One of the little-celebrated powers of Presidents (and other high government officials) is to listen to their critics with just enough sympathy to ensure their silence.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Good writing, and this is especially important in a subject such as economics, must also involve the reader in the matter at hand. It is not enough to explain. The images that are in the mind of the writer must be made to reappear in the mind of the reader, and it is the absence of this ability that causes much economic writing to be condemned, quite properly, as abstract.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good writing should engage the reader and make complex subjects relatable and vivid.
John Kenneth Galbraith emphasizes the importance of engaging writing in the field of economics, arguing that mere explanation is insufficient. Effective writing requires that the writer's mental images and concepts are vividly conveyed to the reader, enabling them to grasp and connect with the material, rather than leaving it abstract and confusing. This ability to create a shared understanding is crucial to effective communication in any field, particularly in something as intricate as economics.
Themes
WritingEconomicsEngagementCommunicationClarity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a workshop on effective writing techniques.
More from John Kenneth Galbraith
All quotes →If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Money differs from an automobile or mistress in being equally important to those who have it and those who do not.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.
John Kenneth GalbraithRead
Similar quotes
Books! I dunno if I ever told you this, but books are the greatest gift one person can give another.
BonoRead
When I first started in this field there were all kinds of stereotypes about autism, as if these were children from another planet, or children who had been brought up by wolves, that they weren't part of our population and were somehow separate.
Simon Baron-CohenRead
Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.
William FaulknerRead
Clutter is the disease of American writing.
William ZinsserRead
We need literature because we wouldn’t fully know ourselves without it. We need good literature to be fully human.
Edwidge DanticatRead
When I'm documenting, for example, a story on women in Afghanistan, I will do a huge amount of research and a lot of time on the ground just getting to know the women before I even start shooting.
Lynsey AddarioRead