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Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Work
Appreciation
Things
Basis
Bases
Delight
Thus
Gratitude
Source
Knowing
Civilized

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A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.
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... it's Bush's baby, even if he shares its popularization with Gorbachev. Forget the Hitler 'new order' root F.D.R. used the phrase earlier.
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The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .
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The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.
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Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.
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I think we have a need to know what we do not need to know.
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In lieu of those checks and balances central to our legal system, non-citizens face an executive that is now investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and jailer or executioner. In an Orwellian twist, Bush's order calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.'
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This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and have some impact.
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Some handsome and ambitious men believe they are above all morality, and a woman's virtue becomes a mere challenge to them.
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Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.
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Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
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Gridlock is great. My motto is, 'Don't just do something. Stand there.'
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Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.
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What a joy it is to see really professional media manipulation.
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We are all environmentalists now, but we are not all planetists. An environmentalist realizes that nature has its pleasures and deserves respect. A planetist puts the earth ahead of the earthlings.
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Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on to your place', because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place - a feel for one's own position in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.
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The remarkable legion of the unremarked, whose individual opinions are not colorful or different enough to make news, but whose collective opinion, when crystallized, can make history.
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Never assume the obvious is true.
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