"I was under twenty when I deliberately..." - Quote by Robert Frost
I was under twenty when I deliberately put it to myself one night after good conversation that there are moments when we actually touch in talk what the best writing can only come near. The curse of our book language is not so much that it keeps forever to the same set phrases . . . but that it sounds forever with the same reading tones. We must go out into the vernacular for tones that haven't been brought to book.
More by Robert Frost
More on Language
“As to the adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.”
“When I'm sittin' down to dinner with the family, stuff [another Yogiism] just pops out. And they'll say, 'Dad, you just said another one.' And I don't even know what the heck I said.”
“Whenever you see the word cuisine used instead of the word food, be prepared to pay an additional eighty percent.”
More on Communication
“When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.”
“It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.)”
“Lets talk to one another instead of about one another.”