Quote

To acquire style, begin by affecting none.

William Strunk, Jr.

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

William Strunk, Jr.
Age: 77 †
Born: 1869
Born: July 1
Died: 1946
Died: September 26
Professor
Writer
Cincinnati
Ohio
Affecting
Acquire
None
Begin
Style

More quotes by William Strunk, Jr.

Image
The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Vigorous writing is concise.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Rewrite and revise. Do not be afraid to seize what you have and cut it to ribbons ... Good writing means good revising.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Every writer, by the way he uses the language, reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias....Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Avoid fancy words....If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child prodigious, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have bad time Reminder 14.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
A drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
The surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definitive, and concrete. The greatest writers - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare - are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
...when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
William Strunk, Jr.
Image
If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
William Strunk, Jr.