It is by all odds the loftiest of cities. It even managed to reach the highest point in the sky at the lowest moment of the depression.
E. B. WhiteRead
Use the smallest word that does the job.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that simplicity in language is often more effective than complexity.
E. B. White emphasizes the importance of clarity and precision in communication. By advocating for the use of the smallest word that accomplishes the desired effect, he encourages us to prioritize straightforwardness over elaborate vocabulary. This approach not only enhances understanding but also respects the reader's ability to engage with the text without unnecessary complications.
Themes
SimplicityCommunicationClarityWritingLanguage
In practice
Example use cases
A writer could use this quote during a workshop about effective writing techniques.
More from E. B. White
All quotes βIt isn't silence you can cut with a knife any more, it's interchange of ideas. Intelligent discussion of practically everything is what is breaking up modern marriage.
E. B. WhiteRead
The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. Because I have the greatest respect for the reader, and if he's going to the trouble of reading what I've written -- I'm a slow reader myself and I guess most people are -- why, the least I can do is make it as easy as possible for him to find out what I'm trying to say, trying to get at. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.
E. B. WhiteRead
A good farmer is nothing more nor less than a handy man with a sense of humus.
E. B. WhiteRead
A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom- he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.
E. B. WhiteRead
All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self-escaping into the open.
E. B. WhiteRead
Similar quotes
No man can be a pure specialist without being in the strict sense an idiot.
George Bernard ShawRead
You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.
Miyamoto MusashiRead
For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains, And disapproves that care, though wise in show, That with superfluous burden loads the day, And when God sends a cheerful hour, refrains.
John MiltonRead
You can get into a habit of thought in which you enjoy making fun of all those other people who don't see things as clearly as you do. We have to guard carefully against it.
Carl SaganRead
Let no one trust so entirely to natural prudence as to persuade himself that it will suffice to guide him without help from experience.
Francesco GuicciardiniRead
I am sorry to think that you do not get a man's most effective criticism until you provoke him. Severe truth is expressed with some bitterness.
Henry David ThoreauRead