Henry Van Dyke

“In mirth he mocks the other birds at noon,Catching the lilt of every easy tune; But when the day departs he sings of love,—His own wild song beneath the listening moon.”

“The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best.”

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very quiet if only those birds sing there that sang best.”

“Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;But when it comes to living there is no place like home.”

“What we do belongs to what we are, and what we are is what becomes of us.”

“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.”

“Love is the heart s immortal thirst to be completely known and all forgiven.”

“be glαd of life, becαuse it gives you the chαnce to love αnd to work αnd to plαy αnd to look up αt the stαrs; to be sαtisfied with your posessions, to despise nothing in the world except fαlsehood αnd meαnness αnd to feαr nothing except cowαrdice; to be governed by your αdmirαtions rαther thαn by your disgusts, to covet nothing thαt is your neighbour's except his kindness of heαrt αnd gentleness of mαnners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends and to spend αs much time αs you cαn with body αnd with spirit.”

“There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.”

“He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he provideth a kindness for many generations, and faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.”

“But this I know. Those who seek Him will do well to look among the poor and the lowly, the sorrowful and the oppressed.”

“Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;While he who walks in love may wander far,Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.”

“So let the way wind up the hill or down, O’er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy; Still seeking what I sought when but a boy, New friendship, high adventure, and a crown. My heart will keep the courage of the quest, And hope the road’s last turn will be the best.”

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

“A friend is what the heart needs all the time.”

“Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children; to remember the weaknesses and lonliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and to ask yourself if you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thougts and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day? Then you are ready to keep Christmas!”

“i am standing upon the seashore. a ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. she is an object of beauty and strength. i stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. then someone at my side says: "there, she is gone!" "gone where?" gone from my sight. that is all. she is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port. her diminished size is in me, not in her. and just at the moment when someone at my side says: "there, she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "here she comes!" and that is dying.”

“The Sun-Dial at Wells CollegeThe shadow by my finger castDivides the future from the past:Before it, sleeps the unborn hourIn 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. ”

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

“Genius is talent set on fire by courage.”

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

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.”

“Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.”

“America for Me'Tis fine to see the Old World and travel up and downAmong the famous palaces and cities of renown,To admire the crumblyh castles and the statues and kingsBut now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.So it's home again, and home again, America for me!My heart is turning home again and there I long to be,In the land of youth and freedom, beyond the ocean bars,Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;But when it comes to living there is no place like home.I like the German fir-woods in green battalions drilled;I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing foutains filled;But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a dayIn the friendly western woodland where Nature has her sway!I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack!The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free--We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.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.”

“It is better to burn the candle at both ends, and in the middle, too, than to put it away in the closet and let the mice eat it.”

“The shadow by my finger castDivides 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.”

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”