410 Quotes by E.B. White

When you say something, make sure you have said it. The chances of your having said it are only fair.

Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning "combustible" is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means "not combustible." For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

Summertime, oh, summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade-proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweetfern and the juniper forever and ever . . . the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp. This was the American family at play, escaping the city heat.

Once in everyone's life there is apt to be a period when he is fully awake, instead of half-asleep.

To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year. "The Distant Music of the Hounds," 1954

He carried a pencil that put a camera to shame.

At this season of the year, darkness is a more insistent thing than cold. The days are short as any dream.

I see nothing in space as promising as the view from a Ferris wheel.

The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for nature to follow. Now we just set the clocks an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase.