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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

Is there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider’s web?
E. B. WHITE

Anything Universal Beautiful Complexity Protective Simple Spider Web
Television will enormously enlarge the eye’s range, and, like radio, will advertise the Elsewhere. Together with the tabs, the mags, and the movies, it will insist that we forget the primary and the near in favor of the secondary and the remote.
E. B. WHITE

Advertise Else Enlarge Enormously Eye Radio Range Television Writer
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
When an American family becomes separated from its toothbrushes and combs and pajamas for a few hours it considers that it has had quite an adventure.
E. B. WHITE

Become Comb Consider Country Family Few Hour Pajama Separate Toothbrush
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
Geese are friends to no one, they bad mouth everybody and everything. But they are companionable once you get used to their ingratitude and false accusations.
E. B. WHITE

Bad Companionable Everybody Everything Friend Geese Get Mouth Use
There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter.
E. B. WHITE

Born City Computer Country First Man New Roughly Take Three Woman
A writer’s style reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacites, his bias…it is the Self escaping into the open.
E. B. WHITE

Bias Capacities Escape Habit Open Reveal Self Something Style Writer
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

Alive Book Company Good Hiding Manage People Sad Stay Times
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

Blood Brutal Country Fierce Friend Friendship Gamble Now People Person Right Thirsty
A poet’s pleasure is to withhold a little of his meaning, to intensify by mystification. He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it.
E. B. WHITE

Intensify Meaning Mystification Pleasure Poet Withhold
“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

Ever Miraculous Say See Spider Try Web
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. WHITE

Anything Beter Good Man Most Obsessed Perhaps Something Suppose
Use the smallest word that does the job.
E. B. WHITE

Job Smallest Use Word
Understanding humor is like dissecting a live frog. It can be done, but the frog tends to die in the process.
E. B. WHITE

Die Dissecting Done Frog Humor Live Process Tend Understanding
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.
E. B. WHITE

Fact Form Get Great Opinion Prejudice Saver Time

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.

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Popular Authors

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