Lucille Clifton Quotes

The language of truth is simple.

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

I say what I need to, not a whole lot more.

Do not put cleverness in front of the communication.

When a man has no design but to speak plain truth, he may say a great deal in a very narrow compass.

If you cannot say what you mean, your majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says.

Sometimes one has to say difficult things, but one ought to say them as simply as one knows how.

The simpler you say it, the more eloquent it is.

Simple is the language of truth.

The single most important lesson of effective communication is this: Focus on clarity. Concentrate on precisions. Don’t worry about constructing beautiful sentences. Beauty comes from meaning, not language. Accuracy is the most effective style of all.

I see but one rule: to be clear. If I am not clear, all my world crumbles to nothing.

I see but one rule: to be clear.

One must be as clear as one's natural reticence allows one to be.

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.

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

I try to be as clear as I can be.

One must be frank to be relevant.

There's a great power in words, if you don't hitch too many of them together.

If you make yourself understood, you're always speaking well.

Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across.

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.

It does not require many words to speak the truth.

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

Communication is about being effective, not always about being proper.