--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One good anecdote is worth a volume of…" description: "\"One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography.\" — William Ellery Channing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg" --- # One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography. ![“One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography.” quote by William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg) > “One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography.” [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A single vivid anecdote can reveal a person’s life more powerfully than many facts. **In simple terms:** One story can replace a whole biography. Key Takeaway Use memorable anecdotes to illustrate character. Themes biography communication storytelling Mood thoughtful reflective Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - writing - teaching - public speaking - personal branding Key Concepts anecdotal evidence memory impact Questions to Reflect On - Which anecdote best captures a person’s essence? - When does a story become misleading? A Different Perspective Anecdotes may oversimplify complex lives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anecdote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdote/) [Anecdote Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdote-worth-5005656/) [Anecdotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdotes/) [Biographies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biographies/) [Good Anecdote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-anecdote-5005657/) [Volume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volume/) [Volume Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/volume-biography-3897607/) [Worth Volume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-volume-5005658/) ## Related quotes > [Good anecdote--bad reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/good-anecdote-bad-reality/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [The best one-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln is still Benjamin Thomas's 1952 biography. David Donald's 1995 biography is a close second, and close enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/the-best-one-volume-biography-of-abraham-lincoln-is-still-benjamin/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [I am opposed, naturally, to regurgitating anecdote or any other form of received wisdom, unless it is characterized as such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-thorn/i-am-opposed-naturally-to-regurgitating-anecdote-or-any-other-form-of/) [John Thorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-thorn/) > [I watched our friends' wary, intelligent faces droop at our tale. Their shock was a mere shadow of our own, resembling more the goodwilled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-watched-our-friends-wary-intelligent-faces-droop-at-our-tale-their/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Anecdote: It is by no means self-evident that human beings are most real when most violently excited; violent physical passions do not in themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/anecdote-it-is-by-no-means-self-evident-that-human-beings-are-most/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [I think my first general rule is that most of my experiences are not that interesting. It's usually other people's experiences. It's not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-my-first-general-rule-is-that-most-of-my-experiences-are-not/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Anecdote: A house that is rooted to one spot but can travel as quickly as you change your mind and is complete in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/anecdote-a-house-that-is-rooted-to-one-spot-but-can-travel-as-quickly/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [The plural of anecdote is not data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bekoff/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-not-data/) [Marc Bekoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bekoff/) > [Sometimes ... the short short appears to rest on nothing more than a fragile anecdote which the writer has managed to drape with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/sometimes-the-short-short-appears-to-rest-on-nothing-more-than-a/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) > [An anecdote is related of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (1621-1683), who, in speaking of religion, said, "People differ in their discourse and profession about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-burnet/an-anecdote-is-related-of-sir-anthony-ashley-cooper-1621-1683-who-in/) [Gilbert Burnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-burnet/) > [Somewhere, there, is an analogy, in a small way, if you have the patience for it. But I guess it isn't a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/somewhere-there-is-an-analogy-in-a-small-way-if-you-have-the-patience/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Meanwhile with the help of an anecdote I fell in love. Words caravaggio. They have a power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/meanwhile-with-the-help-of-an-anecdote-i-fell-in-love-words/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [The plural on anecdote is not evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mauboussin/the-plural-on-anecdote-is-not-evidence/) [Michael Mauboussin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mauboussin/) ## More by William Ellery Channing > [The reveries of youth, in which so much energy is wasted, are the yearnings of a Spirit made for what it has not found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/the-reveries-of-youth-in-which-so-much-energy-is-wasted-are-the/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [A man may quarrel with himself alone; that is, by controverting his better instincts and knowledge when brought face to face with temptation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/a-man-may-quarrel-with-himself-alone-that-is-by-controverting-his/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent; but these are all poor and worthless compared with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/science-and-art-may-invent-splendid-modes-of-illuminating-the/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Men are never very wise and select in the exercise of a new power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/men-are-never-very-wise-and-select-in-the-exercise-of-a-new-power/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [All virtue lies in individual action, in inward energy, in self determination. There is no moral worth in being swept away by a crowd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/all-virtue-lies-in-individual-action-in-inward-energy-in-self/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [We honor revelation too highly to make it the antagonist of reason, or to believe that it calls us