Quotes by William Strunk, Jr. - Page 1

Omit needless words.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Needless
Omit
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Vigorous writing is concise.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Concise
Vigorous
Writing
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Acquire
Style
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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Worse
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Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Reason
Stomach
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If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Know How
Loud
Pronunciation
Say
Word
Pronounce
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None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
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The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Chance
One Chance
Situation
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Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Egotism
Mark
Opinion
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Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Announcing
Interesting
Writing
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A drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Drawing
Should Have
Writing
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To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Air
Demand
Views
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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Orderliness
Simplicity
Style
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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Assertion
Colorless
Definite
Language
Avoid
Tame
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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Prose
Rich
Sometimes
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The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Adjectives
Nouns
Weak
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...when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Made
Stronger
Vigor
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A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Formal
Separation
Stronger
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Rewrite and revise. Do not be afraid to seize what you have and cut it to ribbons ... Good writing means good revising.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Learning
Mean
Writing
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Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Needs
Weakness
Writing
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A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Drawing
Lines
Paragraph
Reason
Should Have
Unnecessary
Writing
Words
Contain
Machine
Parts
Sentence
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In exposition and in argument, the writer must likewise never lose his hold upon the concrete; and even when he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Art
Argument
Principles
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Avoid fancy words....If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child prodigious, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have bad time Reminder 14.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Children
Intelligent
Sky
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Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Concise
Drawing
Lines
Paragraph
Reason
Should
Unnecessary
Vigorous
Writing
Words
Same
Contain
Machine
Parts
Sentence
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If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To do so is to put on airs, as though you were inviting the reader to join you in a select society of those who know better.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Air
Attention
Quotation Marks
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Every writer, by the way he uses the language, reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias....Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Cute
Smile
Dollars
Twenties
Use
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The surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definitive, and concrete. The greatest writers - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare - are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Attention
Details
Writing
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Rather, very, little, pretty - these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Blood
Important
Trying
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In his Philosophy of Style, Herbert Spencer gives two sentences to illustrate how the vague and general can be turned into the vivid and particular: In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe. In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights, and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Men
Philosophy
Two
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This book is intended for use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to give in a brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript.
William Strunk, Jr. / Professor
Book
Numbers
Practice
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