William Strunk Jr. quotes by William Strunk Jr.





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"Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so."
William Strunk Jr.
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"Vigorous writing is concise."
William Strunk Jr.
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"Do not, therefore, say "I feel nauseous," unless you are sure you have that effect on others."
William Strunk Jr. (The Elements of Style)
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"Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason."
William Strunk Jr. (Elements of Style, The- Second Edition)
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"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessay sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."
William Strunk Jr.
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"...when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.""
William Strunk Jr.
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"It's worse to irresolute than wrong."
William Strunk Jr.
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"Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating."
William Strunk Jr.
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"Rather, very, little, pretty -- these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then. "
William Strunk Jr.
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"14. 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.
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"Omit needless words."
William Strunk Jr.
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