It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.
E. B. WhiteRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Experience enhances understanding, especially in writing about nature.
E. B. White emphasizes the importance of lived experience in gaining true insight, particularly concerning the unpredictable nature of weather. Only those who have faced the elements personally can truly understand and convey the nuances of the weather, making personal experience vital for authenticity in observation and communication.
Themes
ExperienceWeatherWritingUnderstandingNature
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about resilience, one might quote this to emphasize the value of enduring challenges.
More from E. B. White
All quotes →It isn't silence you can cut with a knife any more, it's interchange of ideas. Intelligent discussion of practically everything is what is breaking up modern marriage.
E. B. WhiteRead
The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. Because I have the greatest respect for the reader, and if he's going to the trouble of reading what I've written -- I'm a slow reader myself and I guess most people are -- why, the least I can do is make it as easy as possible for him to find out what I'm trying to say, trying to get at. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.
E. B. WhiteRead
A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
E. B. WhiteRead
A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
E. B. WhiteRead
All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
E. B. WhiteRead
Similar quotes
Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. You cannot eliminate habits that no longer serve you. You can only replace them with new habits that support your goals. Moment by moment, you need to live with awareness and structure the habits that you include or exclude in your days.
Mark TwainRead
We must endure our thoughts all night, until the bright obvious stands motionless in the cold.
Wallace StevensRead
To suffer unecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.
Viktor E. FranklRead
I learned at Yale, one of the biggest lessons was to learn how special I am and therefore how totally unspecial I am. I was special among everyone else who was special. The fact that we're all so individual and that's what makes us special.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
You look closely enough, you'll find that everything has a weak spot where it can break, sooner or later.
Anthony HopkinsRead
A man's own good breeding is the best security against other people's ill manners.
Lord ChesterfieldRead