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An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.

— E. B. White

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Writing

More quotes by E. B. White

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

One Man's Meat (1942)

Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.

I am a member of a party of one, and I live in an age of fear.

It is easier for a man to be loyal to his club than to his planet; the bylaws are shorter, and he is personally acquainted with the other members.

One Man's Meat (1942)

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

Strength of creative writing lies in the skill of handling words and articulating artistic expression of feelings.”

Suman Pokhrel

The free-lance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.

Robert Benchley

Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on,
Through words and things, a dim and perilous way.

William Wordsworth Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed (1919)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: E. B. White (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.