Henry Van Dyke

A river is the most human and companionable of all inanimate things. It has a life, a character, a voice of its own; and it is as full of good fellowship as a sugar maple is of sap. It can talk in various tones, loud or low, and of many subjects grave and gay. . . . For real company and friendship there is nothing, outside of the animal kingdom, that is comparable to a river.