Henry Van Dyke Quotes
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The meditative angler is not exempt from sensational periods. There are times when all the uncertainty of his chosen pursuit seems to condense itself into one big chance, and stand out before him like a salmon on the top wave of a rapid. He sees his luck hangs by a single strand of gut, and he cannot tell whether it will hold or break. This is the thrilling moment and he never forgets it.
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The strength of your life is measured by the strength of your will.
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The worlds in which we live at heart are one, The world "I am," the fruit of "I have done"; And underneath these worlds of flower and fruit, The world "I love,"--the only living root.
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You can never begin to live until you dare to die.
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I heard through the nightThe rush and the clamour;The pulse of the fightLike blows of Thor's hammer;The pattering flightOf the leaves, and the anguishedMoan of the forest vanquished.
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Ere thou sleepest, gently lay Every troubled thought away; Put off worry and distress As thou puttest off thy dress; Drop thy burden and thy care In the quiet arms of prayer. Lord thou knowest how I live, All I'VE DONE AMISS FORGIVE; ALL OF GOOD I'VE TRIED TO DO STRENGTHEN, bless and carry through; All I love in safety keep While in Thee I fall asleep.
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Every house where love abides And friendship is a guest, Is surely home, and home sweet home For there the heart can rest.
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There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher.
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Who can explain the secret pathos of Nature's loveliness? It is a touch of melancholy inherited from our mother Eve. It is an unconscious memory of the lost Paradise. It is the sense that even if we should find another Eden, we would not be fit to enjoy it perfectly nor stay in it forever.
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What do I owe my father? Everything!
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You never see the stock called Happiness quoted on the exchange.
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Gratitude is a two fold love - love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest.
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A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.
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Of all the things that man has made, no is so full of interest and charm, none possesses so distinct a life and character of its own, as a ship.
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Thou wayfaring Jesus - a pilgrim and stranger, Exiled from heaven by love at Thy birth: Exiled again from Thy rest in the manger, A fugitive child 'mid the perils of earth - Cheer with Thy fellowship all who are weary, Wandering far from the land that they love: Guide every heart that is homeless and dreary, Safe to its home in Thy presence above.
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What is Fortune, what is Fame? Futile gold and phantom name- Riches buried in a cave, Glory written on a grave.
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Flowers rejoice when night is done, Lift their heads to greet the sun; Sweetest looks and odours raise, In a silent hymn of praise.
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Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.
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These are the things I prize And hold of dearest worth: Light of the sapphire skies, Peace of the silent hills, Shelter of the forests, comfort of the grass, Music of birds, murmur of little rills, Shadows of cloud that swiftly pass, And, after showers, The smell of flowers And of the good brown earth,- And best of all, along the way, friendship and mirth.
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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.
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Courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage, and slavery.
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How fascinating is death, the extinction of life. One moment here and the next gone. The light put out and only the empty bag of the body left.
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The kingdom of birds is divided into two departments - birds and House Sparrows. House Sparrows are not real birds - they are little beasts!
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A peaceful man must fight For that which peace demands, Freedom and faith, honor and right, Defend with heart and hands.
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A friend is what the heart needs all the time.
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Memory is a capricious and arbitrary creature. You never can tell what pebble she will pick up from the shore of life to keep among her treasures, or what inconspicuous flower of the field she will preserve as the symbol of "thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." . . . And yet I do not doubt that the most Important things are always the best remembered.
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Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.
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Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
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The Bible teaches that God owns the world. He distributes to every man according to His own good pleasure, conformably to general laws.
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Tact is the unsaid part of what you think.
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