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There is a period near the beginning of every man's life when he has little to cling to except his unmanageable dream, little to support him except good health, and nowhere to go but all over the place.

E. B. White

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E. B. White
Age: 86 †
Born: 1899
Born: July 11
Died: 1985
Died: October 1
Editor
Essayist
Journalist
Novelist
Poet
Screenwriter
Writer
Mount Vernon
New York
Elwyn Brooks White
E.B. White
Good
Youth
Unmanageable
Men
Health
Cling
Life
Support
Nowhere
Place
Near
Dream
Period
Littles
Periods
Little
Except
Every
Beginning

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Whatever else an American believes or disbelieves about himself, he is absolutely sure he has a sense of humor.
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Humor is like a frog. You can dissect it to see how it works, but by then, it's dead.
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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.
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Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.
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Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.
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The living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs. From daily use, the path undergoes change. A cow is under no obligation to stay
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We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.
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The most puzzling thing about TV is the steady advance of the sponsor across the line that has always separated news from promotion, entertainment from merchandising. The advertiser has assumed the role of originator, and the performer has gradually been eased into the role of peddler.
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Half a man's life is devoted to what he calls improvements, yet the original had some quality which is lost in the process.
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Why is it, do you suppose, that an Englishman is unhappy until he has explained America?
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I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. Never worry about your heart till it stops beating.
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I have one share in corporate Earth, and I am nervous about the management.
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Semi-colons only prove that the author has been to college.
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There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement.
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A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning.
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We grow tyrannical fighting tyranny. . . . The most alarming spectacle today is not the spectacle of the atomic bomb in an unfederated world, it is the spectacle of the Americans beginning to accept the device of loyalty oaths and witch hunts, beginning to call anybody they don't like a Communist.
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My prose style at this time was a stomach-twisting blend of the Bible, Carl Sandburg, H.L. Mencken, Jeffrey Farnol, Christopher Morley, Samuel Pepys, and Franklin Pierce Adams imitating Samuel Pepys. I was quite apt to throw in a bless the mark at any spot, and to begin a sentence with Lord comma.
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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.
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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.
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It is at a fair that man can be drunk forever on liquor, love, or fights at a fair that your front pocket can be picked by a trotting horse looking for sugar, and your hind pocket by a thief looking for his fortune.
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