E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White Quotes

A collection of quotes by E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White was born on July 11, 1899, in Mount Vernon, New York, and grew up in a prosperous family. He attended Cornell University and graduated in 1921 with a degree in English. After college, White worked as a reporter for The Seattle Times and The United Press in New York City.

In 1929, White started writing for The New Yorker magazine, where he worked for almost six decades. His writing showcased his wit, humor, and keen observations of everyday life, earning him a loyal readership. White's most famous work is the children's novel "Charlotte's Web," published in 1952. The book remains a classic and has touched the hearts of generations with its themes of friendship, loyalty, and mortality.

White also wrote other beloved children's books like "Stuart Little" (1945) and "The Trumpet of the Swan" (1970), as well as numerous essays and pieces for The New Yorker. His writing often celebrated the wonders of nature, reflecting his own love for animals and the outdoors.

Beyond children's literature, White displayed his versatility as a writer with works such as "One Man's Meat" (1942), a collection of personal essays, and "Here Is New York" (1949), a reflection on the city he adored.

E.B. White's writing continues to captivate readers, and his books are treasured as timeless classics. He passed away on October 1, 1985, leaving behind a lasting legacy in the world of literature.

The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new po

The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man's adjustment to it -- the speed of his acceptance.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White


In middle life, the human back is spoiling for a technical k

In middle life, the human back is spoiling for a technical knockout and will use the flimsiest excuse, even a sneeze, to fall apart.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Age

A man's liberal and conservative phases seem to follow each

A man's liberal and conservative phases seem to follow each other in a succession of waves from the time he is born. Children are radicals. Youths are conservatives, with a dash of criminal negligence. Men in their prime are liberals (as long as their digestion keeps pace with their intellect). The middle aged run to shelter: they insure their life, draft a will, accumulate mementos and occasional tables, and hope for security. And then comes old age, which repeats childhood -- a time full of humors and sadness, but often full of courage and even prophecy.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Generations

A man is not expected to love his country, lest he make an a

A man is not expected to love his country, lest he make an ass of himself. Yet our country, seen through the mists of smog, is curiously lovable, in somewhat the way an individual who has got himself into an unconscionable scrape seems lovable -- or at least deserving of support.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

America

There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among peo

There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Agreement

A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with

A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Farming

The complaint about modern steel furniture, modern glass hou

The complaint about modern steel furniture, modern glass houses, modern red bars and modern streamlined trains and cars is that all these objets modernize, while adequate and amusing in themselves, tend to make the people who use them look dated. It is an honest criticism. The human race has done nothing much about changing its own appearance to conform to the form and texture of its appurtenances.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Design

It is at a fair that man can be drunk forever on liquor, lov

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.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Parties

Advertisers are the interpreters of our dreams -- Joseph int

Advertisers are the interpreters of our dreams -- Joseph interpreting for Pharaoh. Like the movies, they infect the routine futility of our days with purposeful adventure. Their weapons are our weaknesses: fear, ambition, illness, pride, selfishness, desire, ignorance. And these weapons must be kept as bright as a sword.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Advertising

Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give

Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Cities

The so-called science of poll-taking is not a science at all

The so-called science of poll-taking is not a science at all but mere necromancy. People are unpredictable by nature, and although you can take a nation's pulse, you can't be sure that the nation hasn't just run up a flight of stairs.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Politics

The most puzzling thing about TV is the steady advance of th

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.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Television

All we need is a meteorologist who has once been soaked to t

All we need is a meteorologist who has once been soaked to the skin without ill effect. No one can write knowingly of the weather who walks bent over on wet days.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Weather

Americans are willing to go to enormous trouble and expense

Americans are willing to go to enormous trouble and expense defending their principles with arms, very little trouble and expense advocating them with words. Temperamentally we are ready to die for certain principles (or, in the case of overripe adults, send youngsters to die), but we show little inclination to advertise the reasons for dying.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Principles

In a sense the world dies every time a writer dies, because,

In a sense the world dies every time a writer dies, because, if he is any good, he has been a wet nurse to humanity during his entire existence and has held earth close around him, like the little obstetrical toad that goes about with a cluster of eggs attached to his legs.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Authors & Writing

Commuter -- one who spends his life in riding to and from hi

Commuter -- one who spends his life in riding to and from his wife; And man who shaves and takes a train, and then rides back to shave again.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Cities

The whole problem is to establish communication with ones se

The whole problem is to establish communication with ones self.

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Communication

There is a period near the beginning of every man's life whe

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. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Youth

I am often mad, but I would hate to be nothing but mad: and

I am often mad, but I would hate to be nothing but mad: and I think I would lose what little value I may have as a writer if I were to refuse, as a matter of principle, to accept the warming rays of the sun, and to report them, whenever, and if ever, they

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Anger

The living language is like a cowpath: it is the creation of

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

E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) White

Language