Larry Wall Quotes

Hard writing makes easy reading.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

The unread is always better than the unreadable.

I never want to confuse people or go over their heads.

Write in such a way as that you can be readily understood by both the young and the old, by men as well as women, even by children.

Omit needless words.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Words easy to be understood do often hit the mark; when high and learned ones do only pierce the air.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.

Me is a common sense man. That mean when me explain things, me explain it in a very simple way; that mean if I explain it to a baby, the baby will understand too, you know.

The one thing that I do is take really complicated systems and subjects and make them accessible to regular people.

It seems to me that politicians ought to use the same words as other people.

I don't even use italics or boldface; that's clutter, not clarity. Fancy fonts are fine for blogs, just as calligraphy is fine for diaries. But when you're writing for anyone other than yourself, you want to get as universal as possible.

The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.

Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.

I analyse in my own way, in very simple, no-jargon language. If somebody is talking in very complicated way, I never like that.

I work real hard so the reader doesn't have to. I don't want them to have to look up words.

I want it to be easy to read. I'm not writing exotic literature.

Why say 'utilize' when you can say 'use'?

Clarity is the most important thing to me - in thinking - and so I try in the books to be as clear as possible.

Uncommon things must be said in common words.

I hope that my ideas attract a lively dialogue, even if my sentences are simple. Simple sentences have always served me well. And I don't use semicolons. It's hard to read anyway, especially for high school kids. Also, I avoid irony, too. I don't like people saying one thing and meaning the other.

To make yourself understood you have to think plain and write plain.

I wanted it to be as readable as possible. I had the ambition of reaching a broader audience.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.