Writing style

"For diff’rent styles with diff’rent subjects sort, As sev’ral garbs with country, town, and court."

"For there is no art where there is no style, and no style where there is no unity, and unity is of the individual."

"From the point of view of style, a healthy work of art is one whose style recognizes the beauty of the material it employs, be that material one of words or of bronze, of colour or of ivory, and uses that beauty as a factor in producing the æsthetic effect."

"I can't listen to anyone unless he attracts me by a charming style or by beauty of theme."

"Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings."

"Le style c’est l’homme."

"The style shows the man."

"Ce qui n’est pas clair, n’est pas Français."

"What is not clear (intelligible) is not French."

"Clarus ob obscuram linguam magis inter inanes Quamde graves inter Graios qui vera requirunt: Omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque Inversis que sub verbis latitantia cernunt."

"His obscure style took with the shallower pates, (Not with the serious Greeks who ask for facts): For nothing captivates your dull man more Than dark, involved, mysterious verbiage."

"Decipimur specie recti; brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio."

"We aim at the ideal, and fail. I try To be concise, and end in being obscure."

"Non liquet."

"It is not evident."

"Obscuris vera involvens."

"Cloaking the truth in mystery."

"Cela doit être beau, car je n’y comprends rien."

"That ought to be fine, for I don’t understand a word of it."

"Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta docere."

"The subject of itself is incompatible with an ornamental style, content if it is able to instruct."

"Verba nitent phaleris, at nullas verba medullas Intus habent."

"The words make a fine show, but they have no pith in them."

"Consuetudinem sermonis vocabo consensum eruditorum; sicut vivendi consensum bonorum."

"The practice of educated men is the best standard of language, just as the lives of the good are our pattern in morals."

"Fungar vice cotis, acutum Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi. Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo."

"Mine be the whetstone’s lot Which makes steel sharp, though cut itself will not. Although no writer, I may yet impart To writing folk the precepts of their art."

"Ne forçons point notre talent, Nous ne ferions rien avec grâce."

"Don’t force your powers unduly, if you aim at a graceful effect."

"Occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros."

"Like warmed-up cabbage served at each repast, The repetition kills the wretch at last."

"Sæpe stilum vertas, iterum que digna legi sint Scripturus; neque te ut miretur turba labores, Contentus paucis lectoribus."

"Oh yes! believe me, you must draw your pen Not once or twice, but o’er and o’er again Through what you’ve written, if you would entice The man that reads you once to read you twice, Not making popular applause your cue, But looking to fit audience, although few."

"Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, æquam Viribus, et versate diu quid ferre recusent, Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res, Nec facundia deseret hunc, nec lucidus ordo."

"Good authors, take a brother bard’s advice: Ponder your subject o’er not once or twice, And oft and oft consider if the weight You hope to lift be, or be not too great. Let but our theme be equal to our powers, Choice language, clear arrangement, both are ours."

"Ornata hoc ipso, quod ornamenta neglexerant."

"Ornate for the very reason that ornament had been neglected."

"Plus aloes quam mellis habet."

"He has in him more aloes than honey."

"Ce que l'on concoit bien s’énonce clairement Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément."

"A felicitous thought is as clearly exprest, And true words are not wanting in which it is drest."

"Est brevitate opus ut currat sententia."

"Terseness there wants to make the thought ring clear."

"Ante mare, et tellus, et, quod tegit omnia cœlum, Unus erat toto nature vultus in orbe, Quem dixere Chaos; rudis indigestaque moles."

"Ere sea, and land and heaven’s vault were made, Nature, throughout the globe, bore one aspect, Called chaos—a rude and undigested mass."

"Arenæ funis effici non potest."

"You can’t make a rope of sand."

"Velut egri somnia, vanæ Fingentur species, ut nec pes, nec caput uni Reddatur formæ."

"Like sick men’s dreams, when shadowy images appear, and nether head nor feet fit their respective forms."

"Le secret d’ennuyer est celui de tout dire."