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. E. B. White More Quotes by E. B. White More Quotes From E. B. White 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 writing wings bird A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning. The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines. The island of Manhattan is without any doubt the greatest human concentrate on earth, the poem whose magic is comprehensible to millions of permanent residents but whose full meaning will always remain elusive. E. B. White cities race islands Too many things on my mind, said Wilbur. Well, said the goose, that's not my trouble. I have nothing at all on my mind, but I've too many things under my behind. E. B. White well-said trouble mind Commas in The New Yorker fall with the precision of knives in a circus act, outlining the victim. E. B. White knives writing fall Just to live in the country is a full-time job. You don't have to do anything. The idle pursuit of making a living is pushed to one side, where it belongs, in favor of living itself, a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace. E. B. White tasks jobs country ... with men it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider." "What does sedentary mean?" asked Wilbur. "Means I sit still a good part of the time and don't go wandering all over creation. I know a good thing when I see it, and my web is a good thing. I stay put and wait for what comes. Gives me a chance to think. E. B. White men mean thinking Do you understand how there could be any writing in a spider's web?" "Oh, no," said Dr. Dorian. "I don't understand it. But for that matter I don't understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle." "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 Dr. Dorian. E. B. White miracle writing trying I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else E. B. White maine feel-good feels The sea answers all questions, and always in the same way; for when you read in the papers the interminable discussions and the bickering and the prognostications and the turmoil, the disagreements and the fateful decisions and agreements and the plans and the programs and the threats and the counter threats, then you close your eyes and the sea dispatches one more big roller in the unbroken line since the beginning of the world and it combs and breaks and returns foaming and saying: "So soon?" E. B. White "On A Florida Key E. B. White florida eye keys If I can fool a bug... I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs. E. B. White smart men people Wilbur didn't want food, he wanted love. E. B. White wanted-love want wanted Commuter - one who spends his life In riding to and from his wife; A man who shaves and takes a train And then rides back to shave again. E. B. White wife men life As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left us in a bad time. E. B. White women hope time Shocking writing is like murder: the questions the jury must decide are the questions of motive and intent. E. B. White obscenity murder writing The essayist . . . can pull on any sort of shirt, be any sort of person, according to his mood or his subject matter - philosopher, scold, jester, raconteur, confidant, pundit, devil's advocate, enthusiast. E. B. White devil matter philosophy All poets who, when reading from their own works,m experience a choked feeling, are major. For that matter, all poets who read from their own works are major, whether they choke or not. E. B. White experience reading feelings By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that. E. B. White inspiring trying heaven Delay is natural to a writer. He is like a surfer-he bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in. Delay is instinctive with him. He waits for the surge (of emotion? of strength? of courage?) that will carry him along. E. B. White waiting perfect inspiring We stand or fall by television. E. B. White television fall A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there in a book, you may have your question answered E. B. White library may book
