"It is not the quantity but the quality of knowledge which determines the mind's dignity"

In this quote, William Ellery Channing is stressing the importance of quality over amount when it pertains to understanding. He thinks that the real step of an individual's intelligence and dignity lies not in the quantity of details they possess, however in the depth and worth of that understanding. Channing suggests that having a vast quantity of shallow understanding does not necessarily make one's mind dignified, but rather it is the depth and understanding of that knowledge that genuinely matters. This quote functions as a tip to focus on the quality of our understanding over the amount, as it is the quality that truly figures out the worth of our minds.