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 ChanningRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books allow us to connect with insightful thinkers and absorb their wisdom.
This quote emphasizes the profound impact that reading has on our intellectual and emotional growth. Through books, we can engage with the ideas and thoughts of great thinkers, enriching our own perspectives and forming a deep connection with their insights and experiences.
Themes
BooksWisdomKnowledgeReadingIntellect
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of education, one might quote Channing to highlight the role of books in personal development.
More from William Ellery Channing
All quotes →I laugh, for hope hath a happy place with me; If my boat sinks, 'tis to another sea.
William Ellery ChanningRead
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 ChanningRead
Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.
William Ellery ChanningRead
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 life-time is unraveled.
William Ellery ChanningRead
Influence is to be measured, not by the extent of surface it covers, but by its kind.
William Ellery ChanningRead
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