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. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share Image
The reveries of youth, in which so much energy is wasted, are the yearnings of a Spirit made for what it has not found… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
A man may quarrel with himself alone; that is, by controverting his better instincts and knowledge when brought face to face with temptation. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent; but these are all poor and worthless compared with the… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
Men are never very wise and select in the exercise of a new power. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
All virtue lies in individual action, in inward energy, in self determination. There is no moral worth in being swept away by a crowd… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
We honor revelation too highly to make it the antagonist of reason, or to believe that it calls us to renounce our highest powers. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
To give a generous hope to a man of his own nature, is to enrich him immeasurably. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
No man receives the full culture of a man in whom the sensibility to the beautiful is not cherished; and there is no condition… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content itself with… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a man may regenerate him. — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy,… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
“god be thanked for books. they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
Perhaps in our presence, the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit, the loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifice… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no… — William Ellery Channing Copy Share
