"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."

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

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“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.”

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

Resonant Thoughts

"Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul will be consigned to eternal torment in the ne…"

— L. Neil Smith

Literature1946–2021

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"In a word, CLEANTHES, a man who follows your hypothesis is able perhaps to assert, or conjecture, that the universe, sometime, arose from something like design: but beyond that position he cannot asce…"

— David Hume

Philosophy1796–1864

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"Do what is beyond your strength even should you fail sometimes."

— Charles Stewart Parnell

Politics1846–1891

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"Margaret Thatcher: ...The first eleven and a half years have not been so bad – and with regard to a twilight, please remember that there are 24 hours in a day."

— Margaret Thatcher

Politics1925–2013

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