Quote

The shadow by my finger cast Divides 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.

Henry Van Dyke

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Henry Van Dyke
Age: 80 †
Born: 1852
Born: November 10
Died: 1933
Died: April 10
Diplomat
Poet
Writer
Germantown
Philadelphia
Sleep
Shadow
Unborn
Alone
Line
Finger
Hours
Darkness
Divides
Future
Behinds
Cast
Hands
Beyond
Stands
Past
Behind
Casts
Vanished
Power
Longer
Fingers
Sleeps
Lines
Hour
Thine

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Jazz: Music invented for the torture of imbeciles.
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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 never to tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening.
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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.
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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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I'm only wishing to go a-fishingFor this the month of May was made.
Henry Van Dyke
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Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, This is my work my blessing, not my doom Of all who live, I am the one by whom This work can best be done in the right way.
Henry Van Dyke
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Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to.
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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.
Henry Van Dyke
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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.
Henry Van Dyke
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The more keenly we are awake to the perils of life, the higher and grander is the possibility of being truly brave.
Henry Van Dyke
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Count not the cost of honour to the dead!The tribute that a mighty nation paysTo those who loved her well in former daysMeans more than gratitude for glories fledFor 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
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Genius is talent set on fire by courage.
Henry Van Dyke
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What do I owe my father? Everything!
Henry Van Dyke
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Love is not about getting - but giving.
Henry Van Dyke
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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!
Henry Van Dyke
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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.
Henry Van Dyke
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If all the skies were sunshine Our faces would be fain To feel once more upon them The cooling splash of rain. If all the world were music, Our hearts would often long For one sweet strain of silence, To break the endless song If life were always merry, Our souls would seek relief, And rest from weary laughter In the quiet arms of grief.
Henry Van Dyke
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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.
Henry Van Dyke
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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
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As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge.
Henry Van Dyke