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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.

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
Truth
Objects
Sentiments
States
Thoughts
Angels
Loftiness
Live
Friend
Saint
Futurity
Self
Trust
Independence
Sentiment
Great
Consciousness
Intention
Companionship
Mind
Views
Angel
Oblivion
Good
Virtue
Blessed
Saints
Men
Clear
General
Intentions

More quotes by William Ellery Channing

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Every human being is a volume, worthy to be studied.
William Ellery Channing
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God be thanked for books they are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages.
William Ellery Channing
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It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great.
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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We never know a greater character unless there is in ourselves something congenial to it.
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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Another powerful principle of our nature, which is the spring of war, is the passion for superiority, for triumph, for power. The human mind is aspiring, impatient of inferiority, and eager for preeminence and control.
William Ellery Channing
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How easy to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success.
William Ellery Channing
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Did any man at his death ever regret his conflicts with himself, his victories over appetite, his scorn of impure pleasure, or his sufferings for righteousness' sake?
William Ellery Channing
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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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Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.
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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Undoubtedly a man is to labor to better his condition, but first to better himself.
William Ellery Channing
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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
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The mind, in proportion as it is cut off from free communication with nature, with revelation, with God, with itself, loses its life, just as the body droops when debarred from the air and the cheering light from heaven.
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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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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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
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Other blessings may be taken away, but if we have acquired a good friend by goodness, we have a blessing which improves in value when others fail.
William Ellery Channing
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Religion is faith in an infinite Creator, who delights in and enjoins that rectitude which conscience commands us to seek. This conviction gives a Divine sanction to duty.
William Ellery Channing