Thurber did not write the way a surgeon operates, he wrote the way a child skips rope, the way a mouse waltzes.

Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small one to be sure, but nevertheless a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly.

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.

It is a miracle that New York works at all. The whole thing is implausible.

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

When my wife's Aunt Caroline was in her nineties, she lived with us, and she once remarked: 'Remembrance is sufficient of the beauty we have seen.' I cherish the remembrance of the beauty I have seen. I cherish the grave, compulsive word.

It is quite possible that an animal has spoken to me and that I didn't catch the remark because I wasn't paying attention.