Home > Author > Henry Van Dyke
1 " 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. "
― Henry Van Dyke
2 " 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. "
3 " But this I know. Those who seek Him will do well to look among the poor and the lowly, the sorrowful and the oppressed. "
― Henry Van Dyke , The Story of the Other Wise Man
4 " 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! "
5 " Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. "
6 " 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. "
7 " Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul. "
8 " 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. "
9 " There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher. "
10 " Genius is talent set on fire by courage. "
11 " A friend is what the heart needs all the time. "
12 " There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament. "
13 " Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. "
14 " 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. "
15 " 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 not. "
― Henry Van Dyke , Music and Other Poems
16 " The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best. "
17 " Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to. "
18 " Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very quiet if only those birds sing there that sang best. "
19 " 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. "
20 " 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. "
