At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
William SafireRead
Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sloppiness in speech can stem from a lack of knowledge or a lack of concern, but ultimately both are unimportant.
William Safire's quote reflects a view on communication, suggesting that carelessness in how we speak might arise from either ignorance or apathy. However, he expresses indifference to the cause, implying that the impact of such sloppiness is what truly matters, highlighting the importance of clarity and intention in communication.
Themes
SpeechCommunicationClarityCarelessnessIgnorance
In practice
Example use cases
During a public speaking event to stress the importance of precise language.
More from William Safire
All quotes βPreviously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
William SafireRead
Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
William SafireRead
Never assume the obvious is true.
William SafireRead
Stop worrying about the 'dumbing down' of our language by bloggers, tweeters, cableheads and MSM thumbsuckers engaged in a 'race to the bottom' of the page by little minds confined to little words.
William SafireRead
Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.
William SafireRead
Similar quotes
When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.
B. F. SkinnerRead
This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future.
Albert EinsteinRead
I believe that we should read only those books that bite and sting us. If a book we are reading does not rouse us with a blow to the head, then why read it?
Franz KafkaRead
While the books I read as a child lacked diversity in the strict sense, they didn't lack values. Reading, I didn't see me externally, but I felt me - my humanity.
Jewell Parker RhodesRead
Finally, one just has to shut up, sit down, and write.
Natalie GoldbergRead
We urgently need a paradigm shift in our concept of the purposes and practices of education. We need to leave behind the concept of education as a passport to more money and higher status in the future and replace it with a concept of education as an ongoing process that enlists the tremendous energies and creativity of schoolchildren in rebuilding and respiriting our communities and our cities now, in the present.
Grace Lee BoggsRead