Tom Stoppard Quotes

I know words sometimes have consequences, but I try to choose the correct words every time.

The perfection of style consists in the use of the exact speech necessary to convey the sense in the fewest words consistent with perspicuity, at the same time having regard to appropriateness and harmony of expression. Its greater excellencies are directness, accuracy, appropriateness and perspicuity.

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

Writing is sometimes a balancing act between keeping things easily readable and being accurate.

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

Mark Twain said, 'The right word is to the nearly right word as lightning is to the lightning bug.' Fill your book with lightning.

They place great stress on the clarity of our language for expressing nuances and showing subtleties.

Language is a tool adequate to provide any degree of precision relevant to a particular situation.

If you need three adjectives to describe something, then you've probably chosen the wrong something.

I like playing around with the words; I love it when I feel like I've picked the exact right word to describe whatever it is I'm trying to describe.

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

I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but to make sure that everything I tell is true, as I understand it. And to use the eloquence which my language affords me.

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

Bad terminology is the enemy of good thinking.

That's all we have, finally, the words, and they had better be the right ones.

Choose each word as a precision tool. Consider how it sounds, not how it reads.

Words, which are the dress of thoughts, deserve surely more care than clothes, which are only the dress of the person.

Good writing is everything.

Because of the way my words get scrutinized, I have to use a level of precision so people don't accuse me of misleading them.

I write my columns pretty carefully.

People don't read me and say, 'Oh, it's so clean and elegant.'

The more you can keep your action and your mind and the ball you are delivering as simple as you can nothing can go wrong.

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

When I write, I'm talking to myself constantly to make sure that it sounds OK; it has kind of a nice rhythm and a nice jump to it.