“The greatest enemy of clear language is insincerity.”

Last update Sept. 30, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The greatest enemy of clear language is insincerity." by George Orwell?
George Orwell photo
George Orwell 473
English author and journalist 1903–1950

Related quotes

George Orwell photo
Richard Feynman photo

“The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language.”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

" New Textbooks for the "New" Mathematics http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2362/1/feynman.pdf", Engineering and Science volume 28, number 6 (March 1965) p. 9-15 at p. 14
Paraphrased as "Precise language is not the problem. Clear language is the problem."
Context: The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language. The desire is to have the idea clearly communicated to the other person. It is only necessary to be precise when there is some doubt as to the meaning of a phrase, and then the precision should be put in the place where the doubt exists. It is really quite impossible to say anything with absolute precision, unless that thing is so abstracted from the real world as to not represent any real thing.Pure mathematics is just such an abstraction from the real world, and pure mathematics does have a special precise language for dealing with its own special and technical subjects. But this precise language is not precise in any sense if you deal with real objects of the world, and it is only pedantic and quite confusing to use it unless there are some special subtleties which have to be carefully distinguished.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah photo
George Orwell photo

“The greatest enemy to fear is truth.”

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 101

Alan Kay photo

“… greatest single programming language ever designed. (About the Lisp programming language.)”

Alan Kay (1940) computer scientist

2003. Daddy, Are We There Yet? A Discussion with Alan Kay http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/04/03/alan_kay.html
2000s

John C. Maxwell photo

“The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Source: The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization

Christopher Paolini photo

“The greatest enemy is one that has nothing to lose.”

Source: Eragon

Related topics