Henry Van Dyke: Trending quotes (page 2)

“There are many kinds of love, as many kinds of light,
And every kind of love makes a glory in the night.
There is love that stirs the heart, and love that gives it rest,
But the love that leads life upward is the noblest and the best.”

Henry Van Dyke

Love and Light.

Love , Life , Light , Heart

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

Henry Van Dyke

Source: America for Me (1909), Lines 17-18.

People , Past

“And so, by night, while we were all at rest,
I think the coming sped the parting guest.”

Henry Van Dyke

The Parting and the Coming Guest (1873).

Thinking , Parting , Night

“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

III, st. 1.
The Fall of the Leaves (1874)

Sun

“No amount of energy will take the place of thought.”

Henry Van Dyke

The Good Old Way
Joy and Power http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10395/10395-h/10395-h.htm (1903)

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

Henry Van Dyke

Ships and Havens, ch. 2 (1898).

“If Might made Right, life were a wild-beasts' cage;
If Right made Might, this were the golden age;
But now, until we win the long campaign,
Right must gain Might to conquer and to reign.”

Henry Van Dyke

Might and Right (July 1, 1915).

Life , Age

“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

Heroes of the "Titantic" (November 9, 1912).

Death , Women , Men , Children

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

Henry Van Dyke

Little Rivers
Little Rivers http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/ltrvs10.txt (1895)

Friendship , Animals

“So in the heart,
When, fading slowly down the past,
Fond memories depart,
And each that leaves it seems the last;
Long after all the rest are flown,
Returns a solitary tone,—
The after-echo of departed years,—
And touches all the soul to tears.”

Henry Van Dyke

The After-Echo, st. 2 (1871).

Soul , Tear , Memory , Past

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

Henry Van Dyke

I, st. 1.
The Fall of the Leaves (1874)

Autumn

“The lintel low enough to keep out pomp and pride:
The threshold high enough to turn deceit aside.”

Henry Van Dyke

For the Friends at Hurstmont. The Door
Undated

“The simple life which blandly ignores all care and conflict, soon becomes flabby and invertebrate, sentimental and gelatinous.”

Henry Van Dyke

The Battle of Life
Joy and Power http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10395/10395-h/10395-h.htm (1903)

Life

“They tell me thou art rich, my country: gold
In glittering flood has poured into thy chest;
Thy flocks and herds increase, thy barns are pressed
With harvest, and thy stores can hardly hold
Their merchandise; unending trains are rolled
Along thy network rails of East and West;
Thy factories and forges never rest;
Thou art enriched in all things bought and sold!

But dost thou prosper? Better news I crave.
O dearest country, is it well with thee
Indeed, and is thy soul in health?
A nobler people, hearts more wisely brave,
And thoughts that lift men up and make them free,—
These are prosperity and vital wealth!”

Henry Van Dyke

America's Prosperity (October 1, 1916).

Men , People , Health , Art

“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

Love in a Look.

Feeling , Girl , Kiss , Drawing

“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

Remarks About Kings (October 1915).

God , War , Smile , Game

“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

The Peaceful Warrior, st. 1-2 (May 1918).

Life , God , Fear , Peace

“This is the soldier brave enough to tell
The 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.”

Henry Van Dyke

The Statue of Sherman by St. Gaudens (1904).

Life , War , World , Peace

“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

National Monuments, st. 1 (February 1905).

Love , Art , Dead , Gratitude

“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. The more we think of it, the more attractive and desirable it becomes. To do some work that is needed, and to do it thoroughly well; to make our toil count for something in adding to the sum total of what is actually profitable for humanity; to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before, or, better still, to make one wholesome idea take root in a mind that was bare and fallow; to make our example count for something on the side of honesty and cheerfulness, and courage, and good faith, and love - this is an aim for life which is very wide, and yet very definite, as clear as light. It is not in the least vague. It is only free; it has the power to embody itself in a thousand forms without changing its character. Those who seek it know what it means, however it may be expressed. It is real and genuine and satisfying. There is nothing beyond it, because there can be no higher practical result of effort. It is the translation, through many languages, of the true, divine purpose of all the work and labor that is done beneath the sun, into one final, universal word. It is the active consciousness of personal harmony with the will of God who worketh hitherto.”

Henry Van Dyke

Source: Ships and Havens https://archive.org/stream/shipshavens00vand#page/28/mode/2up/search/more+we+think+of+it (1897), p.27

Love , Life , God , World