Writing is both mask and unveiling. - E.B. White
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
Once you begin watching spiders, you haven't time for much else. - E.B. White
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. - E.B. White
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. - E.B. White
As everyone knows, there is often a rather fine line between laughing and crying - E.B. White
All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world. - E.B. White
I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively, instead of skeptically and dictatorially. - E.B. White
Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can't erase it. - E.B. White
Thus I, gone forth, as spiders do,In spider’s web a truth discerning,Attach one silken strand to youFor my returning. - E.B. White
Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process. - E.B. White
...all his thoughts were of how lucky he was to inhabit such a beautiful earth, how lucky he had been to solve his problems with music, and how pleasant it was to look forward to another night of sleep and another day tomorrow, and the fresh morning, and the light that returns with the day. - E.B. White
Remember that writing is translation, and the opus to be translated is yourself. - E.B. White
This is what youth must figure out:Girls, love, and living.The having, the not having,The spending and giving,And the meloncholy time of not knowing.This is what age must learn about:The ABC of dying.The going, yet not going,The loving and leaving,And the unbearable knowing and knowing - E.B. White
The best writing is rewriting. - E.B. White
I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. "Never worry about your heart till it stops beating. - E.B. White
Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar. - E.B. White