E. B. White Quotes - Page 6

Quotes about:

• As a writing man, or secretary, I have always felt charged with the safekeeping of all unexpected items of worldly and unworldly enchantment, as though I might be held personally responsible if even a small one were to be lost.

  E. B. White

  Writing, Men, Might

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.23, Cornell University Press

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• Salutations; it's just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning

  E. B. White

  Morning, Saying Hello, Fancy

  E. B. White (2015). “Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories: Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little”, p.24, HarperCollins UK

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• I’ve got a new friend, all right. But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty—everything I don’t like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty and, of course, clever?

  E. B. White

  Clever, Like Her, New Friends

  E. B. White (2015). “Charlotte’s Web and other classic animal stories: Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little”, p.27, HarperCollins UK

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• A library is many things, but particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books... Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had.

  E. B. White

  Book, Men, People

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• Oh, I never look under the hood.

  E. B. White

  Looks, Hood

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• Wilbur burst into tears. "I dont want to die," he moaned. "I want to stay alive, right here in my comfortable manure pile with all my friends. I want to breathe the beautiful air and lie in the beautiful sun."

  E. B. White

  Beautiful, Lying, Air

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• And then, just as Wilbur was settling down for his morning nap, he heard again the thin voice that had addressed him the night before. "Salutations!" said the voice. Wilbur jumped to his feet. "Salu-what?" he cried. "Salutations!" repeated the voice. "What are they, and where are you?" screamed Wilbur. "Please, please, tell me where you are. And what are salutations?" "Salutations are greetings," said the voice. "When I say 'salutations,' it's just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning.

  E. B. White

  Morning, Night, Naps

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• I am often mad, but I would hate to be nothing but mad: and I think I would lose what little value I may have as a writer if I were to refuse, as a matter of principle, to accept the warming rays of the sun, and to report them, whenever, and if ever, they

  E. B. White

  Hate, War, Thinking

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• Why is it, do you suppose, that an Englishman is unhappy until he has explained America?

  E. B. White

  America, Unhappy, Englishmen

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• A man's liberal and conservative phases seem to follow each other in a succession of waves from the time he is born. Children are radicals. Youths are conservatives, with a dash of criminal negligence. Men in their prime are liberals (as long as their digestion keeps pace with their intellect). The middle aged run to shelter: they insure their life, draft a will, accumulate mementos and occasional tables, and hope for security. And then comes old age, which repeats childhood - a time full of humors and sadness, but often full of courage and even prophecy.

  E. B. White

  Running, Children, Sadness

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• It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.

  E. B. White

  Love, Happiness, Sheep

  Charlotte'sWeb ch. 22 (1952)

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• Once in everyone's life there is apt to be a period when he is fully awake, instead of half-asleep.

  E. B. White

  Half, Periods, Awake

  E. B. White (2013). “Letters of E. B. White, Revised Edition”, p.16, Harper Collins

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• The city is like poetry; it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines.

  E. B. White

  Islands, Race, Cities

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• "What's miraculous about a spider's web?" said Mrs. Arable. "I don't see why you say a web is a miracle--it's just a web."
  "Ever try to spin one?" asked Mr. Dorian.

  E. B. White

  Nature, Miracle, Trying

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• There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rules by which the young writer may steer his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.

  E. B. White

  Stars, Writing, Thinking

  William Strunk, Jr., E. B. White (1972). “The Elements of Style”

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• Diplomacy is the lowest form of politeness because it misquotes the greatest number of people. A nation, like an individual, if it has anything to say, should simply say it.

  E. B. White

  Numbers, People, Courtesy

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.93, Cornell University Press

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• Computing machines perhaps can do the work of a dozen ordinary men, but there is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.

  E. B. White

  Work, Men, Ordinary

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• The young writer should learn to spot them: words that at first glance seem freighted with delicious meaning, but that soon burst in the air, leaving nothing but a memory of bright sound.

  E. B. White

  Memories, Air, Leaving

  William Strunk Jr., E.B. White (1962). “the Elements of Style”

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• By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

  E. B. White

  Inspiring, Heaven, Trying

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.117, Cornell University Press

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• Commuter - one who spends his life In riding to and from his wife; A man who shaves and takes a train And then rides back to shave again.

  E. B. White

  Life, Men, Wife

  "The Commuter" l. 1 (1982)

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• It can destroy an individual, or it can fulfill him, depending a good deal on luck. No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.

  E. B. White

  New York, Luck, Individual

  E.B. White (2011). “Here is New York”, p.19, New York Review of Books

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• Life is always rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch.

  E. B. White

  Pregnancy, Motherhood, Waiting

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• A good many of the special words of business seem designed more to express the user's dreams than to express a precise meaning.

  E. B. White

  Dream, Good Man, Special

  William Strunk Jr., E.B. White (1962). “the Elements of Style”

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• The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for nature to follow. Now we just set the clocks an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase.

  E. B. White

  Spring, Oil, Fertility

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• new york provides not only a continuing excitation but also a spectacle that is continuing.

  E. B. White

  New York, Continuing

  E.B. White (2011). “Here is New York”, p.38, New York Review of Books

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