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 βIt 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
Unless a capacity for thinking be accompanied by a capacity for action, a superior mind exists in torture.
Charles Horton CooleyRead
I wrote the story myself. It's all about a girl who lost her reputation but never missed it.
Mae WestRead
For solving a surprisingly large and varied number of problems, crowds are smarter than individuals.
Michael ShermerRead
No one wants advice - only corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
Perhaps the greatest reading pleasure has an element of self-annihilation. To be so engrossed that you barely know you exist.
Ian McewanRead
You could begin to notice whenever you find yourself blaming others or justifying yourself. If you spent the rest of your life just noticing that and letting it be a way to uncover the silliness of the human condition-the tragic yet comic drama that we all continually buy into-you could develop a lot of wisdom and a lot of kindness as well as a great sense of humor.
Pema ChodronRead