41 Quotes & Sayings By William Ellery Channing

William Ellery Channing was an American Unitarian minister who was one of the most prominent American Transcendentalists. He is perhaps best known for being the minister of the Unitarian Church in Boston, Massachusetts, where he delivered a sermon on July 4th 1818, titled "The Transcendentalist". Channing also wrote "An Ode to Liberty" after witnessing the Boston Tea Party, which became the American national anthem. He remains an influential figure in the fields of philosophy and education Read more

He was one of the founders of Harvard University.

The world is to be carried forward by truth, which...
1
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. William Ellery Channing
2
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. this is my symphony. William Ellery Channing
Faith is love taking the form of aspiration.
3
Faith is love taking the form of aspiration. William Ellery Channing
The home is the chief school of human virtues.
4
The home is the chief school of human virtues. William Ellery Channing
5
Reading is the royal road to intellectual eminence... Truly good books are more than mines to those who can understand them. They are the breathings of the great souls of past times. Genius is not embalmed in them, but lives in them perpetually. William Ellery Channing
6
The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. William Ellery Channing
7
Why is it that we are so busy with the future? It is not our province; and is there not a criminal interference with Him to whom it belongs, in our feverish, anxious attempts to dispose of it, and in filling it up with shadows of good and evil shaped by our own wild imaginations? To do God's will as fast as it is made known to us, to inquire hourly-- I had almost said each moment--what He requires of us, and to leave ourselves, our friends, and every interest at His control, with a cheerful trust that the path which He marks out leads to our perfection and to Himself, --this is at once our duty and happiness; and why will we not walk in the plain, simple way? . William Ellery Channing
8
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony. William Ellery Channing
9
The cry has been that when war is declared, all opposition should be hushed. A sentiment more unworthy of a free country could hardly be propagated. William Ellery Channing
10
A man in earnest finds means, or if he cannot find he creates them. A vigorous purpose makes much out of little, breathes power into weak instruments, disarms difficulties, and even turns them into assistances. Every condition has means of progress, if we have spirit enough to use them. William Ellery Channing
11
Difficulties are meant to rouse not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. William Ellery Channing
12
One anecdote of a man is worth a volume of biography. William Ellery Channing
13
The great hope of society is individual character. William Ellery Channing
14
The sages and heroes of history are receding from us and history contracts the record of their deeds into a narrower and narrower page. But time has no power over the name and deeds and words of Jesus Christ. William Ellery Channing
15
It is a greater work to educate a child in the true and larger sense of the word than to rule a state. William Ellery Channing
16
Mistakes and errors are the discipline through which we advance. William Ellery Channing
17
We must not waste life in devising means. It is better to plan less and do more. William Ellery Channing
18
To live content with small means to seek elegance rather than luxury and refinement rather than fashion to be worthy not respectable and wealthy not rich to study hard think quietly talk gently act frankly to listen to the stars and birds to babes and sages with open heart to bear on cheerfully do all bravely awaiting occasions worry never in a word to like the spiritual unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. William Ellery Channing
19
We grow by love ... others are our nutriment. William Ellery Channing
20
Immortality is the glorious discovery of Christianity. William Ellery Channing
21
Every man is a volume if you know how to read them. William Ellery Channing
22
An earnest purpose finds time or makes it. It seizes on spare moments and turns fragments to golden account. William Ellery Channing
23
Most joyful let the Poet be it is through him that all men see. William Ellery Channing
24
All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectively he must think clearly to act nobly he must think nobly. William Ellery Channing
25
Every human being is intended to have a character of his own to be what no others are and to do what no other can do. William Ellery Channing
26
No man should part with his own individuality and become that of another. William Ellery Channing
27
What distinguishes war is not that man is slain but that he is slain spoiled crushed by the cruelty the injustice the treachery the murderous hand of man. William Ellery Channing
28
The great hope of society is in individual character. William Ellery Channing
29
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
30
Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. William Ellery Channing
31
How easy to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success. William Ellery Channing
32
The office of government is not to confer happiness, but to give men the opportunity to work out happiness for themselves. William Ellery Channing
33
God is another name for human intelligence raised above all error and imperfection, and extended to all possible truth. William Ellery Channing
34
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. William Ellery Channing
35
It is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge which determines the mind's dignity. William Ellery Channing
36
Nothing which has entered into our experience is ever lost. William Ellery Channing
37
The world is governed by opinion. William Ellery Channing
38
Life has a higher end, than to be amused. William Ellery Channing
39
We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure. William Ellery Channing
40
Every man is a volume if you know how to read him. William Ellery Channing