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It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem too haphazard.

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
Needs
Room
Even
Seem
Would
Rooms
Life
Though
Haphazard
Order
Desk
Seems
Desks
Need
Seemed
Real
Afraid

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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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Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
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In a man's middle years there is scarcely a part of the body he would hesitate to turn over to the proper authorities.
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The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one.
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Don't write about Man write about a man.
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I have a spaniel that defrocked a nun last week. He took hold of the cord. I had hold of the leash. It was like elephants holding tails. Imagine me undressing a nun, even second hand.
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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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In order to read one must sit down, usually indoors. I am restless and would rather sail a boat than crack a book. I've never had a very lively literary curiosity, and it has sometimes seemed to me that I am not really a literary fellow at all. Except that I write for a living.
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Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.
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If I can fool a bug... I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs.
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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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The vision of milk and honey, it comes and goes. But the odor of cooking goes on forever.
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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.
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There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement.
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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 am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. Never worry about your heart till it stops beating.
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Semi-colons only prove that the author has been to college.
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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.
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You're terrific as far as I am concerned.
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A breezy style is often the work of an egocentric, the person who imagines that everything that pops into his head is of general interest and that uninhibited prose creates high spirits and carries the day.
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