Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when he was British Foreign Secretary, said he received the following telegram from an irate citizen: "To hell with you. Offensive letter follows." William Safire More Quotes by William Safire More Quotes From William Safire Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected. William Safire catchy humility humble Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. William Safire editing sound long If you want to "get in touch with your feelings," fine, talk to yourself. We all do. But if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in touch with your thoughts. Put them in order, give them a purpose, use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce. The secret way to do this is to write it down, and then cut out the confusing parts. William Safire cutting writing thinking As long as one American is hungry... then we have unfinished business in this country. William Safire unfinished-business long country It is in the nature of tyranny to deride the will of the people as the voice of the mob, and to denounce the cry for freedom as the roar of anarchy. William Safire anarchy voice people When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue. William Safire articulation rescue impossible Never assume the obvious is true. William Safire obviousness peer-pressure truth The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right. William Safire honesty integrity character Only in grammar can you be more than perfect. William Safire perfection perfect english-grammar A man who lies, thinking it is the truth, is an honest man, and a man who tells the truth, believing it to be a lie, is a liar. William Safire liars believe lying The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - "knowledge is power." Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is its power over you. William Safire government office latin Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation. William Safire passive-voice splits negative Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care. William Safire thought-provoking empathy ignorance Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media. William Safire choir used media Create your own constituency of the infuriated. William Safire You don't want lopsided government. You don't want one side running roughshod over the other. William Safire government want running Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor; but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy. William Safire adjectives elements unique Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. William Safire cliche plague lasts I was standing next to a famed geo-politician when the first news of the Argentine attack [on the Faulkland Islands] was received, and heard him muse incredulously: "An old-fashioned naval battle. A war between two civilized nations, perhaps with even a declaration of war, and later a peace conference. Wow." No hostages, no nukes, no ideologies, no religious fanaticism; just a fair-and-square war over national interests - hard to believe, in this day and age. William Safire religious war peace If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing. William Safire repetition reading editing
