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
Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can't erase it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life allows us to make changes and corrections, but our past actions and experiences remain part of us.
This quote by E. B. White highlights the idea that while we can modify our current path or decisions—much like crossing out words with a pen—our past is something we cannot completely erase. It serves as a reminder that our history shapes who we are, and instead of attempting to erase the past, we should learn from it and move forward.
Themes
LifePastPenChangeAcceptance
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to emphasize embracing past experiences.
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
Strange, how such a small realization can affect everyone's life forever. In movies there is always a carefully staged moment - a big crescendo of music, close- ups of the actors' faces, the camera slowly pulling away to let all this sink in for the viewer...but, in real life, most all of the extraordinary things happen with no more loudness than a whisper.
Silas HouseRead
Life shoould be touched, not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times, and at other move forward with it.
Ray BradburyRead
My advice to people today is as follows: if you take the game of life seriously, if you take your nervous system seriously, if you take your sense organs seriously, if you take the energy process seriously, you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.
Timothy LearyRead
Sunsets are loved because they vanish. Flowers are loved because they go. The dogs of the field and the cats of the kitchen are loved because soon they must depart. These are not the sole reasons, but at the heart of morning welcomes and afternoon laughters is the promise of farewell. In the gray muzzle of an old dog we see goodbye. In the tired face of an old friend we read long journeys beyond returns.
Ray BradburyRead
Sometimes the lights all shining on me, other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been.
Jerry GarciaRead
Sometimes I would almost rather have people take away years of my life than take away a moment.
Pearl BaileyRead