English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street.

His words span rivers and mountains, but his thoughts are still only six inches long.

Is there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider's web?

"Have you ever found anything that gives you relief?" "Yes. A drink."

I would really rather feel bad in Maine than feel good anywhere else

Geese are friends to no one, they bad mouth everybody and everything. But they are companionable once you get used to their ingratitude and false accusations.

If sometimes there seems to be a sort of sameness of sound in The New Yorker, it probably can be traced to the magazine's copydesk, which is a marvelous fortress of grammatical exactitude and stylish convention.