Florence King Quotes

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

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

One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.

I never knew words could be so confusing," Milo said to Tock as he bent down to scratch the dog's ear. "Only when you use a lot to say a little," answered Tock. Milo thought this was quite the wisest thing he'd heard all day.

Seek always for the best words and the happiest expression you can find.

Words, like glasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. Before using a fine word, make a place for it.

Words... They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good any more... I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead.

Style means the right word. The rest matters little.

I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.

Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly each day.

Words are the basic tools, if you are a writer. But why? Why do you choose one set of tools rather than another?

If I remember correctly, a writer is someone who wants to convey information. Language or writing is a code.

Words are the coins making up the currency of sentences, and there are always too many small coins.

I was born into a profession in which my love of words, chosen with care for their meaning and nuance, was extremely important, not only to me, but also to the people with whom I worked with.

I know a lot about words. I get paid to write stories, so I get to talk with people about the meaning behind words all day.

When the public doesn't understand me, it's a battle. So when I choose words, I choose them for their musicality, rhythm, and sense, and I choose the right dialect to express that.

Writing and speaking and communicating, it's something important to me, and something I want to get better at.

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

Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.

One word is worth a thousand pictures. If it's the right word.

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

Eloquence is the power to translate a truth into language perfectly intelligible to the person to whom you speak.

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

Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words.

Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.