212 Quotes by William Zinsser

It is possible that the artists are sane and the world they are painting is crazy.

Was the whole matter of aptitudes a myth – a copout used by people like me to avoid subjects that would force us to think inTherefore threatening ways?

Motivation clears the head faster than a nasal spray.

One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material.

Writing can be taught or learned in the vacuum. We must say to students in every area of knowledge: "This is a how other people have written about this subject. Read it; study it; think about it. You can do it too.

Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it's not a question of gimmicks to "personalize" the author. It's a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength.

Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish.

It's no fun to think about infinity and no cinche to write about it. Again, it helps to look for some human link.

But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long words that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb. every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what-these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to education and rank.