You May Also Like / View all maxioms
Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he read more
Quotation... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader, or because he wishes to show that he is learned and well read. Quotations due to the last motive are invariably ill-advised; the discerning reader detects it and is contemptuous; the undiscerning is perhaps impressed, but even then is at the same time repelled, pretentious quotations being the surest road to tedium.
If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He read more
He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men.
One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.
One must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well.
To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking -- and since it cannot, in order read more
To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking -- and since it cannot, in order to become its echo I have, in a way, to silence it. I bring to this incessant speech the decisiveness, the authority of my own silence.
I must claim the quoter's privilege of giving only as much of the text as will suit my purpose, said read more
I must claim the quoter's privilege of giving only as much of the text as will suit my purpose, said Tan-Chun. If I told you how it went on, I should end up by contradicting myself!
The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.
The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.
When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.
When I was born I was so surprised I didn't talk for a year and a half.
When I am dead, I hope it may be said: "His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.".
When I am dead, I hope it may be said: "His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.".
