William Strunk Jr. Quotes & Sayings

Your whole duty as a writer is to please and satisfy yourself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one. — William Strunk Jr.

Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism. — William Strunk Jr.

In his New Yorker column of July 27, 1957, E. B. White praised the "little book" as a "forty-three-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English. — William Strunk Jr.

It's worse to irresolute than wrong. — William Strunk Jr.

1. Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic. — William Strunk Jr.

If every word or device that achieved currency were immediately authenticated, simply on the grounds of popularity, the language would be as chaotic as a ball game with no foul lines — William Strunk Jr.

In his Philosophy of Style, Herbert Spencer gives two sentences to illustrate how the vague and general can be turned into the vivid and particular: In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe. In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights, and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack. — William Strunk Jr.

not important, trifling — William Strunk Jr.

Quotations introduced by that are regarded as in indirect discourse and not enclosed in quotation marks. — William Strunk Jr.

A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses. — William Strunk Jr.

If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To do so is to put on airs, as though you were inviting the reader to join you in a select society of those who know better. — William Strunk Jr.

The audience, which had at first been indifferent, became more and more interested. — William Strunk Jr.

Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating. — William Strunk Jr.

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.

The language is perpetually in flux: it is a living stream, shifting, changing, receiving new strength from a thousand tributaries, losing old forms in the backwaters of time. — William Strunk Jr.

Nothing becomes funny by being labelled so. — William Strunk Jr.

The heel of Achilles — William Strunk Jr.

Negative words other than not are usually strong: — William Strunk Jr.

Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. — William Strunk Jr.

Vigorous writing is concise. 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. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. — William Strunk Jr.

Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers. — William Strunk Jr.

When a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor. — William Strunk Jr.

Omit needless words. — William Strunk Jr.

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.

Young writers often suppose that style is a garnish for the meat of prose, a sauce by which a dull dish is made palatable. Style has no such entity; it is nondetachable, unfilterable. — William Strunk Jr.

Do not, therefore, say "I feel nauseous," unless you are sure you have that effect on others. — William Strunk Jr.

The writer who has a definite meaning to express will not take refuge in such vagueness. — William Strunk Jr.

Nice. A shaggy, all-purpose word to be used sparingly in formal composition — William Strunk Jr.

1. Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's. — William Strunk Jr.

Writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion. — William Strunk Jr.

It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong. — William Strunk Jr.

This rule is difficult to apply; it is frequently hard to decide whether a single word, such as however, or a brief phrase, is or is not parenthetic. If the interruption to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the writer may safely omit the commas. But whether the interruption be slight or considerable, he must never omit one comma and leave the other. Such punctuation as — William Strunk Jr.

Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason. — William Strunk Jr.

The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape. — William Strunk Jr.

Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract. — William Strunk Jr.

It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating merit, attained at the cost of the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules. After he has learned, by their guidance, to write plain English adequate for everyday uses, let him look, for the secrets of style, to the study of the masters of literature. — William Strunk Jr.

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.

This book is intended for use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to give in a brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript. — William Strunk Jr.

In exposition and in argument, the writer must likewise never lose his hold upon the concrete; and even when he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application. — William Strunk Jr.

conscience' sake — William Strunk Jr.

2. As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning. — William Strunk Jr.

If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud! — William Strunk Jr.

As the American poet, Marianne Moore, said: There is a great deal of poetry in unconscious fastidiousness. — William Strunk Jr.

5. Do not join independent clauses by a comma. — William Strunk Jr.

To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk. — William Strunk Jr.

This book aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. — William Strunk Jr.

The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity. — William Strunk Jr.

To acquire style, begin by affecting none. — William Strunk Jr.

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.

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.

Another segment of society that has constructed a language of its own is business. People in business say that toner cartridges are in short supply, that they have updated the next shipment of these cartridges, and that they will finalize their recommendations at the next meeting of the board. They are speaking a language familiar and dear to them. Its portentous nouns and verbs invest ordinary events with high adventure; executives walk among toner cartridges, caparisoned like knights. We should tolerate them
every person of spirit wants to ride a white horse. — William Strunk Jr.

Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisfied with being told only what is not; the reader wishes to be told what is ... If your every sentence admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority. — William Strunk Jr.

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.

Try - Takes the infinitive: "try to mend it," not "try and mend it." Students of the language will argue that 'try and' has won through and become idiom. Indeed it has, and it is relaxed and acceptable. But 'try to' is precise, and when you are writing formal prose, try and write 'try to. — William Strunk Jr.

Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so. — William Strunk Jr.

If you have received a letter inviting you to speak at the dedication of a new cat hospital, and you hate cats, your reply, declining the invitation, does not necessarily have to cover the full range of your emotions. You must make it clear that you will not attend, but you do not have to let fly at the cats. The writer of the letter asked a civil question; attack cats, then, only if you can do so with good humor, good taste, and in such a way that your answer will be courteous as well as responsive. Since you are out of sympathy with cats, you may quite properly give this as a reason for not appearing at the dedicatory ceremonies of a cat hospital. But bear in mind that your opinion of cats was not sought, only your services as a speaker. Try to keep things straight. — William Strunk Jr.

None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right. — William Strunk Jr.