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Real greatness has nothing to do with a man’s sphere. It does not lie in the magnitude of his outward agency, in the extent of the effects which he produces. The greatest men may do comparatively little.

William Ellery Channing

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William Ellery Channing
Age: 62 †
Born: 1780
Born: April 7
Died: 1842
Died: October 2
Pastor
Preacher
Theologian
Newport
Rhode Island
Reverend William Ellery Channing
May
Extent
Little
Greatness
Comparatively
Nothing
Effects
Magnitude
Real
Produce
Sphere
Men
Greatest
Outward
Lying
Spheres
Doe
Produces
Littles
Agency

More quotes by William Ellery Channing

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The fewer the voices on the side of truth, the more distinct and strong must be your own.
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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.
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Books are true levelers. They give to all, who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race.
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All noble enthusiasms pass through a feverish stage, and grow wiser and more serene
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To give a generous hope to a man of his own nature, is to enrich him immeasurably.
William Ellery Channing
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The great hope of society is in individual character
William Ellery Channing
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The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought.
William Ellery Channing
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No power in society, no hardship in your condition can depress you, keep you down, in knowledge, power, virtue, influence, but by your own consent.
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Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.
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The world is to be carried forward by truth, which at first offends, which wins its way by degrees, which the many hate and would rejoice to crush.
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We never know a greater character unless there is in ourselves something congenial to it.
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It has often been observed, that those who have the most time at their disposal profit by it the least. A single hour a day, steadily given to the study of some interesting subject, brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge.
William Ellery Channing
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War will never yield but to the principles of universal justice and love, and these have no sure root but in the religion of Jesus Christ.
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Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.
William Ellery Channing
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No one should part with their individuality and become that of another.
William Ellery Channing
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He who is false to the present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and you will see the effect when the weaving of a life-time is unraveled.
William Ellery Channing
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Progress, the growth of power, is the end and boon of liberty and, without this, a people may have the name, but want the substance and spirit of freedom.
William Ellery Channing
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My highway is unfeatured air, My consorts are the sleepless stars, And men my giant arms upbear My arms unstained and free from scars.
William Ellery Channing
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It is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge which determines the mind's dignity.
William Ellery Channing
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No man receives the full culture of a man in whom the sensibility to the beautiful is not cherished and there is no condition of life from which it should be excluded. Of all luxuries this is the cheapest, and the most at hand, and most important to those conditions where coarse labor tends to give grossness to the mind.
William Ellery Channing