A special dedication to quotes from Politics and the English Language, by
George Orwell
"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes,
will ask himself at least four questions, thus: What am I trying to say?
What words will express it? What image or idiom will make it clearer? Is
this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask himself two more: Could I put it more shortly? Have
I said anything that is avoidably ugly? But you are not obliged to go to all
this trouble. You can shirk it by simply throwing your mind open and letting
the ready-made phrases come crowding in. They will construct your sentences
for you — even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent — and at
need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your
meaning even from yourself."
George Orwell
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity."
George Orwell
"This invasion of one's mind by ready-made phrases (lay the
foundations, achieve a radical transformation) can only be prevented if one
is constantly on guard against them, and every such phrase anaesthetizes a
portion of one's brain."
George Orwell
"One can cure oneself of the not un- formation by memorizing
this sentence: A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across
a not ungreen field."
George Orwell
"Years ago, I tried to top everybody, but I don't anymore. I
realized it was killing conversation. When you're always trying for a
topper you aren't really listening. It ruins communication."
Groucho Marx
"Listening with compassion means putting judgments aside. This
quality of listening creates a safety for people to be free to express
themselves and go to the level of their deep concerns. It has everything to do
with caring for the state of another human being"
Carol Hwoschinsky
"There's no right way of writing. There's only your way."
Milton Lomask
"Symbol plucks all the strings of the human spirit at once,
speech is compelled to take up a single thought at a time. The symbol strikes
at the most secret depths of the soul; language skims the surface of
understanding."
J.J. Buchofin
