Wit is the only wall between us and the dark.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Wit, Humor
Respect for the truth is an acquired taste.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Honesty
To be what no one ever was,
To be what everyone has been:
Freedom is the mean of those
Extremes that fence all effort in.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Freedom
Wisdom before experience is only words; wisdom after experience is of no avail.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Experience
The job of the poet is to render the world—to see it and report it without loss, without perversion. No poet ever talks about feelings. Only sentimental people do.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Poets, Poetry, Jobs
There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who an do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can… give all our attention to the opportunity before us.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: The Present, Attention, Opportunity, Give, People
Any piece of knowledge I acquire today has a value at this moment exactly proportional to my skill to deal with it. Tomorrow, when I know more, I recall that piece of knowledge and use it better.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Knowledge
To fail to love is not to exist at all.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Love
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.
—Mark Van Doren
Topics: Discovery, Teachers, Teaching, Mentoring, One liners
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- Mark Strand American Poet, Essayist
- Stanley Kunitz American Poet
- Carolyn Kizer American Poet
- Marianne Moore American Poet
- Conrad Aiken American Poet, Novelist
- Stephen Vincent Benet American Poet
- Henry van Dyke Jr. American Author, Educator, Clergyman
- Richard Wright American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
- Lionel Trilling American Critic
- John Updike American Author
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