Mark Twain Quotes

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words. The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. It is the only thing he is fit for.

The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

I enjoy finding the right word and giving each its full measure, its full space in a sentence.

Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

All the elements of good writing depend on the writer's skill in choosing one word instead of another.

To reason with poorly chosen words is like using a pair of scales with inaccurate weights.

Use the right word, not its second cousin.

Fill your pages with details. Work hard to get the right word.

Literally' - I'm not having it; people can't go around saying 'literally.' Otherwise, what's literal? There's not another word for literally: if it isn't figurative or metaphorical, what is it? It's literal: there's no substitute.

The more words you have at your disposal, the more precisely you can express yourself.

So in writing, there is always a right word, and every other than that is wrong. There is no beauty in words except in their collocation. The effect of a fanciful word misplaced, is like that of a horn of exquisite polish growing on a human head.

Words have to be crafted, not sprayed. They need to be fitted together with infinite care.

The ability to speak exactly is intimately related to the ability to know exactly.

The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.

Grammar, perfectly understood, enables us not only to express our meaning fully and clearly, but so to express it as to enable us to defy the ingenuity of man to give to our words any other meaning than that which we ourselves intend them to express.

The use of the right word, the exact word, is the difference between a pencil with a sharp point and a thick crayon.

He that uses his words loosely and unsteadily will either not be minded or not understood.

Writing and reading and speaking with specificity and skill has never seen more important to me than it does at this moment. It's what's between us and chaos.

Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.

It has seemed to be more necessary to have regard to the weight of words rather than to their number.

The way for a person to develop a style is (a) to know exactly what he wants to say, and (b) to be sure he is saying exactly that.

The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language.

Swearing is an art form. You can express yourself much more exactly, much more succinctly, with properly used curse words.