1852-1933, American Protestant Clergyman, Poet and Writer
A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.
Henry Van Dyke – [Peace]
Be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at stars.
Henry Van Dyke – [Life and Living]
Culture is the habit of being pleased with the best and knowing why.
Henry Van Dyke – [Culture]
Gratitude is a twofold love — love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest.
Henry Van Dyke – [Gratitude]
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Henry Van Dyke – [Gratitude]
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 – [Critics and Criticism]
I thank God for the honesty and virility of Jesus religion which makes us face the facts and calls us to take a man's part in the real battle of life.
Henry Van Dyke – [Jesus Christ]
In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence.
Henry Van Dyke – [Friends and Friendship]
Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.
Henry Van Dyke – [Giving]
Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.
Henry Van Dyke – [Death and Dying]
There are two good rules which ought to be written on every heart; never to believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; and never to tell that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening while you tell it.
Henry Van Dyke – [Gossip]
There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.
Henry Van Dyke – [Charm]
There is only one way to get ready for immortality, and that is to love this life and live it as bravely and faithfully and cheerfully as we can.
Henry Van Dyke – [Life and Living]
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 – [Time and Time Management]
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke – [Talent]
What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.
Henry Van Dyke – [Character]
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.
Henry Van Dyke – [Nature]