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
A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books offer solace and answers during difficult times.
E. B. White emphasizes the profound comfort and guidance that books can provide to individuals facing difficulties such as unhappiness or confusion. He suggests that libraries serve as sanctuaries where one can find encouragement, reflect on their thoughts, and connect with the essence of countless human experiences encapsulated in literature, likening books to cherished companions that remain with us throughout our lives.
Themes
LibraryBooksComfortEncouragementSolace
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one might say, 'Remember, a library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy.'
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
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Arnold J. ToynbeeRead
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I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble - some balk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves - but certainly the mechanics of writing, finding the time and the psychic space, are easier now that my children are grown.
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A man only learns by two things; one is reading and the other is association with smarter people.
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