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The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion.
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
Changing
Constantly
Drama
Conflict
Lexicon
Politics
Pleading
Language
Reproach
Persuasion
Ridicule
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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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Gridlock is great. My motto is, 'Don't just do something. Stand there.'
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I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.
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Adapt your style, if you wish, to admit the color of slang or freshness of neologism, but hang tough on clarity, precision, structure, grace.
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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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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.
William Safire
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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The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.
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I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.
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[Senators John Kerry & John Edwards] have risen high in Democratic polls with a brand of class resentment and soak-the-rich rhetoric rooted in the old-fashioned liberalism of Ted Kennedy.
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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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Never assume the obvious is true.
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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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It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
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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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Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
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One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.
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The most successful column is one that causes the reader to throw down the paper in a peak of fit.
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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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To communicate, put your words in order give them a purpose use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce.
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