Top & Most Famous E.B. White Quotes
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world."
Also featured in: Good Morning Quotes
"The value of the liberal in the republic is not that he is logical but that he is inquisitive."
"Some day people will put faith in poets, who saw things centuries ago in perfect clarity."
"As for business, we agree that it is a hard, cold-blooded game. Survival of the fittest. Dog eat dog. The fact that about eighty-five per cent of the dogs have recently been eaten by the other dogs perhaps explains what long ago we noticed about business: that it had a strong smell of boloney. If dog continues to eat dog, there will be only one dog left, and he will be sick to his stomach."
"So complete is each neighborhood, and so strong the sense of neighborhood, that many a New Yorker spends a lifetime within the confines of an area smaller than a country village. Let him walk two blocks from his corner and he is in a strange land and will feel uneasy till he gets back."
"Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down."
"Some of the best writings of writers, it seems to us, were done before they actually thought of themselves as engaged in producing literature. Some of the best humor of humorists was produced before ever they heard the distant laughter of their multitudes."
"I distrust the slightest hint of a standard for political rectitude, knowing that it will open the way for persons in authority to set arbitrary standards of human behavior."
"As in the sexual experience, there are never more than two persons present in the act of reading-the writer, who is the impregnator, and the reader, who is the resspondent. This gives the experience of reading a sublimity and power unequalled by any other form of communication."
"Where I would like to discover facts, I find fancy. Where I would like to learn what I did, I learn only what I was thinking. They are loaded with opinion, moral thoughts, quick evaluations, youthful hopes and cares and sorrows. Occasionally they manage to report something in exquisite honesty and accuracy. That is why I have refrained from burning them."
"I fell in love with the sound of an early typewriter and I have been stuck with it ever since."
"There is no trick to it. If you like to write and want to write, you write, no matter where you are or what else you are doing or whether anyone pays any heed."
"It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem too haphazard."
"I can only assume that your editorial writer tripped over the First Amendment and thought it was the office cat."
"Perhaps success in the future will depend partly on our ability to generate cheap power, but I think it will depend to a greater extent on our ability to resist a technological formula that is sterile: peas without pageantry, corn without coon, knowledge without wisdom, kitchens without a warm stove. There is more to these rocks than uranium; there is the lichen on the rock, the smell of the fern whose feet are upon the rock, the view from the rock. Last."
"One morning when the wind was blowing from the West, Stuart put on his sailor suit and his sailor hat, took his spyglass down from the shelf, and set out for a walk, full of the joy of life and the fear of dogs."
"The grave in the woods is unmarked, but Fred can direct the mourner to it unerringly and with immense good will, and I know he and I shall often revisit it, singly and together, in seasons of reflection and despair, on flagless memorial days of our own choosing."
"Advice from this elderly practitioner is to forget publishers and just roll a sheet of copy paper into your machine and get lost in your subject."
"When I am composed I feel no need of affiliating myself with anybody. There is a lot of the cat in me, and cats are not joiners."
"I wanted no interruption in the regularity of feeding, the steadiness of growth, the even succession of days. I wanted no interruption, wanted no oil, no deviation."
"Yet in tearing us apart he somehow held us together. In obstructing, he strengthened us. In criticizing, he informed. In his rich, aromatic heresy, he nourished our faith. He was also a plain damned nuisance, I must not forget that."
"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."
"A candidate could easily commit political suicide if he were to come up with an unconventional thought during a presidential tour."
"Both tend to speak of national security as though it were still capable of being dissociated from universal well-being; in fact, sometimes in these political addresses it sounds as though this nation, or any nation, through force of character or force of arms, could damn well rise above planetary considerations, as though we were greater than our environment, as though the national verve somehow transcended the natural world."
"I find the natural world as engaging and as innocent as it ever was. 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, and I have no complaints."
"Old stone walls ran into the woods, and now and then there would be an empty barn as a ghostly landmark. The night grew frosty and the ground underfoot was slippery with rime. The bare birches wore the stars on their fingers, and the world rolled seductively, a dark symphony of brooding groves and plains."
"I have a spaniel that defrocked a nun last week. He took hold of the cord. I had hold of the leash. It was like elephants holding tails. Imagine me undressing a nun, even second hand."
"This week, many will be reminded that no explosion of atoms generates so hopeful a light as the reflection of a star, seen appreciatively in a pasture pond."
"I can still feel my old Ford nuzzling me at the curb, as though looking for an apple in my pocket."
"In the nature of things, a person engaged in the flimsy business of expressing himself on paper is dependent on the large general privilege of being heard. Any intimation that this privilege may be revoked throws a writer into panic."
"Only a person who is congenially self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write essays."
"There is simply a better chance of doing well if the writer holds a steady course, enters the stream of English quietly, and does not thrash about."
"Every night, before he turned in, he would write in the book. He wrote about things he had done, things he had seen, and thoughts he had had. Sometimes he drew a picture. He always ended by asking himself a question so he would have something to think about while falling asleep."
"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."
"Some of the published news was distorted, but distortion is inherent in partisan journalism, the same as it is in political rallies."
"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."
"There is nothing so expensive, really, as a big, well-developed, full-bodied preconception."
"People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust."
"Whatever else an American believes or disbelieves about himself, he is absolutely sure he has a sense of humor."
"But I think the Court again heard clearly the simple theme that ennobles our Constitution: that no one shall be made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe because of nonconformity."
"Your whole duty as a writer is to please and satisfy yourself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one. Start sniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, and you are as good as dead, although you may make a nice living."
"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."
Quotes by Authors
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Quotes By Professions
We have curated a collection of insightful and inspiring quotes from professionals across various fields. From doctors and scientists to artists and athletes, each profession offers a unique perspective on life, work, and success. These quotes encapsulate the wisdom and experiences of individuals who have excelled in their careers, providing valuable lessons and motivation. Whether you seek inspiration for your own professional journey or simply wish to appreciate the diverse viewpoints of different professions, these quotes are sure to resonate and inspire. Dive into the words of experts and let their experiences guide and motivate you.
Quotes By Topics
Your go-to source for finding the perfect words of wisdom on a wide array of subjects. Whether you are looking for inspiration, motivation, or reflection, our collection organizes quotes into specific themes such as love, life, success, happiness, and more. This makes it easy to find the right quote that resonates with your current thoughts or needs. Explore the profound insights and timeless wisdom of famous figures and let their words enrich your perspective and uplift your spirit.