Henry van Dyke Quotes

105 Sourced Quotes

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

Henry van Dyke
For men have dulled their eyes with sin,
And dimmed the light of heaven with doubt,
And built their temple-walls to shut thee in,
And framed their iron creeds to shut thee out.

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

Henry van Dyke
The storm is ended! The impartial sun
Laughs down upon the battle lost and won,
And crowns the triumph of the cloudy host
In rolling lines retreating to the coast.

Henry van Dyke
God said, I am tired of kings, —
But that was a long while ago!
And meantime man said, No,—
I like their looks in their robes and rings.
So he crowned a few more,
And they went on playing the game as before,
Fighting and spoiling things. 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! Then God, who made the first remark,
Smiled in the dark.

Henry van Dyke
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.

Henry van Dyke
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!

Henry van Dyke
Let me but feel thy look's embrace,
Transparent, pure, and warm,
And I'll not ask to touch thy face,
Or fold thee in mine arm.
For in thine eyes a girl doth rise,
Arrayed in candid bliss,
And draws me to her with a charm
More close than any kiss.

Henry van Dyke
Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.

Henry van Dyke
The legend of Felix is ended, the toiling of Felix is done;
The Master has paid him his wages, the goal of his journey is won;
He rests, but he never is idle; a thousand years pass like a day,
In the glad surprise of Paradise where work is sweeter than play.

Henry van Dyke
Faith is an adventure; it is the courage of the soul to face the unknown. But that courage springs from the hope and confidence of the soul that its adventure will succeed.

Henry van Dyke
Half of the secular unrest and dismal, profane sadness of modern society comes from the vain ideas that every man is bound to be a critic for life.

Henry van Dyke
A tear that trembles for a little while
Upon the trembling eyelid, till the world
Wavers within its circle like a dream,
Holds more of meaning in its narrow orb
Than all the distant landscape that it blurs.

Henry van Dyke
Romantic love interests almost everybody, because almost everybody knows something about it, or would like to know.

Henry van Dyke
What is Friendship? Something deep
That the heart can spend and keep:
Wealth that greatens while we give,
Praise that heartens us to live.

Henry van Dyke
But often faltering feet
Come surest to the goal;
And they who walk in darkness meet
The sunrise of the soul.

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

Henry van Dyke
Not to the swift, the race:
Not to the strong, the fight:
Not to the righteous, perfect grace:
Not to the wise, the light.

Henry van Dyke
There are two good rules which ought to be written on every heart - never to believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never to tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening.

Henry van Dyke
Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, "This is my work; my blessing, not my doom; Of all who live, I am the one by whom This work can best be done in the right way."

Henry van Dyke
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.

Henry van Dyke
Every country-or at least every country that is fit for habitation-has its own rivers; and every river has its own quality; and it is the part of wisdom to know and love as many as you can, seeing each in the fairest possible light, and receiving from each the best that it has to give.

Henry van Dyke
The strength of your life is measured by the strength of your will.

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

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

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

Henry van Dyke
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.

Henry van Dyke
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!

Henry van Dyke
Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you... to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old... Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest ting in the world... stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death... Then you can keep Christmas! But you can never keep it alone.

Henry van Dyke
Thou warden of the western gate, above Manhattan Bay, The fogs of doubt that hid thy face are driven clean away: Thine eyes at last look far and clear, thou liftest high thy hand To spread the light of liberty world-wide for every land.

Henry van Dyke