educated, because he is a man, not because he is to make shoes, nail, or pins.
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A man in earnest finds means or, if he cannot find, creates them.
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The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could hardly be propagated.
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Knowledge is essential to freedom.
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Mistakes and errors are the discipline through which we advance.
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War is to be ranked among the most dreadful calamities which fall on a guilty world; and, what deserves consideration, it tends to multiply and perpetuate itself without end. It feeds and grows on the blood which it sheds. The passions, from which it springs, gain strength and fury from indulgence.
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Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life
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A general loftiness of sentiment, independence of men, consciousness of good intentions, self-oblivion in great objects, clear views of futurity; thoughts of the blessed companionship of saints and angels, trust in God as the friend of truth and virtue,--these are the states of mind in which I should live.