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.
William Ellery ChanningRead
Every mind was made for growth, for knowledge, and its nature is sinned against when it is doomed to ignorance.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the inherent human capacity for growth and learning, warning against the dangers of ignorance.
William Ellery Channing highlights that every person's mind is inherently designed to seek growth and knowledge. When individuals are confined to ignorance, it represents a failure to nurture this natural inclination, ultimately harming both the individual and society as a whole. The quote suggests that fostering education and awareness is essential for personal and collective development.
In practice
A teacher could use this quote to inspire students about the importance of continuous learning.
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.
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.
I laugh, for hope hath a happy place with me; If my boat sinks, 'tis to another sea.
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.
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.
Influence is to be measured, not by the extent of surface it covers, but by its kind.
I hope people realise that there is a brain underneath the hair and a heart underneath the boobs.
When I tried this morning, after an hour or so of unhappy thinking, to dip back into my meditation, I took a new idea with me: compassion. I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. Instead of thinking that I was a failure, could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being--and a normal one, at that?
The problem lies with us: we've become addicted to experts. We've become addicted to their certainty, their assuredness, their definitiveness, and in the process, we have ceded our responsibility, substituting our intellect and our intelligence for their supposed words of wisdom.
If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.
The young physician starts life with 20 drugs for each disease, and the old physician ends life with one drug for 20 diseases.
You have to decide whether you want to make money or make sense, because the two are mutually exclusive.
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