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Looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not.
Looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not.
Expression is the dress of thought, and still
Appears more decent as more suitable;
A vile conceit read more
Expression is the dress of thought, and still
Appears more decent as more suitable;
A vile conceit in pompous words express'd,
Is like a clown in regal purple dress'd.
Clearness ornaments profound thoughts.
[Fr., La clarte orne les pensees profondes.]
Clearness ornaments profound thoughts.
[Fr., La clarte orne les pensees profondes.]
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or
addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties read more
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or
addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties
are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but
the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon,
or a didactic work.
- Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire),
Style! style! why, all writers will tell you that it is the very
thing which can least of all read more
Style! style! why, all writers will tell you that it is the very
thing which can least of all be changed. A man's style is nearly
as much a part of him as his physiognomy, his figure, the
throbbing of this pulse,--in short, as any part of his being is
at least subjected to the action of the will.
Obscurity is the realm of error.
[Fr., L'obscurite est le royaume de l'erreur.]
Obscurity is the realm of error.
[Fr., L'obscurite est le royaume de l'erreur.]
When Croft's "Life of Dr. Young" was spoken of as a good
imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, "No, no," read more
When Croft's "Life of Dr. Young" was spoken of as a good
imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, "No, no," said he, "it is not a
good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force;
it has all the nodosities of the oak, without its strength; it
has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration."
Style is a magic wand, and turns everything to gold that it touches
Style is a magic wand, and turns everything to gold that it touches