To the terrific, E.B. White, the American essayist…Columnist…Editor and Poet–
THANK YOU for teaching us on many things but especially about friendships, writing and random thoughts.
On friendships and Charlotte’s Web:
“Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They’ll believe anything they see in print.”
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“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”
Salutations!
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. 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.”
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On writing and random things:
“Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand.”
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“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.”
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“You’re terrific as far as I am concerned.”
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“Advice to young writers wo want to get ahead without any annoying delays: don’t write about Man, write about a man.”
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“I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that does not have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular.”
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“Semi-colons only prove that the author has been to college.”
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“Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.”
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“A writer’s style reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacites, his bias…it is the Self escaping into the open.”
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“Writing is both mask and unveiling.”
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“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper.” (my personal favorite when suffering from a writer’s block…)
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On spelling and Stuart Little:
“Well,” said Stuart, “a misspelled word is an abomination in the sight of everyone.”
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E.B. White–7/11/1899 to 1/10/1985
Rest in peace
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What are your thoughts on the legend, E.B. White?
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Quote source on E.B. White
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