Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people– people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.
E. B. WHITE
E. B. WHITE
E. B. White on hiding
E. B. White121 quotes“Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people– people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”
More from E. B. White
The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They’ll believe anything they see in print.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting. . . . On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can’t get it by breeding for it, and you can’t buy it with money. It just happens along.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White Never hurry and never worry!
E. B. WhiteE. B. White Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White 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.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White If a man is to be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White 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. WhiteE. B. White I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White Before the seed there comes the thought of bloom.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White 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. WhiteE. B. White Writing is both mask and unveiling.
E. B. WhiteE. B. White
Original quotes
From our community writers
We were dirt poor but we had each other. We didn’t need much to have a lot.
Brad NeatonBrad Neaton Always show kindness and love to others. Your words might be filling the empty places in someone else heart.
Alexander KandovAlexander Kandov One quick sip of your memory I let it slip, and I go on without you.
Emma SchippersEmma Schippers If the scars on my heart were visible to the naked eye, maybe you’d think twice about inflicting more.
Laura Natoli-KearneyLaura Natoli-Kearney I am getting better at forgetting you. I am slowly but steadily learning the art of forgetting you.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia Paper and pen petrify me, for they pierce right through me, drawing deep blue blood, leaving me utterly cold.
Shreya JoshiShreya Joshi Spend time with people who get excited over even the smallest victories you earn.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis I wonder if you were the poison or the antidote.
Ginnie BaleGinnie Bale
Meet the writers
More on hiding
Ew, sicko. I was practicing Edomic.” “Sure you were,” Jason said. “You’re just too embarrassed to admit you were playing hide-and-seek all alone. Rachel hiding, nobody seeking.
Brandon MullBrandon Mull Of religion I know nothing — at least, in its favor.
Lord ByronLord Byron I think there’s a little me hiding behind your leg, Chichi.” “I’m Goten.” “I’m Goku. Hi!” …. “Daddy!
Akira ToriyamaAkira Toriyama One doesn’t stay in a state of nirvana by hiding from difficulties. You stay in nirvana by lavishing nirvana on everyone you meet, by giving it away as fast as you receive it.
AdyashantiAdyashanti There are others who are putting things out there or throwing a stick and hiding their hand and keeping things built up in the media.
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa