“Only half of writing is saying what you mean. The other half is preventing people from reading what they expected you to mean.”

#465
Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten Second Essays (2001)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Only half of writing is saying what you mean. The other half is preventing people from reading what they expected you t…" by James Richardson?
James Richardson photo
James Richardson 89
American poet 1950

Related quotes

Khalil Gibran photo

“Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you.”

Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese artist, poet, and writer

This line was later paraphrased by John Lennon, in his song "Julia", on The Beatles (1968): "Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you, Julia."
Sand and Foam (1926)

Dorothy Day photo
Robert Penn Warren photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo

“Don’t pay any attention to what she says. Half of it’s always wrong and she doesn’t mean the rest.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American science fiction author

The Menace from Earth (p. 351)
Short fiction, The Past Through Tomorrow (1967)

Amy Tan photo
Deb Caletti photo
Moby photo

“Say what you mean and mean what you say,
before the wall of water washes you away…”

Moby (1965) Activist, American musician, DJ and photographer

Source: Píseň "Welcome To Hard Times"

John Lennon photo

“Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you
Julia.”

John Lennon (1940–1980) English singer and songwriter

"Julia" on The Beatles (1968); these lines were adapted from lines of Sand and Foam (1926) by Khalil Gibran: "Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you".
Lyrics

“We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that.”

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified

“COINCIDENCE You weren’t paying attention to the other half of what was going on.”

context (3) “You Have to Push Him Over”
Stand on Zanzibar (1968)

Related topics