"How often a man has cause to return thanks for the enthusiasms of his friends! They are the little fountains that run down from the hills to refresh the mental desert of the despondent."

Henry Van Dyke Politics See all quotes by Henry Van Dyke →

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More by Henry Van Dyke

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”

“The simple life which blandly ignores all care and conflict, soon becomes flabby and invertebrate, sentimental and gelatinous.”

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

“The mountain is voiceless and imperturbable; and its very loftiness and serenity sometimes make us the more lonely.”

“For real company and friendship, there is nothing outside of the animal kingdom that is comparable to a river.”

“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”

Resonant Thoughts

"But we may go further, and affirm most truly, that it is a mere and miserable solitude to want true friends; without which the world is but a wilderness; and even in this sense also of solitude, whoso…"

— Francis Bacon

Literature1909–1992

#friendship

"It's not about punishment, it is not about revenge. Basically, we are implementing the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and unravel 43 years of patiently-built relatio…"

— Michel Barnier

Politics1951

#friendship

"… the ego's need to be periodically in conflict with something or someone in order to strengthen its sense of separation between me and the other, without which it cannot survive."

— Eckhart Tolle

Literature1948

#friendship