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The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one.

E. B. White

A schoolchild should be taught grammar-for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy.
E. B. WHITE

Anatomy Grammar Medical Reason Same Schoolchild Student Study Taught
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

Anyone Heaven Help Know Life Lift Little Perhaps Stand Trifle Try
A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. … A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy: true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down.
E. B. WHITE

Absorb Concern Heart Himself Stir Typewriter Writer
We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.
E. B. WHITE

Even Give Grape Laundry Long Only Pick Run Sort Us
A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper.
E. B. WHITE

Condition Ideal Paper Put Wait Without Word Work Writer
To achieve style, begin by affecting none.
E. B. WHITE

Archive Being Effect None Style
No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.
E. B. WHITE

Attitude Decently Distrustful Intelligence Patronizing Reader Write
The city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.
E. B. WHITE

City Country Day Each Locust Person Something Somewhere
The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind.
E. B. WHITE

Childhood Doorway Full Met Mind Open People Since World
There is nothing harder to estimate than a writer’s time, nothing harder to keep track of. There are moments—moments of sustained creation—when his time is fairly valuable; and there are hours and hours when a writer’s time isn’t worth the paper he is not writing anything on.
E. B. WHITE

Estimate Harder Keep Nothing Of Time Track
An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.
E. B. WHITE

Desire Editor Escape More Person Terrible Write Writer
You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway?
E. B. WHITE

Friend Itself Like Tremendous Web Wove
The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything
E. B. WHITE

Compunction Conscience Consideration Decency Kindness Milk Moral Rat Rodent Scruples
Salutations; it’s just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning
E. B. WHITE

Fancy Good Morning Hello Just Say Solution Way
All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.
E. B. WHITE

All Hope Book Love World
When I get sick of what men do, I have only to walk a few steps in another direction to see what spiders do. Or what the weather does. This sustains me very well indeed.
E. B. WHITE

Another Direction Do Get Men Only Sick Spider Step Walk

The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one.

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The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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