What Charlotte Said.....

Why am I thinking of  "Charlotte's Web" today? Perhaps it is because, in today's paper, I read that the State Fair is beginning which makes me think of farms and raising animals (which my husband did in 4-H growing up) and particularly of pigs, those cute little pink animals that you want to keep as pets instead of the alternative. And though I do not like spiders, the thought of Wilbur leads me to thoughts of Charlotte, and the wisdom and truth of what she says. For example: ON FRIENDSHIP: "You have been my friend, (to Wilbur) and 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." ON BEING YOUNG/YOUNG AT HEART: "Go down through the garden, dig up the radishes! Root up everything! Eat grass! Look for corn! Look for oats! Run all over! Skip and dance, jump and prance! Go down through the orchard and stroll in the woods! The world is a wonderful place when you're young." ON ENCOURAGEMENT: "We must advertise Wilbur's noble qualities; not his testiness." ON PEOPLE'S VULNERABILITY: "People believe almost anything they see in print." ON FREEDOM: "An hour of freedom is worth a barrel of slops." (said by the goose) ON BOREDOM: "When I'm out here (in my pen), there's no place to go but in. When I'm indoors, there's no place to go but out in the yard." ON PATIENCE: "Charlotte was naturally patient. She knew from experience that if she waited long enough, a fly would come to her web." ON LOGIC: "What do you mean, less than nothing? How can something be less than nothing? If nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is." ON COURAGE: "Take a deep breath! Now climb to the highest place you can get to. Now make an attachment with your spinnerets, hurl yourself into space, and let out a dragline as you go down." (Charlotte explaining how to spin a web.) ON LAZY TIME: "What does sedentary mean? It means I sit still a good part of the time and don't go wandering all over creation. I stay put and wait for what comes. Gives me a chance to think." ON BEING HUMBLE: "Humble? Humble has two meanings. It means 'not proud' and it means 'near the ground.' That's Wilbur all over. He's not proud and he's close to the ground.? ON CREATING SOMETHING: "I don't know what a magnum opus is," (Wilbur) "That's Latin; it means 'great work.' This egg sac is my great work...the finest thing I have ever made." (Charlotte)

* Written with the help and quotes from book, "Charlotte's Web."