Science and art may invent splendid modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent; but these are all poor and worthless compared with the common light which the sun sends into all our windows, which he pours freely, impartially over hill and valley, which kindles daily the eastern and western sky; and so the common lights of reason, and conscience, and love, are of more worth and dignity than the rare endowments which give celebrity to a few.
William Ellery ChanningNatural amiableness is too often seen in company with sloth, with uselessness, with the vanity of fashionable life.
William Ellery ChanningWhat a sublime doctrine it is, that goodness cherished now is eternal life already entered on!
William Ellery ChanningI am a living member of the great family of all souls; and I cannot improve or suffer myself, without diffusing good or evil around me through an ever-enlarging sphere. I belong to this family. I am bound to it by vital bonds.
William Ellery Channing