“In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give your style.”

— Sydney Smith

Vol. I, ch. 11 http://books.google.com/books?id=R18JAAAAQAAJ&q=%22In+composing+as+a+general+rule+run+your+pen+through+every+other+word+you+have+written+you+have+no+idea+what+vigour+it+will+give+your+style%22&pg=PA382#v=onepage <br class="br">Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)

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Sydney Smith68

English writer and clergyman 1771–1845

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“Before one is successful that is before any one is ready to pay money for anything you do then you are certain that every word you have written is an important word to have written and that any word you have written is as important as any other word and you keep everything you have written with great care.”

Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays

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“"The pen is mightier than the sword," you say. Get out your pens and prepare to have your logic tested by steel.”

Simon Munnery (1967) British comedian

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“Cruel of heart, lay down my song.
Your reading eyes have done me wrong.
Not for you was the pen bitten,
And the mind wrung, and the song written.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American poet

Source: Collected Poems

“To be an artist, you look, you perceive, you recognize what is going through your mind. And it is not ideas. Everything you feel and everything you see and everything that your whole life goes through your mind, you know. But you have to recognize it and go with it and really feel it.”

Agnes Martin (1912–2004) American artist

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“If you convey God's words to someone only with the intention to utilize him in some way, you will never be able to establish the standard of the "Way." Give what you have to others with your sincere heart.”

Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012) Korean religious leader

The Way of God's Will Chapter 3-3 Witnessing http://www.unification.org/ucbooks/WofGW/wogw3-03.htm Translated 1980.

“In other words, Bush broke what I have always called the “Amish bus driver” rule. If your religion requires you not to drive, cool beans, free country — but then you can‘t get hired to be a bus driver if your religion won‘t let you drive the bus.”

Rachel Maddow (1973) American journalist

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“Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

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Context: Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words. We shall, however, when occasion demands, enter into discourse sparingly, avoiding such common topics as gladiators, horse-races, athletes; and the perpetual talk about food and drink. Above all avoid speaking of persons, either in the way of praise or blame, or comparison. If you can, win over the conversation of your company to what it should be by your own. But if you should find yourself cut off without escape among strangers and aliens, be silent. (164).

“The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Source: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“There is the solitude of suffering, when you go through darkness that is lonely, intense, and terrible. Words become powerless to express your pain; what others hear from your words is so distant and different from what you are actually suffering.”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

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“Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool,
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher

“In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give your style.”

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Sydney Smith68

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