William Feather Quotes

Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.

I think that as you learn more about writing you learn to be direct.

The shorter and the plainer the better.

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.

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

Successful writers learn at last what they should learn at first,--to be intelligently simple.

I made up my mind long ago to follow one cardinal rule in all my writing — to be clear.

Plate glass... has no beauty of its own. Ideally, you ought not to be able to see it at all, but through it you can see all that is happening outside. That is the equivalent of writing that is plain and unadorned. Ideally, in reading such writing, you are not even aware that you are reading. Ideas and events seem merely to flow from the mind of the writer into that of the reader without any barrier between. I hope that is what is happening when you read this book

Uncommon things must be said in common words, if you would have them to be received in less than a century.

Do but take care to express yourself in a plain, easy Manner, in well-chosen, significant and decent Terms, and to give a harmonious and pleasing Turn to your Periods: study to explain your Thoughts, and set them in the truest Light, labouring as much as possible, not to leave them dark nor intricate, but clear and intelligible.

Being incomprehensible offers unparalleled protection against having nothing to say...but writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded by those with a tenacious belief that the impassable prose is a hallmark of intelligence.

Short, sweet, and to the point. Clear writing, and therefore clear commands, comes from clear thinking. Think simple.

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

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.

Minimalism has a connotation of being reductive, and not in the best way. 'Brevetist' is a better term. I'm trying to be as concise as possible and still getting across to the reader. When information is delivered in that way, it is very satisfying to me.

A genius knows how to make himself easily understood without being obvious about it.

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

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

I love the right words. I think economy and precision of language are important.

We should not write so that it is possible for [the reader] to understand us, but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.

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

The more clearly you write, the more easily and surely you will be understood.

Fine writing is a distinct disadvantage. So is unique literary style. They take attention from the subject

Uncommon things must be said in common words.

The difficulty is not to write, but to write what you mean.