Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand. E. B. White More Quotes by E. B. White More Quotes From E. B. White There is a decivilizing bug somewhere at work; unconsciously persons of stern worth, by not resenting and resisting the small indignities of the times, are preparing themselves for the eventual acceptance of what they themselves know they don't want. E. B. White bugsacceptancewant Even now; with a thousand little voyages notched in my belt. I still feel a memorial chill on casting off. E. B. White voyagesmemorialcasting-off Humour plays close to the big, hot fire, which is the truth, and the reader feels the heat. E. B. White firehotplay Democracy is a request from a War Board, in the middle of a morning in the middle of a war, wanting to know what democracy is. E. B. White democracymorningwar A right is a responsibility in reverse. E. B. White reverseresponsibility 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 sickweathermen When we think of [John F. Kennedy], he is without a hat, standing in the wind and weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to enjoy the cold and the wind of those times.... It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people. E. B. White blowmenthinking When you consider that there are a thousand ways to express even the simplest idea, it is no wonder writers are under a great strain. Writers care greatly how a thing is said - it makes all the difference. So they are constantly faced with too many choices and must make too many decisions. E. B. White differenceschoicesideas I always write a thing first and think about it afterward, which is not a bad procedure because the easiest way to have consequential thoughts is to start putting them down. E. B. White writingwaythinking 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 rodentskindnessfeelings It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression. E. B. White oddscitiessky Children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will. E. B. White parentchildrenthinking A candidate could easily commit political suicide if he were to come up with an unconventional thought during a presidential tour. E. B. White suicidalpresidentialsuicide Life is always rich and steady time when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch. E. B. White motherhoodwaitingpregnancy 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. E. B. White courtesynumberspeople Not even a collapsing world looks dark to a man who is about to make his fortune. E. B. White moneydarkmen Security, for me, took a tumble not when I read that there were Communists in Hollywood but when I read your editorial in praise of loyalty testing and thought control. If a man is in health, he doesn't need to take anybody else's temperature to know where he is going. E. B. White hollywoodloyaltymen I don't understand it, and I don't like what I don't understand. E. B. White A writer should tend to lift people up, not lower them down. E. B. White liftsshouldpeople The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in the blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up. E. B. White writingwingsbird
