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There is but one true good for a spiritual being, and this is found in its perfection. Men are slow to see this truth; and yet it is the key to God's providence, and to the mysteries of life.

— William Ellery Channing

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Character

More quotes by William Ellery Channing

God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and fill us with the love of truth and virtue.

Religious instruction should aim chiefly to turn men’s aspirations and efforts to that perfection of the soul, which constitutes it a bright image of God.

Likeness to God (1828)

Men are never very wise and select in the exercise of a new power.

We must watch over pious impressions, and cultivate them, or they will never become vigorous and enduring.

We doubt whether a man ever brings his faculties to bear with their whole force on a subject, until he writes upon it.

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Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

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Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Ellery Channing (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.