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
If a man is to be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that having a passion, like an obsession with a boat, can be a meaningful pursuit in life.
E. B. White's quote reflects on the human tendency to become obsessed with certain interests or hobbies. In this case, he posits that being obsessed with a boat is a commendable pursuit, hinting that such obsessions can bring joy, purpose, and satisfaction, potentially more so than many other interests.
Themes
ObsessionBoatPassionHobbiesLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about pursuing passions, one might reference this quote to inspire others.
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.
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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.
E. B. WhiteRead
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She was desperate and she was choosey at the same time and, in a way, beautiful, but she didn't have quite enough going for her to become what she imagined herself to be.
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To keep the heart then, is carefully to preserve it from sin which disorders it; and maintain that spiritual and gracious frame, which fits it for a life of communion with God.
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Or have I passed my time in pouring words like water into empty sieves, rolling a stone up a hill and then down again, trying to prove an argument in the teeth of facts, and looking for causes in the dark, and not finding them?
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