Quote

Some handsome and ambitious men believe they are above all morality, and a woman's virtue becomes a mere challenge to them.

William Safire

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Mere
Becomes
Challenges
Virtue
Woman
Handsome
Believe
Ambitious
Men
Challenge
Morality

More quotes by William Safire

Image
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
Image
I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.
William Safire
Image
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.'
William Safire
Image
Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?
William Safire
Image
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.
William Safire
Image
Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.
William Safire
Image
President Reagan is a rhetorical roundheels, as befits a politician seeking empathy with his audience.
William Safire
Image
Create your own constituency of the infuriated.
William Safire
Image
Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
William Safire
Image
A man who lies, thinking it is the truth, is an honest man, and a man who tells the truth, believing it to be a lie, is a liar.
William Safire
Image
A book should have an intellectual shape and a heft that comes with dealing with a primary subject.
William Safire
Image
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.
William Safire
Image
[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.
William Safire
Image
At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
William Safire
Image
George Washington had a tough second term.
William Safire
Image
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.
William Safire
Image
Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.
William Safire
Image
The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.
William Safire
Image
Gridlock is great. My motto is, 'Don't just do something. Stand there.'
William Safire
Image
The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.
William Safire