Adoniram Judson Quotes

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

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

I certainly am interested in accessibility, clarity, and immediacy.

I try to be as clear as I can be.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

A translation needs to read convincingly. There's no limit to what can go into it in terms of background research, feeling, or your own interests in form and history. But what should come out is something that reads as convincing English-language text.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

There are writers who pour out words, concepts that sound really important but that basically say nothing. I always tried to be as concise as possible, all to try and reach everyone, but especially the simple people, those who needed to be reached more than anyone else.

There is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation, and for some men it is quite as difficult to record an observation in brief and plain language.

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.

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.

I believe if you want to convey a complex philosophy, it's advisable to keep it simple: day-to-day lingo.

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

If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

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.

Notwithstanding my present incompetency, I am beginning to translate the New Testament, being extremely anxious to get some parts of Scripture, at least, into an intelligible shape, if for no other purpose than to read, as occasion offers, to the Burmans I meet with.

In prose, I think you sometimes have to write in very plain language, where every line may not seem to be so important, though in all writing every line is important.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

Supreme court opinions should be written in such a way that they can be read in the barber shop.

Less is almost always better than more. Short words, short sentences, short speeches.

You do know what's coming up when you're translating. I suppose the concentration, then, is on finding a formulation which is speakable and in character - and economical as well, actually.

What a newspaper needs in its news, in its headlines, and on its editorial page is terseness, humor, descriptive power, satire, originality, good literary style, clever condensation, and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy!