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Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.

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
Values
Strategy
Value
Cause
Higher
Leader
Causes

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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.
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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.
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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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When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary.
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If America cannot win a war in a week, it begins negotiating with itself.
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A reader ought to be able to hold it and become familiar with its organized contents and make it a mind's manageable companion.
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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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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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Color and bite permeate a language designed to rally many men, to destroy some, and to change the minds of others.
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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.
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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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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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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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Carter is the best President the Soviet Union ever had.
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Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy.
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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.
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As long as one American is hungry... then we have unfinished business in this country.
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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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Don't expect others to do your work for you.
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The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.
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