“The light and life which spring up in one soul are to be spread far and wide.”

— William Ellery Channing, Lectures On The Elevation Of The Labouring Portion Of The Community: Lecture II, 1844

About William Ellery Channing

1780 – 1842

American Unitarian preacher and writer.

“Labor is discovered to be the grand conqueror, enriching and building up nations more surely than the proudest battles.”

“The plant grows in the mist and under clouds as truly as under sunshine; so does the heavenly principle within.”

“God be thanked for books. They are the voices of the distant and the dead.”

“The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.”

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.”