Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Mark Van Doren (American Poet, Critic)

Mark Albert Van Doren (1894–1972) was an American poet, critic, and educator. He is noted for traditional forms of verse and his lengthy period of experiment in poetry. As a teacher at Columbia University for 39 years (1920–59,) he profoundly influenced generations of students.

Born in Hope, Illinois, Van Doren was the brother of historian and literary critic Carl Clinton Van Doren. Mark studied at the state university and at Columbia, where he taught from 1920 and became an English professor in 1942. During World War I, he served in the army, followed his brother to the editorship of the Nation (1924–28,) and wrote Collected Poems (1939; Pulitzer, 1940.)

Van Doren’s later volumes include The Mayfield Deer (1941,) The Country Year (1946,) New Poems (1948,) and Spring Birth (1953.) He collaborated with Carl in American and British literature since 1890 (1925,) edited The Oxford Book of American Prose, wrote critical studies of Henry Thoreau (1916,) Dryden (1920,) Shakespeare (1939,) and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1949,) and the novels Transients (1935) and Windless Cabins (1940.)

Further collections of Van Doren’s poetry were published in 1963, 1964, and 1967.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Mark Van Doren

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?

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *