Henry Van Dyke Quotes

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

There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.

What we do belongs to what we are; and what we are is what becomes of us.

O' who will walk with me along lifes merry way? A comrade blithe and full of glee, who dares to laugh out loud and free.

Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.

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

You never see the stock called Happiness quoted on the exchange.

Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but the blessing of Earth is toil.

Many a treasure besides Ali Baba's is unlocked with a verbal key.

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

No amount of energy will take the place of thought.

It is with rivers as it is with people: the greatest are not always the most agreeable nor the best to live with.

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

We measure success by accumulation. The measure is false. The true measure is appreciation. He who loves most has most.

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.

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.

I'm only wishing to go a-fishing;For this the month of May was made.

Life is an arrow, therefore you must know What mark to aim at, how to use the bow-- Then draw it to the head and let it go!

What is Fortune, what is Fame? Futile gold and phantom name- Riches buried in a cave, Glory written on a grave.

Hymns of today that may be sung by people who know the thought of the age...are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy Christianity, or any revolution will overthrow the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peace without Justice is a low estate,— A coward cringing to an iron Fate! But Peace through Justice is the great ideal,— We'll pay the price of war to make it real.

If only the best birds sang, the forest would be silent.

Christ never asks us to give up merely for the sake of giving up, but always in order to win something better.

Courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage, and slavery.

Modest egotism is the salt of conversation; you do not want too much of it, but if it is altogether omitted, everything tastes flat.

A clean and sensitive conscience, a steady and scrupulous integrity in small things as well as large, is the most valuable of all possessions, to a nation as to an individual.

You can never begin to live until you dare to die.

It is better to desire the things we have than to have the things we desire.

We are all swimmers in God's mighty sea.

One truly affectionate soul in a family will evert a sweetening and harmonizing influence upon all its members.

Lord, when my spirit shall return to thee, At the foot of a friendly tree let my body be buried, That this dust may rise and rejoice among the branches.

For real company and friendship, there is nothing outside the animal kingdom that is comparable to a river.

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.

I thank God for the honesty and virility of Jesus religion which makes us face the facts and calls us to take a man's part in the real battle of life.

The Bible teaches that God owns the world. He distributes to every man according to His own good pleasure, conformably to general laws.

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.

The more keenly we are awake to the perils of life, the higher and grander is the possibility of being truly brave.

Flowers rejoice when night is done, Lift their heads to greet the sun; Sweetest looks and odours raise, In a silent hymn of praise.

The kingdom of birds is divided into two departments - birds and House Sparrows. House Sparrows are not real birds - they are little beasts!

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

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

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.

Like water spilt upon the ground--alas, Our little lives flow swiftly on and pass; Yet may they bring rich harvests and green grass!

The Bible does not profess to make men omniscient, but simply to tell them enough to make them happy and good, if they will believe it and live up to it.

In warlike pomp, with banners flowing, The regiments of autumn stood: I saw their gold and scarlet glowing From every hillside, every wood.

A peaceful man must fight For that which peace demands,— Freedom and faith, honor and right, Defend with heart and hands.

A flawless cup: how delicate and fine The flowing curve of every jewelled line! Look, turn it up or down, 'tis perfect still-- But holds no drop of life's heart-warming wine.

Fidelity is simply daring to be true in small things as well as great.

The worlds in which we live at heart are one, The world "I am," the fruit of "I have done"; And underneath these worlds of flower and fruit, The world "I love,"--the only living root.

If all the world were music, Our hearts would often long For one sweet strain of silence. To break the endless song.