Henry van Dyke - Man Quotes

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Honour the brave who sleep
Where the lost Titanic lies,
The men who knew what a man must do
When he looks Death in the eyes. Women and children first, —
Ah, strong and tender cry!
The sons whom women had borne and nursed,
Remembered,—and dared to die. The boats crept off in the dark:
The great ship groaned: and then,—
O stars of the night, who saw that sight,
Bear witness, These were men!

Henry van Dyke
Count not the cost of honour to the dead!
The tribute that a mighty nation pays
To those who loved her well in former days
Means 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.

Henry van Dyke
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his record true:
To think without confusion clearly;
To love his fellow-men sincerely;
To act from honest motives purely;
To trust in God and Heaven securely.

Henry van Dyke
I have no joy in strife,
Peace is my great desire;
Yet God forbid I lose my life
Through fear to face the fire. A peaceful man must fight
For that which peace demands,—
Freedom and faith, honor and right,
Defend with heart and hands.

Henry van Dyke
How often a man has cause to return thanks for the enthusiasms of his friends! They are the little fountains that run down from the hills to refresh the mental desert of the despondent.

Henry van Dyke
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.

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
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
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
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.

Henry van Dyke
The brave man is intelligent; he faces danger because he understands it and is prepared to meet it. The drunkard who runs, in the delirium of intoxication, into a burning house is not brave; he is only stupid. But the clear-eyed hero who makes his way, with every sense alert and every nerve strung, into the hell of flames to rescue some little child, proves his courage.

Henry van Dyke