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Perhaps in our presence, the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit, the loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifice made, and we do not suspect it. I believe this greatness to be most common among the multitude, whose names are never heard.

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
Done
Among
Heroic
Made
Perhaps
Generous
Loftiest
Believe
Heard
Deeds
Cherished
Never
Names
Presence
Multitude
Purpose
Greatness
Deed
Common
Silent
Multitudes
Spirit
Sacrifice
Suspect
Earth
Whose
Suspects

More quotes by William Ellery Channing

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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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Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself.
William Ellery Channing
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Be true to your own highest convictions.
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I call that mind free which protects itself against the usurpations of society, and which does not cower to human opinion: Which refuses to be the slave or tool of the many or of the few, and guards its empire over itself as nobler than the empire of the world.
William Ellery Channing
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The worst tyrants are those which establish themselves in our own breasts.
William Ellery Channing
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Natural amiableness is too often seen in company with sloth, with uselessness, with the vanity of fashionable life.
William Ellery Channing
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Let every man, if possible, gather some good books under his roof.
William Ellery Channing
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All noble enthusiasms pass through a feverish stage, and grow wiser and more serene
William Ellery Channing
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The spirit of liberty is not merely, as multitudes imagine, a jealousy of our own particular rights, but a respect for the rights of others, and an unwillingness that any man, whether high or low, should be wronged and trampled under foot.
William Ellery Channing
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Faith is love taking the form of aspiration.
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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Let us aspire towards this living confidence, that it is the will of God to unfold and exalt without end the spirit that entrusts itself to Him in well-doing as to a faithful Creator.
William Ellery Channing
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Knowledge is essential to freedom.
William Ellery Channing
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God is another name for human intelligence raised above all error and imperfection, and extended to all possible truth.
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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Every human being has a work to carry on within, duties to perform abroad, influence to exert, which are peculiarly his, and which no conscience but his own can teach.
William Ellery Channing
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All that we do outwardly is but the expression and completion of our inward thought. To work effectively, we must think clearly to act nobly, we must think nobly.
William Ellery Channing
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In general, we do well to let an opponent's motives alone. We are seldom just to them. Our own motives on such occasions are often worse than those we assail.
William Ellery Channing
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It feeds and grows on the blood which it sheds. The passions , from which it springs, gain strength and fury from indulgence.
William Ellery Channing
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Most joyful let the Poet be, it is through him that all men see.
William Ellery Channing