If I can fool a bug... I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs.

Although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.

Templeton was down there now, rummaging around. When he returned to the barn, he carried in his mouth an advertisement he had torn from a crumpled magazine. How's this?" he asked, showing the ad to Charlotte. It says 'Crunchy.' 'Crunchy' would be a good word to write in your web." Just the wrong idea," replied Charlotte. "Couldn't be worse. We don't want Zuckerman to think Wilbur is crunchy. He might start thinking about crisp, crunchy bacon and tasty ham. That would put ideas into his head. We must advertise Wilbur's noble qualities, not his tastiness.

Not even a collapsing world looks dark to a man who is about to make his fortune.

A schoolchild should be taught grammar—for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy.

A poet's pleasure is to withhold a little of his meaning, to intensify by mystification. He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it.

Habitually creative people are prepared to be lucky.