Horace Quotes

He that will write well in any tongue, must follow this counsel of Aristotle, to speak as the common people do, to think as wise men do: and so should every man understand him, and the judgment of wise men allow him.

There are people who have tremendously important things to say, but they say it so poorly that nobody would ever want to read it.

Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it. A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite.

You just can't make bad writing look good. But if you have good writing, you just say it, and it's almost done.

The secret of all good writing is sound judgment.

Although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.

You have to have something worth saying and then the ability to say it- writing's a double skill, really.

Words are how people think. When you misuse words, you diminish your ability to think clearly and truthfully.

If we do away with semi-colons, parentheses and much else, we will lose all music, nuance and subtlety in communication - and end up shouting at one another in block capitals.

Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.

Good writing is like a windowpane.

To speak as the common people do, to think as wise men do is style.

Repetition for no reason is a sign of carelessness or pretentiousness, but there are plenty of good reasons to repeat words and phrases.

When we examine the opinions of men, we find that nothing is more uncommon than common sense; or, in other words, they lack judgment to discover plain truths or to reject absurdities and palpable contradictions.

A philosopher once said, 'Half of good philosophy is good grammar.'

It's not hard to write poorly. But to write something good, it has to be revised.

Good writing will bring you to places you don't even expect sometimes.

The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way.

Turin is a city which entices a writer towards vigor, linearity, style. It encourages logic, and through logic it opens the way towards madness.

I get the ideas from everything. Children sometimes think you have to have special experiences to write, but good writing brings out what's special in ordinary things.

A mathematical proof is beautiful, but when you're finished, it's really only about one thing. A story can be about many things.

When you combine something to say with the skill to say it properly, then you've got a good writer.

Whether you're a newspaper journalist, a lawyer, a doctor. You have to organize your thoughts.

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

Eloquence is the essential thing in a speech, not information.