Author

William Ellery Channing

American · 1780-1842 · 62 quotes

62

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William Ellery Channing

American · 1780–1842

62 quotes in our collection

William Ellery Channing was an American author, moralist, and Unitarian clergyman. A leading religious voice in early nineteenth-century New England, he became closely associated with the development of American Unitarian thought. His 1819 sermon Unitarian Christianity was especially influential. Channing often emphasized conscience, moral freedom, spiritual dignity, and the ethical responsibilities of public life.

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Collected Quotes

All quotes by William Ellery Channing

Nothing which has entered into our experience is ever lost

Do anything rather than give yourself to reverie

I affirm, and would maintain, that true religion consists in proposing, as our great end, a growing likeness to the supreme being

Man's spiritual nature is no dream of theologians to vanish before the light of natural science. It is the grandest reality on earth

Ideas are the mightiest influence on earth. One great thought breathed into a man may regenerate him

The less of government the better, if society were kept in peace and prosperity.

The wise only possess ideas, the great part of mankind are possessed by them

Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice

Conscience is an oracle of the divinity

One of the tremendous evils of the world, is the monstrous accumulation of power in a few hands

War will never yield but to the principles of universal justice and love.

The world is governed by opinion

Life has a higher end, than to be amused.

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

God is another name for human intelligence raised above all error and imperfection, and extended to all possible truth

The great hope of society is in individual character

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 lifetime is unraveled

Happily in this community we all are bred and born to work; and this honorable mark, set on us all, should bind together the various portions of the community

It is far more important to me to preserve an unblemished conscience than to compass any object however great

True love is the parent of humility