Longfellow is to poetry what the barrel-organ is to music. Van Wyck Brooks More Quotes by Van Wyck Brooks More Quotes From Van Wyck Brooks If men were basically evil, who would bother to improve the world instead of giving it up as a bad job at the outset? Van Wyck Brooks evil jobs men Those of our writers who have possessed a vivid personal talent have been paralyzed by a want of social background. Van Wyck Brooks vivid talent want The man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man. Van Wyck Brooks he-man successful men The American mind, unlike the English, is not formed by books, but, as Carl Sandburg once said to me, by newspapers and the Bible. Van Wyck Brooks newspapers mind book How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and positive in the world around them. Van Wyck Brooks mind people world As against having beautiful workshops, studios, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day. Van Wyck Brooks Nothing is sadder than having worldly standards without worldly means. Van Wyck Brooks