Some Pig

• Wilbur was merely suffering the doubts and fears that often go with finding a new friend. In good time he was to discover that he was mistaken about Charlotte. Underneath her rather bold and cruel exterior, she had a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal and true to the very end.
• "No," said Charlotte. "They don't catch anything. They just keep trotting back and forth across the bridge thinking there is something better on the other side. If they'd hang head-down at the top of the thing and wait quietly, maybe something good would come along. But no - with men it's rush, rush, rush, every minute. I'm glad I'm a sedentary spider."
• "Children pay better attention than grownups. If Fern says that the animals in Zuckerman's barn talk, I'm quite ready to believe her. Perhaps if people talked less, animals would talk more. People are incessant talkers - I can give my word on that."
• "You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."

E.B. White, Charlotte's Web, (New York: Harper Collins, 1952), 41, 60, 110, 164.

I took the opportunity to read Charlotte's Web this weekend. It was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I do not believe I had read it since about third grade. I zoomed through it Saturday morning and fell in love with the story all over again. What a beautiful portrayal of loyalty, friendship, and the inevitable sadness that comes when we lose someone we love. The life lessons that are taught through the writing are as applicable to the 28 year old version of me as they were to the 8 year old version. Anytime a book can literally move your heart, the writing is solid. It was a good reminder that no matter how many things I can learn, sometimes the most crucial are the lessons I already have learned. Excellent read.