William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channingwas the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and along with Andrews Norton,, one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. He was known for his articulate and impassioned sermons and public speeches, and as a prominent thinker in the liberal theology of the day. Channing's religion and thought were among the chief influences on the New England Transcendentalists, though he never countenanced their views, which he saw as extreme. The beliefs he espoused, especially...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth7 April 1780
CountryUnited States of America
Let every man, if possible, gather some good books under his roof.
Books are true levelers. They give to all, who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race.
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the intercourse with superior minds...
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with the superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in reach of all. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. 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. Books are true levellers. They give to all, who faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence of the best and greatest of our race.
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.
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.
The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought.
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.
Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do.
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.
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.
The office of government is not to confer happiness, but to give men the opportunity to work out happiness for themselves.
The home is the chief school of human virtues.
True love is the parent of humility....