William Safire
William Safire
William Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth17 December 1929
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
reading writing thinking
By elevating your reading, you will improve your writing or at least tickle your thinking.
president unions carter
Carter is the best President the Soviet Union ever had.
book yale editors
On the analogy of 'Dictionary Johnson,' we call Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the just-published Yale Book of Quotations (well worth the $50 price), 'Quotationeer Shapiro.' . . . Shapiro does original research, earning his 1,067-page volume a place on the quotation shelf next to Bartlett's and Oxford's.
mean years creating
This is not some alarmist Orwellian scenario; it is here, now, financed by $20 billion last year and $15 billion more this year of federal money appropriated out of sheer fear. By creating the means to monitor 300 million visits to the United States yearly, this administration and a supine opposition are building a system capable of identifying, tracking and spying on 300 million Americans.
mean people use
At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
eye ems stories
Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.
sports ties perfect
The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports clichés know, is a scoreless tie.
lasts cliche plague
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
reading editing repetition
If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.
truth obviousness peer-pressure
Never assume the obvious is true.
thinking needs knows
I think we have a need to know what we do not need to know.
tired needs nuance
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.
office firsts first-lady
The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.
voice people anarchy
It is in the nature of tyranny to deride the will of the people as the voice of the mob, and to denounce the cry for freedom as the roar of anarchy.