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The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.
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
Federal
Neither
Office
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First
Impeached
Holder
Fired
More quotes by William Safire
I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.
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If America cannot win a war in a week, it begins negotiating with itself.
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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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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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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Cast aside any column about two subjects. It means the pundit chickened out on the hard decision about what to write about that day.
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The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - knowledge is power. Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is its power over you.
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Carter is the best President the Soviet Union ever had.
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I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.
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The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.
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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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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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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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I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.
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Don't expect others to do your work for you.
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Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.
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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 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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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.
William Safire
