Mastodawn

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Apr 21, 2025

Method is not less requisite in ordinary conversation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himself understood. I who hear a thousand coffee-house debates every day, am very sensible of this want of method in the thoughts of my honest countrymen. There is not one dispute in ten which is managed in those schools of politics, where, after the first three sentences, the question is not entirely lost. Our disputants put me in mind of the scuttle-fish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the water about him, till he becomes invisible.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1712-09-05), The Spectator, No. 476

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/addison-joseph/39292…

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Essay (1712-09-05), The Spectator, No. 476 - Addison, Joseph | WIST Quotations

Method is not less requisite in ordinary conversation than in writing, provided a man would talk to make himself understood. I who hear a thousand coffee-house debates every day, am very sensible of this want of method in the thoughts of my honest countrymen. There is not one dispute in…

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Mar 25, 2025

A quotation from The Bible

In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

[Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται. μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 7-8 (Jesus) [NJB (1985)]

Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/bible-nt/75800/

#quote #quotes #quotation #gabble #God #longwindedness #needs #omniscience #petition #prayer #wordiness

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Feb 4, 2025

A quotation from Bill Watterson

CALVIN: I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-02-11)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/watterson-bill/4095/

#quote #quotes #quotation #academia #academics #clarity #jargon #logorrhea #obscurity #school #writing #thesis #assignment #termpaper #wordiness #miscommunication

Calvin and Hobbes (1993-02-11) - Watterson, Bill | WIST Quotations

CALVIN: I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!

WIST Quotations

Hacker News Aug 27, 2023

Seven Sins of Writing
https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/seven-sins-of-writing
#ycombinator #passive_voice #punctuation #wordiness #apostrophe #modifiers #apostrophes #pronouns

Seven Sins of Writing - Hamilton College

Passive voice, punctuation, and other writing issues are addressed in the Seven Sins of Writing compiled by the Writing Center.

Hamilton College

WIST Quotations moves again!Jun 5, 2023

A quotation from Gracián, Baltasar:

«««««
Some judge books by their thickness, as though they had been written to exercise the arms, instead of the mind.
[Estiman algunos los libros por la corpulencia, como si se escriviessen para exercitar antes los braços que los ingenios.]
»»»»»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/gracian-y-morales-baltasar/50128/

#quote #quotes #quotation #book #loquaciousness #size #weight #wordiness #writing