to renounce our highest powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/we-honor-revelation-too-highly-to-make-it-the-antagonist-of-reason-or/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [To give a generous hope to a man of his own nature, is to enrich him immeasurably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/to-give-a-generous-hope-to-a-man-of-his-own-nature-is-to-enrich-him/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [No man receives the full culture of a man in whom the sensibility to the beautiful is not cherished; and there is no condition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/no-man-receives-the-full-culture-of-a-man-in-whom-the-sensibility-to/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [I call that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content itself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/i-call-that-mind-free-which-jealously-guards-its-intellectual-rights/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a man may regenerate him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/ideas-are-the-mightiest-influence-on-earth-one-great-thought-breathed/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/to-live-content-with-small-means-to-seek-elegance-rather-than-luxury/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [“god be thanked for books. they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/god-be-thanked-for-books-they-are-the-voices-of-the-distant-and-the/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Perhaps in our presence, the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit, the loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/perhaps-in-our-presence-the-most-heroic-deed-on-earth-is-done-in-some/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/each-of-us-is-meant-to-have-a-character-all-our-own-to-be-what-no/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) [Explore all 130 William Ellery Channing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) ## More Anecdote quotes > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Sometimes I get the start of a story from a memory, an anecdote, but that gets lost and is usually unrecognizable in the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/sometimes-i-get-the-start-of-a-story-from-a-memory-an-anecdote-but/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [ “\[The cats\] scamper in front of my legs, causing me to fall and face plant into whatever furniture is closest. They especially like to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weston-locher/the-cats-scamper-in-front-of-my-legs-causing-me-to-fall-and-face/) [Weston Locher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weston-locher/) > [Meanwhile with the help of an anecdote I fell in love. Words caravaggio. They have a power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/meanwhile-with-the-help-of-an-anecdote-i-fell-in-love-words/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Somewhere, there, is an analogy, in a small way, if you have the patience for it. But I guess it isn't a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/somewhere-there-is-an-analogy-in-a-small-way-if-you-have-the-patience/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [An anecdote is related of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (1621-1683), who, in speaking of religion, said, "People differ in their discourse and profession about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-burnet/an-anecdote-is-related-of-sir-anthony-ashley-cooper-1621-1683-who-in/) [Gilbert Burnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-burnet/) > [“The usual short story cannot have a complex plot, but it often has a simple one resembling a chain with two or three links.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/the-usual-short-story-cannot-have-a-complex-plot-but-it-often-has-a/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) > [“She wondered if she was in the midst of an anecdote that, for reasons of proximity, she was not yet able to perceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/she-wondered-if-she-was-in-the-midst-of-an-anecdote-that-for-reasons/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Sometimes ... the short short appears to rest on nothing more than a fragile anecdote which the writer has managed to drape with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/sometimes-the-short-short-appears-to-rest-on-nothing-more-than-a/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) > [“In the middle section of the book Mirabelle breaks into not one, but two houses near Belgravia Books. I had fun scoping these out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/in-the-middle-section-of-the-book-mirabelle-breaks-into-not-one-but/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [“I was fired ignominiously from the Junior School Choir for being so off tune that the choir mistress declared she couldn't even bear to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/i-was-fired-ignominiously-from-the-junior-school-choir-for-being-so/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [The plural of anecdote is not data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bekoff/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-not-data/) [Marc Bekoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bekoff/) > [“After all, this was the place where I’d had my first meaningful conversation with a female, it was the site of a football’s first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weston-locher/after-all-this-was-the-place-where-i-d-had-my-first-meaningful/) [Weston Locher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weston-locher/) > [I have one anecdote about the FBI breaking into an embassy in Washington, and under Hoover, they had this sort of ruse whereby they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-kessler/i-have-one-anecdote-about-the-fbi-breaking-into-an-embassy-in/) [Ronald Kessler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-kessler/) [Browse all 54 Anecdote quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdote/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Ellery Channing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-biography/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anecdote" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-biography/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62e/william-ellery-channing-3428_anecdotes_one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-b_2228794.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One good anecdote is worth a volume of biography.” — William Ellery Channing", "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": "William Ellery Channing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One good anecdote is worth a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-biography/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/one-good-anecdote-is-worth-a-volume-of-biography/#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 } } ] } ```