Famous Quotes from ...

William Ellery Channing

  • War will never yield but to the principles of universal justice and love.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • Beauty is an all-pervading presence. It unfolds to the numberless flowers of the Spring; it waves in the branches of the trees and in the green blades of grass; it haunts the depths of the earth and the sea, and gleams out in the hues of the shell and the precious stone. And not only these minute objects, but the ocean, the mountains, the clouds, the heavens, the stars, the rising and the setting sun all overflow with beauty. The universe is its temple; and those people who are alive to it can not lift their eyes without feeling themselves encompassed with it on every side.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • The distinctions of society vanish before the light of these truths. I attach myself to the multitude, not because they are voters and have political power; but because they are (human), and have within their reach the most glorious prizes of humanity. . . . Self-culture, the care which every (person) owes to (oneself), to the unfolding . . . of (one's) nature. . . .... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • The great hope of society is in individual character... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent: but these are all poor and worthless compared with the common light which the sun sends into all our windows, which pours freely, impartially over hill and valley, which kindles daily the eastern and western sky; and so the common lights of reason, and conscience, and love, are of more worth and dignity than the rare endowments which give celebrity to a few.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • We grow by love . . . others are our nutriment.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • Men are never very wise and select in the exercise of a new power.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • [I]n reverential sympathy with the mighty power around me, I became conscious of power within.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • One of the tremendous evils of the world, is the monstrous accumulation of power in a few hands.... William Ellery Channing {view}
  • Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life.... William Ellery Channing {view}