Four Things

What do you believe are the four best qualities that all men and women should possess? It's an interesting question and over time, many people have given a variety of answers to this thoughtful question. In this short verse, the poet defines what he believes to be the qualities that he thinks are indispensable. Do you agree? More importantly, can you find these same qualities in yourself?

Four Things
by Henry Van Dyke

~Henry Van Dyke (1852 – 1933)

Henry van Dyke was an American author, educator, poet, playwright, and clergyman.

He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1873, after which he became a professor of English literature at Princeton, serving between 1899 and 1923.

Being a pastor, Van Dyke wrote many stories and poems related to Christianity, religion in general, and Christmas. For example, his Christmas story The Mansion is about a mansion that speaks "not of money squandered but of wealth prudently applied," and is the companion story to The Other Wise Man.

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