"Great minds are to make others great. Their superiority is to be used, not to break the multitude to intellectual vassalage, not to establish over them a spiritual tyranny, but to rouse them from lethargy, and to aid them to judge for themselves"
- William Ellery Channing
About this Quote
This quote by William Ellery Channing speaks to the power of terrific minds and their responsibility to utilize their supremacy to benefit others. He stresses that excellent minds should not utilize their power to oppress or control others, however rather to influence and empower them. He motivates terrific minds to use their influence to help others believe for themselves and to break devoid of the sleepiness of complacency. He thinks that terrific minds need to use their power to help others reach their complete potential and to become terrific themselves. This quote speaks with the significance of utilizing one's power and impact to help others, rather than to control them. It is a reminder that terrific minds need to use their power to benefit others and to assist them reach their complete capacity.
"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization"
"Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer"