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I want my questions answered by an alert and experienced politician, prepared to be grilled and quoted -- not my hand held by an old smoothie.

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
Prepared
Grilled
Hand
Quoted
Hands
Alert
Answered
Experienced
Held
Questions
Smoothie
Politician
Smoothies

More quotes by William Safire

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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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Never assume the obvious is true.
William Safire
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The most successful column is one that causes the reader to throw down the paper in a peak of fit.
William Safire
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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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The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion.
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No one flower can ever symbolize this nation. America is a bouquet.
William Safire
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Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.
William Safire
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Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.
William Safire
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To be accused of 'channeling' is to be dismissed as a ventriloquist's live dummy, derogated at not having a mind of one's own.
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As long as one American is hungry... then we have unfinished business in this country.
William Safire
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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.
William Safire
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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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Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.
William Safire
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Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.
William Safire
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Don't expect others to do your work for you.
William Safire
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Carter is the best President the Soviet Union ever had.
William Safire
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The tension between the governed and the governing is what makes the world go 'round. It's not love, it's that tension, because that tension exists in love affairs. The whole idea of control is at the heart of human relationships. Control and resistance to control.
William Safire
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Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?
William Safire
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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.
William Safire
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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.
William Safire