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
fun knowing
The most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.
opinion definite
Have a definite opinion.
integrity mean liberty
The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
unique elements flavor
Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor; but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy.
home citizens letters
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when he was British Foreign Secretary, said he received the following telegram from an irate citizen: "To hell with you. Offensive letter follows."
latin government office
The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - "knowledge is power." Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is its power over you.
quotation-marks mark quotations
Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
libertarian willing
I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian.
passive-voice splits negative
Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation.
english-grammar perfect grammar
Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
writing cutting thinking
If you want to "get in touch with your feelings," fine, talk to yourself. We all do. But if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in touch with your thoughts. Put them in order, give them a purpose, use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce. The secret way to do this is to write it down, and then cut out the confusing parts.
media choir used
Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.
baby order nwo
... it's Bush's baby, even if he shares its popularization with Gorbachev. Forget the Hitler 'new order' root; F.D.R. used the phrase earlier.
impossible articulation rescue
When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue.