Quotes by Mark van Doren

“Memory holds together past and present, gives continuity and dignity to human life... the companion... the tutor, the poet, the library, with which you travel.”

“Nothing in man is more serious than his sense of humor; it is the sign that he wants all the truth.”

“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.”

“Wit is the only wall between us and the dark.”

“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”

“When it aims to express a love of the world it refuses to conceal the many reasons why the world is hard to love, though we must love it because we have no other, and to fail to love it is not to exist at all.”

“To fail to love is not to exist at all.”

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

“Though we all know that the survival of the species depends on producing children, up until now we havent understood how germ cells in the developing embryos decide whether to eventually become the sperm or eggs needed later for adult reproduction. Now we know one way these other cells are talking to germ cells about sex.”

“Wit is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, if he knows not how to use it discreetly”

“Evolutionarily, germ cells are one of the most ancient cell types, needed by every type of animal to reproduce. Their developmental program is very similar, whether we are talking fruit flies or humans. As a result, these findings could eventually help us understand and treat defects in germ cell development that lead to human infertility and disease.”