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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Your consent determines how much external factors can affect you.
This quote by William Ellery Channing emphasizes the idea that external factors, such as societal power and personal hardships, can only affect you to the extent that you allow them to. It highlights the importance of personal agency and the control we have over our own emotions and reactions through knowledge, virtue, and influence.
Themes
PowerConsentKnowledgeInfluenceControl
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about resilience during tough times, this quote can be used to inspire the audience to take charge of their own lives.
More from William Ellery Channing
All quotes βI 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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