Henry Van Dyke Quotes

Those who would see wonderful things must often be ready to travel alone.

The shadow by my finger cast Divides the future from the past: Before it, sleeps the unborn hour, In darkness, and beyond thy power. Behind its unreturning line, The vanished hour, no longer thine: One hour alone is in thy hands,- The NOW on which the shadow stands.

For those who love... time is eternity.

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack;The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.

How fascinating is death, the extinction of life. One moment here and the next gone. The light put out and only the empty bag of the body left.

Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.

There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.

The storm is ended! The impartial sunLaughs down upon the battle lost and won,And crowns the triumph of the cloudy hostIn rolling lines retreating to the coast.

Deeds not Words: I say so too! And yet I find it somehow true, A word may help a man in need, To nobler act and braver deed.

Time is: Too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear.

Love is not getting, but giving; It is goodness, and honor, and peace and pure living.

Jazz: Music invented for the torture of imbeciles.

To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for all of us; and surely it is a good haven to sail for.

A little while the rose, And after that the thorn; An hour of dewy morn, And then the glamour goes. Ah, love in beauty born, A little while the rose!

The strength of your life is measured by the strength of your will.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Love is not about getting - but giving.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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

Genius is talent set on fire by courage.

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

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

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.

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.

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