Lynne Truss Quotes

Proper punctuation is both the sign and the cause of clear thinking.

Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly. Ludwig Wittgenstein

Sloppy language leads to sloppy thought, and sloppy thought to sloppy legislation.

Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.

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

We now demand the light artillery of the intellect; we need the curt, the condensed, the pointed, the readily diffused -- in place of the verbose, the detailed, the voluminous, the inaccessible.

A multitude of words is probably the most formidable means of blurring and obscuring thought. There is no thought, however momentous, that cannot be expressed lucidly in 200 words.

Definite speech means clarity of mind.

... when we are misunderstood it is always our own fault. What the reader wants most of all is to be able to grasp what we think; but you loftily refuse to comply.

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

Good writing ... involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear.

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

Writing well is at one and the same time good thinking, good feeling, and good expression; it is having wit, soul, and taste, all together.

You could figure out at least 80 percent of the context and meaning of a text if people used punctuation, and we wouldn't have had to write our sketch.

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

What is conceived well is expressed clearly.

Clear thought makes clear speech.

The art of saying well what one thinks is different from the faculty of thinking. The latter may be very deep and lofty and far- reaching, while the former is altogether wanting.

True brevity of expression consists in a man only saying what is worth saying, while avoiding all diffuse explanations of things which every one can think out for himself.

Gobbledygook may indicate a failure to think clearly, a contempt for one's clients, or more probably a mixture of both. A system that can't or won't communicate is not a safe basis for a democracy.

Multitudes of words are neither an argument of clear ideas in the writer, nor a proper means of conveying clear notions to the reader.

I love revising things, because you see how you can get the language to get closer to intention. You know there are three ways to say X thing, but one will say it better than the other two. And in saying it better, it gets you closer to something.

You know that something is really well written when you have to think so little about the words that are coming out of your mouth and you're able to dwell in your own headspace to get there. It's very easy to recall and remember because it's written so well.