William Lashner Quotes

It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my biography of Winston Churchill - that short, strong words work better. I am ever-vigilant against the passive and against jargon, both of which are so insidious.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.

I'm not an angry person. When I write, the lawyer in me tries to make it as easy to read as possible.

I want it to be easy to read. I'm not writing exotic literature.

It is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his reader is sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or his reader will certainly misunderstand them. Generally, also, a downright fact may be told in a plain way; and we want downright facts at present more than anything else.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.

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

I analyse in my own way, in very simple, no-jargon language. If somebody is talking in very complicated way, I never like that.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Uncommon things must be said in common words.

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 notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

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.

I've been accused of being a minimalist writer. I don't like a lot of verbiage in there.

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

Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don't put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn't say in real life.

Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.

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

I preferred the simplest vocabulary.

I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass.

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

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.