William Channing
William Channing
highest periods wisdom
There are periods when to dare, is the highest wisdom.
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In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.
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I call that mind free which is not passively framed by outward circumstances, which is not swept away by the torrent of events, which is not the creature of accidental impulse, but which bends events to its own improvement, and acts from an inward spring, from immutable principles which it has deliberately espoused.
bless bound celestial divine examples god heroic honor human marks origin reverence science thank
I do and I must reverence human nature. I bless it for its kind affections. I honor it for its achievements in science and art, and still more for its examples of heroic and saintly virtue. These are marks of a divine origin and the pledges of a celestial inheritance; and I thank God that my own lot is bound up with that of the human race.
broader cannot creator essential foundation mercy surer universe
The essential and unbounded mercy of my Creator is the foundation of my hope, and a broader and surer the universe cannot give me.
altar hills seas vanish
The hills are reared, the seas are scooped in vainIf learning's altar vanish from the plain.
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The greatest truths are wronged if not linked with beauty, and they win their way most surely and deeply into the soul when arrayed in this their natural and fit attire.
attributes awful developed divine elements ourselves purified spiritual sublime
The divine attributes are first developed in ourselves, and thence transferred to our Creator. The idea of God, sublime and awful as it is, is the idea of our own spiritual nature, purified and enlarged to infinity. In ourselves are the elements of the Divinity.
government kept less peace society
The less of government the better, if society were kept in peace and prosperity.
educate greater larger rule true work
It is a greater work to educate a child, in the true and larger sense of the word, than to rule a state.
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It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the communion with superior minds. In the best books, authors talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. God be thanked for books.
authors best books chiefly communion enjoy god pour precious souls superior talk
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the communion with superior minds... In the best books, authors talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. God be thanked for books.
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It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in the reach of all.
mind work
It is mind which does the work of the world, so that the more there is of mind, the more work will be accomplished.