"Nearly a quarter of a century ago I left the security of a well-paid and well-pensioned position to go on a mission to show doctors how much they — and their patients — would benefit from knowing the simple techniques of effective writing. As an editor on medical magazines for a decade, I had been surprised by much of what I had seen: winding texts of long and pompous words brought together in rambling sentences that obscured any sensible meaning. Here was a great opportunity, I thought, to pass on what I had learnt as a professional writer: that the best way to express clear and well-ordered thoughts was through clear and simple language. I was confident that within a year or two the culture would start to change, and instead of glibly trotting out phrases like Long-term medication is predicated, doctors would start writing: You may have to take these pills for a long time. To my surprise I met fierce resistance. 'You can't use simple words, they are for children'; ' Approximately is a proper scientific word; it would be wrong to write about '; 'Don't put We examined the patient; instead write, The patient was examined '. One exasperated public health doctor went so far as to say: 'We're doctors. We don't necessarily want people to understand what we are writing'."