30 Quotes by Van Wyck Brooks

The American mind, unlike the English, is not formed by books, but, as Carl Sandburg once said to me, by newspapers and the Bible.

Nothing is sadder than having worldly standards without worldly means.

It is not that the French are not profound, but they all express themselves so well that we are led to take their geese for swans.

There is no stopping the world's tendency to throw off imposed restraints, the religious authority that is based on the ignorance of the many, the political authority that is based on the knowledge of the few.

If men were basically evil, who would bother to improve the world instead of giving it up as a bad job at the outset?

The writer is important only by dint of the territory he colonizes.

Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.

Once you have a point of view all history will back you up.

As against having beautiful workshops, studies, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day.