WIST Quotations

Van Dyke, Henry -- “America’s Prosperity” (1 Oct 1916), The Red Flower: Poems Written in War Time (1917)

Dave — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:55:46 +0000

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 (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“America’s Prosperity” (1 Oct 1916), The Red Flower: Poems Written in War Time (1917)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “Ampersand”, Little Rivers (1895)

Dave — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:03:53 +0000

Every mountain is, rightly considered, an invitation to climb.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“Ampersand”, Little Rivers (1895)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “God of the Open Air”, st. 3 (1904)

Dave — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:52:50 +0000

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 (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“God of the Open Air”, st. 3 (1904)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “Might and Right” (1 Jul 1915)

Dave — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:01:30 +0000

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 (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“Might and Right” (1 Jul 1915)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “Reliance”, st. 2

Dave — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:35:41 +0000

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

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“Reliance”, st. 2

Van Dyke, Henry -- “Salt,” Baccalaureate Sermon, Harvard University (19 Jun 1898)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 23:34:47 +0000

There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher. There is a nobler character than that which is merely incorruptible. It is the character which acts as an antidote and preventive of corruption.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“Salt,” Baccalaureate Sermon, Harvard University (19 Jun 1898)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “The Foot-path to Peace,” Tacoma Times (1 Jan 1904)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

To be glad of life because it gives you to chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars — to be satisfied with your possessions but not content with yourself until you have made the best of them — to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice — to be governed by you admirations rather than by your disgusts — to covet nothing that is your neighbors except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners — to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; to spend as much time as you can in God’s out-of doors — these are the little guideposts on the foot-path to peace.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“The Foot-path to Peace,” Tacoma Times (1 Jan 1904)
(Source)

Often shortened to: "Be glad for life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to look up at the stars."

Van Dyke, Henry -- “The Friendly Trees”

Dave — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:06:06 +0000

He that planteth a tree is the servant of God,
He provideth a kindness for many generations,
And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“The Friendly Trees”

Van Dyke, Henry -- “The Price of Peace” (28 Dec 1916)

Dave — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:06:42 +0000

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.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“The Price of Peace” (28 Dec 1916)

Van Dyke, Henry -- “The Prison and the Angel”

Dave — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:29:31 +0000

Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“The Prison and the Angel”

Van Dyke, Henry -- “The Ristigouche from a Horse-Yacht,” Little Rivers (1895)

Dave — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 17:09:20 +0000

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

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
“The Ristigouche from a Horse-Yacht,” Little Rivers (1895)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
(Misattributed)

Also frequently misattributed to Thoreau. First found in The Ladies Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature, Arts and Religion (Sep 1874), without attribution (see here).

Van Dyke, Henry -- Ships and Havens, ch. 2 (1898)

Dave — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:05:55 +0000

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

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
Ships and Havens, ch. 2 (1898)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- The Ruling Passion, Preface (1901)

Dave — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:40:16 +0000

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

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
The Ruling Passion, Preface (1901)
(Source)

Van Dyke, Henry -- The Story of the Other Wise Man

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul
May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;
While he who walks in love may wander far,
Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) American clergyman and writer
The Story of the Other Wise Man
(Source)