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.
Thus I, gone forth, as spiders do, In spider’s web a truth discerning, Attach one silken strand to you For my returning.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the delicate and intricate nature of relationships and communication, where truth is woven into connections.
In this quote, E. B. White uses the metaphor of a spider weaving its web to express how individuals establish connections with one another through shared truths. Just as a spider creates a framework that is both strong and fragile, the bonds we form with others rely on honesty and trust, allowing for an eventual return to those we hold dear. The imagery evokes the complexity of relationships and the importance of genuine communication in maintaining them.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of relationships, one might quote this to emphasize the significance of trust.
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.
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.
A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
Similar quotes
I've Got the World on a String.
Data isn't information. ... Information, unlike data, is useful. While there's a gulf between data and information, there's a wide ocean between information and knowledge. What turns the gears in our brains isn't information, but ideas, inventions, and inspiration. Knowledge-not information-implies understanding. And beyond knowledge lies what we should be seeking: wisdom.
I heard stories from my mother's mother who was an American Indian. She was spiritual, although she did not go to church, but she had the hum. She used to tell me stories of the rivers.
As we look into the future, we are going to need to be stronger and more responsible for our choices in a world where people "call evil good, and good evil." We do not choose wisely if we use our agency in opposition to God's will or to priesthood counsel. Tomorrow's blessings and opportunities depend on the choices we make today.
If you seek to carry no other crosses but those whose reason you understand, perfection is not for you.
We should so provide for old age that it may have no urgent wants of this world to absorb it from meditation on the next. It is awful to see the lean hands of dotage making a coffer of the grave.