--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A child is a beam of sunlight from the…" description: "\"A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice - but as yet unstained.\" — Lyman Abbott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png" --- # A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and… ![“A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice - but as yet unstained.” quote by Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png) > “A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice - but as yet unstained.” [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child is a pure, untainted potential for both good and bad, shaped by future influences. **In simple terms:** Children hold untapped moral potential. Key Takeaway Nurture moral growth early. Themes innocence potential morality Mood hopeful concerned Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - education - childcare - community programs Key Concepts human nature development ethics Questions to Reflect On - What values should we instill in children? - How does environment shape moral choices? A Different Perspective External influences can corrupt innocence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Sunlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunlight/) [Vices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vices/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Today is unique! It has never occurred and it will never be repeated. At midnight it will end, quietly, suddenly, totally. Forever. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/today-is-unique-it-has-never-occurred-and-it-will-never-be-repeated/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [Round and round the questions flew, until finally I found myself standing at the open door of a bookshop. It’s natural in times of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/round-and-round-the-questions-flew-until-finally-i-found-myself/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Invite the Sacred to participate in your joy in little things, as well as in your agony over the great ones. There are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-o-howell/invite-the-sacred-to-participate-in-your-joy-in-little-things-as-well/) [Alice O. Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-o-howell/) > [My soul is wrapped in harsh repose, Midnight descends in raven-colored clothes, But soft... behold! A sunlight beam Butting a swath of glimmering gleam.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/my-soul-is-wrapped-in-harsh-repose-midnight-descends-in-raven-colored/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [I would love to see what's going to happen with science fiction with peoples' heads, because we still have people running around in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-nielsen/i-would-love-to-see-what-s-going-to-happen-with-science-fiction-with/) [Leslie Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-nielsen/) > [Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters-like-ares-comes-the-bridegroom/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-hall/the-closer-the-source-of-light-is-to-a-subject-the-broader-the-beams/) [Conrad Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-hall/) > [Let her alone,' said the enkanto, 'or I will curse you blind, lame, and worse.' The old man laughed. 'I'm a curse breaker, fool.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/let-her-alone-said-the-enkanto-or-i-will-curse-you-blind-lame-and/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [See with what force yon river's crystal stream Resists the weight of many a massy beam. To sink the wood the more we vainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/see-with-what-force-yon-river-s-crystal-stream-resists-the-weight-of/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [“Sometimes good people do bad things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gilmore/sometimes-good-people-do-bad-things/) Andrew Gilmore > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I was really interested in this ability for others to create virtual memories for us. In "The Cartographers" I explore this through Adam Woods,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/i-was-really-interested-in-this-ability-for-others-to-create-virtual/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [I've said it before, good people are forced to do bad things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-cloud/i-ve-said-it-before-good-people-are-forced-to-do-bad-things/) [Angus Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-cloud/) ## More by Lyman Abbott > [No man can be patient who has not strong passions, for patience is passion tamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/no-man-can-be-patient-who-has-not-strong-passions-for-patience-is/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [We Gentiles owe our life to Israel. It is Israel who has brought us the message that God is one, and that God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/we-gentiles-owe-our-life-to-israel-it-is-israel-who-has-brought-us/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [If the impure and the unjust, the drunkard and the licentious, are loathsome to us, what must be the infinite loathing of an infinitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/if-the-impure-and-the-unjust-the-drunkard-and-the-licentious-are/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [I abhor a hoe. I am fond of flowers but not of dirt, and had rather buy them than cultivate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/i-abhor-a-hoe-i-am-fond-of-flowers-but-not-of-dirt-and-had-rather-buy/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [If I am to tell you how to grow old gracefully, I must tell you at the beginning of life; for no man can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/if-i-am-to-tell-you-how-to-grow-old-gracefully-i-must-tell-you-at-the/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [Courage is caution overcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/courage-is-caution-overcome/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [It is easy to condemn, it is better to pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/it-is-easy-to-condemn-it-is-better-to-pity/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [Every life is march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/every-life-is-march-from-innocence-through-temptation-to-virtue-or/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [A graceful and blessed old age must have three elements in it: a happy retrospect, a peaceful present, and an inspiring future. And old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-graceful-and-blessed-old-age-must-have-three-elements-in-it-a-happy/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [I think of death as a glad awakening from this troubled sleep which we call life; as an emancipation from a world, which, beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/i-think-of-death-as-a-glad-awakening-from-this-troubled-sleep-which/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [A miracle constantly repeated becomes a process of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-miracle-constantly-repeated-becomes-a-process-of-nature/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [Evolution does not attempt to explain the origin of life. It is simply a history of the process of life. With the secret cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/evolution-does-not-attempt-to-explain-the-origin-of-life-it-is-simply/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [A miracle no longer seems to me a manifestation of extraordinary power, but an extraordinary manifestation of ordinary power. God is always showing himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-miracle-no-longer-seems-to-me-a-manifestation-of-extraordinary/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [Postmodernism represents a moment of suspension before the batteries are recharged for the new millennium, an acknowledgment that preceding the future is a strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/postmodernism-represents-a-moment-of-suspension-before-the-batteries/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) > [The brotherhood of man is an integral part of Christianity no less than the Fatherhood of God; and to deny the one is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/the-brotherhood-of-man-is-an-integral-part-of-christianity-no-less/) [Lyman Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) [Explore all 54 Lyman Abbott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/) ## More Beam quotes > [I've said it before, good people are forced to do bad things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-cloud/i-ve-said-it-before-good-people-are-forced-to-do-bad-things/) [Angus Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-cloud/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I was really interested in this ability for others to create virtual memories for us. In "The Cartographers" I explore this through Adam Woods,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/i-was-really-interested-in-this-ability-for-others-to-create-virtual/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“Sometimes good people do bad things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gilmore/sometimes-good-people-do-bad-things/) Andrew Gilmore > [See with what force yon river's crystal stream Resists the weight of many a massy beam. To sink the wood the more we vainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/see-with-what-force-yon-river-s-crystal-stream-resists-the-weight-of/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [Let her alone,' said the enkanto, 'or I will curse you blind, lame, and worse.' The old man laughed. 'I'm a curse breaker, fool.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/let-her-alone-said-the-enkanto-or-i-will-curse-you-blind-lame-and/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-hall/the-closer-the-source-of-light-is-to-a-subject-the-broader-the-beams/) [Conrad Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-hall/) > [Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters-like-ares-comes-the-bridegroom/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [I would love to see what's going to happen with science fiction with peoples' heads, because we still have people running around in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-nielsen/i-would-love-to-see-what-s-going-to-happen-with-science-fiction-with/) [Leslie Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-nielsen/) > [The House ...She lays her beams in music, In music everyone, To the cadence of the whirling world Which dances around the sun- That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-house-she-lays-her-beams-in-music-in-music-everyone-to-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“Bad people very often do one good thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-forrest/bad-people-very-often-do-one-good-thing/) [Emma Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-forrest/) > [I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: 'OK, I'm getting ready to do my standing back full on beam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-johnson/i-had-a-constant-fear-a-constant-little-doubt-in-my-mind-ok-i-m/) [Shawn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-johnson/) Browse all 396 Beam quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice - but as yet unstained.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lyman Abbott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-infinite-and-eternal-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beam" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-infinite-and-eternal-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e79/lyman-abbott-12542_beam_a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-i_369397.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A child is a beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice - but as…” — Lyman Abbott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lyman Abbott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-abbott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A child is a beam of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-infinite-and-eternal-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-abbott/a-child-is-a-beam-of-sunlight-from-the-infinite-and-eternal-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```