Henry Van Dyke Quotes

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”

“Subjection to fear is weakness, bondage, feverish unrest. To be afraid is to have no soul that we can call our own; it is to be at the beck and call of alien powers, to be chained and driven and tormented; it is to lose the life itself in the anxious care to keep it.”

“No matter what theory of the origin of government you adopt, if you follow it out to its legitimate conclusions it will bring you face to face with the moral law.”

“Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to.”

“Death comes in its own time, in its own way.Death is as unique as the individual experiencing it.”

“Genius is talent set on fire by courage.”

“Even if we should find another Eden, we would not be fit to enjoy it perfectly nor stay in it forever.”

“What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.”

“A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.”

“Some people are so afraid do die that they never begin to live.”

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”

“Man said, "I am tired of kings! Sons of the robber-chiefs of yore, They make me pay for their lust and their war; I am the puppet, they pull the strings; The blood of my heart is the wine they drink. I will govern myself for awhile I think, And see what that brings!”

“For ever so our thoughtful hearts repeatOn fields of triumph dirges of defeat;And still we turn on gala-days to treadAmong the rustling memories of the dead.”

“This is the soldier brave enough to tellThe glory-dazzled world that "war is hell":Lover of peace, he looks beyond the strife,And rides through hell to save his country's life.”

“A tear that trembles for a little whileUpon the trembling eyelid, till the worldWavers within its circle like a dream,Holds more of meaning in its narrow orbThan all the distant landscape that it blurs.”

“Count not the cost of honour to the dead!The tribute that a mighty nation paysTo those who loved her well in former daysMeans more than gratitude for glories fled;For every noble man that she hath bred,Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise,Immortalised by art's immortal praise,To lead our sons as he our fathers led.”

“In love and friendship, small, steady payments on a gold basis are better than immense promissory notes.”

“Love is not about getting - but giving.”

“Oh, it's home again and home again, America for me! I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea To the blessed land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.”

“And you will remember that love is not getting, but giving; not a wild dream of pleasure, and a madness of desire — oh no, love is not that — it is goodness, and honour, and peace, and pure living — yes, love is that; and it is the best thing in the world, and the thing that lives longest.”

“A river is the most human and companionable of all inanimate things. It has a life, a character, a voice of its own; and it is as full of good fellowship as a sugar maple is of sap. It can talk in various tones, loud or low, and of many subjects grave and gay.... For real company and friendship there is nothing, outside of the animal kingdom, that is comparable to a river.”

“Every house where love abidesAnd friendship is a guest,Is surely home, and home sweet homeFor there the heart can rest.”

“I shall grow old, but never lose life's zest, because the road's last turn will be the best.”

“You may have to live in a crowd, but you do not have to live like it.”

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”