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
The city is like poetry; it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a city encapsulates diverse human experiences and cultures, much like poetry conveys profound emotions in a compact form.
E. B. White compares a city to poetry, indicating that cities serve as condensed narratives of human existence, showcasing a multitude of lives, cultures, and experiences all coexisting in a confined space. Just as poetry distills complex feelings and ideas into succinct verses, cities bring together various races and backgrounds, intertwining their stories through the rhythm of urban life, represented as music and the hum of machinery.
Themes
CityPoetryDiversityCultureLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on urban studies, one might reference this quote to illustrate the poetic nature of city life.
More from E. B. White
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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.
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A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
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A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
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All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
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