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It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

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
Word
Language
Use
Writing
Diminutive
Long
Behooves
Never
Superlatives
Oxymoron
Avoid

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The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
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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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Never look for the story in the 'lede.' Reporters are required to put what's happened up top, but the practiced pundit places a nugget of news, even a startling insight, halfway down the column, directed at the politiscenti. When pressed for time, the savvy reader starts there.
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Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
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Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.
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Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?
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One difference between French appeasement and American appeasement is that France pays ransom in cash and gets its hostages back while the United States pays ransom in arms and gets additional hostages taken.
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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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Give your main clause a little space. Prose is not like boxing the skilled writer deliberately telegraphs his punch, knowing that the reader wants to take the message directly on the chin.
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Never assume the obvious is true.
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Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.
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Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is: You can't beat Somebody with Nobody.
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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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You don't want lopsided government. You don't want one side running roughshod over the other.
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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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Don't expect others to do your work for you.
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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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The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports clichés know, is a scoreless tie.
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