“The domestic relations precede, and in our present existence are worth more than all our other social ties. They give the first throb to the heart, and unseal the deep fountains of its love. Home is the chief school of human virtue. Its responsibilities, joys, sorrows, smiles, tears, hopes, and solicitudes form the chief interest of human life.” GivingFirstsHumansHeartHomeSchoolFormJoySocialInterestExistenceResponsibilityVirtueTearsSorrowRelationChiefsHuman LifeTiesFountainSolicitude Book:Essays, Literary & Political Source: Essays, Literary & Political
“Poetry reveals to us the loveliness of nature, brings back the freshness of youthful feelings, reviews the relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the springtime of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens our interest in human mature, by vivid delineations of its tenderest and softest feelings, and through the brightness of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life.” LoveHumansHelpingFeelingsInterestSimplePleasureVisionLaysEnthusiasmLove LifeMatureReviewsVividSpringtimeBrightnessRelishPropheticFreshnessLovelinessFuture LifeSimple Pleasures Author:William Ellery Channing
“[Peace] is the highest and most strenuous act of the soul, but an entirely harmonious act, in which all our powers and affections are blending in a beautiful proportion, and sustain and perfect one another. It is more than the silence after storms. It is as the concord of all melodious sounds ... an alliance of love with all beings, a sympathy with all that is pure and happy, a surrender of every separate will and interest, a participation of the spirit and life of the universe.... This is peace, and the true happiness of [humanity].” SoulBeautifulSpiritHumanityUniverseSoundInterestPerfectSilencePureHighestAffectionStormSurrenderProportionParticipationAlliancesTrue HappinessHarmoniousPerfect OneBlending In Author:William Ellery Channing
“To do God's will as fast as it is made known to us, to inquire hourly -- I had almost said each moment -- what He requires of us, and to leave ourselves, our friends, and every interest at His control, with a cheerful trust that the path which He marks out leads to our perfection and to Himself, -- this is at once our duty and happiness; and why will we not walk in the plain, simple way?.” WayMadeSaidMomentsInterestSimpleWalksKnownPathDutyPerfectionMarkGods WillCheerfulCheerfulnessSimple Ways Book:Memoir of William Ellery Channing, with extracts from his correspondence and manuscripts ... Source: Memoir of William Ellery Channing, with extracts from his correspondence and manuscripts ...
“The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought.” MenWantMindBookInterestNaturalWiseAwakeningPeculiarThirst Author:William Ellery Channing