William Ellery Channing

"All noble enthusiasms pass through a feverish stage, and grow wiser and more serene."

"Let us aspire towards this living confidence, that it is the will of God to unfold and exalt without end the spirit that trusts itself to Him in well-doing as to a faithful Creator."

"A man may quarrel with himself alone; that is, by controverting his better instincts and knowledge when brought face to face with temptation."

"A religion giving dark views of God, and infusing superstitious fear of innocent enjoyment, instead of aiding sober habits, will, by making men at abject and sad, impair their moral force, and prepare them for intemperance as a refuge from depression or despair."

"A friend is he who sets his heart upon us, is happy with us and delights in us; does for us what we want, is willing and fully engaged to do all he can for us, on whom we can rely in all cases."

"Real greatness has nothing to do with a mans sphere. It does not lie in the magnitude of his outward agency, in the extent of the effects which he produces. The greatest men may do comparatively little."