I have always felt that the first duty of a writer was to ascend - to make flights, carrying others along if you can manage it. To do this takes courage, even a certain conceit. E. B. White More Quotes by E. B. White More Quotes From E. B. White In a free country it is the duty of writers to pay no attention to duty. E. B. White payattentioncountry 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 accusationmouthsfriendship Understanding humor is like dissecting a live frog. It can be done, but the frog tends to die in the process. E. B. White frogsunderstandingdone 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 errorsheartwriting A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper. E. B. White idealspaperwaiting I don't know which is more discouraging, literature or chickens. E. B. White humorliteraturefunny A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can't get it by breeding for it, and you can't buy it with money. It just happens along. E. B. White caninedogsilly 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. E. B. White readingmenbook One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy. E. B. White inspiringinspirationalenemy I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. E. B. White naturetimefall Good deeds never go unpunished. E. B. White good-deedsdeeds Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down. E. B. White writingchildren 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 veilsdoebeauty In every queen there's a touch of floozy. E. B. White queens 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 nauticalsailingmen Old age is a special problem for me because I've never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself - a lad of about 19. E. B. White specialagebirthday Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar. E. B. White faithwritinginspiring 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 — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. E. B. White passionnew-yorknight Write about it by day and dream about it by night. E. B. White positivitydreamwriting Never hurry and never worry! E. B. White worry
