The collection / 7 fragments

The living archive

Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01Undated

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 / quote

02Undated

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

Mark Van Doren / quote

03Undated

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 / quote

04Undated

Wit is the only wall Between us and the dark.

Mark Van Doren / quote

05Undated

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 / quote

06Undated

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

Mark Van Doren / quote

07Undated

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 / quote