I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.
E. B. WHITEIs there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider’s web?
More E. B. White Quotes
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Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can’t erase it.
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Only a person who is congenially self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays
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Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together-just the two of you.
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You can dissect a joke just as you can a frog. But it tends to die on you.
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Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.
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I am still encouraged to go on. I wouldn’t know where else to go.
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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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Writing is one way to go about thinking, and the practice and habit of writing not only drain the mind but supply it, too.
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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.
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Writing is hard work and bad for the health.
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It is quite possible that an animal has spoken to me and that I didn’t catch the remark because I wasn’t paying attention.
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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?
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An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.
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A despot doesn’t fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
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Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’ ‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.
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A schoolchild should be taught grammar-for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy.
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Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.
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A poet dares be just so clear and no clearer… He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it. A poet utterly clear is a trifle glaring.
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I believe in dreams. People should have faith in the songs poets sing.
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One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy.
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Reading is the work of the alert mind, is demanding, and under ideal conditions produces finally a sort of ecstasy.
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A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper.
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Well,” said Stuart, “a misspelled word is an abomination in the sight of everyone.
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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.
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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.
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Is there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider’s web?
E. B. WHITE