Mark Van Doren Quotes

There is one thing we can do and the happiest people are those who 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

Wit is the only wall Between us and the dark.

Mark Van Doren

For Tolstoy . . . anything that human beings do has its glory. . . . I think he can be said to have hated nothing that ever happened.

Mark Van Doren

Bring ideas in and entertain them royally, for one of them may be the king.

Mark Van Doren

I have always had the greatest respect for students. There is nothing I hate more than condescension—the attitude that they are inferior to you. I always assume they have good minds.

Mark Van Doren