E. B. White Quotes About Style

Quotes about: Style

• To achieve style, begin by affecting none.

  E. B. White

  Style, Achieve

• There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rules by which the young writer may steer his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.

  E. B. White

  Stars, Writing, Thinking

  William Strunk, Jr., E. B. White (1972). “The Elements of Style”

• A writer's style reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacites, his bias...it is the Self escaping into the open.

  E. B. White

  Escaping, Self, Style

• My prose style at this time was a stomach-twisting blend of the Bible, Carl Sandburg, H.L. Mencken, Jeffrey Farnol, Christopher Morley, Samuel Pepys, and Franklin Pierce Adams imitating Samuel Pepys. I was quite apt to throw in a "bless the mark" at any spot, and to begin a sentence with "Lord" comma.

  E. B. White

  Writing, Style, Franklin

• Place yourself in the background; write in a way that comes naturally; work from a suitable design; write with nouns and verbs; do not overwrite; do not overstate; avoid the use of qualifiers; do not affect a breezy style; use orthodox spelling; do not explain too much; avoid fancy words; do not take shortcuts as the cost of clarity; prefer the standard to the offbeat; make sure the reader knows who is speaking; do not use dialect; revise and rewrite.

  E. B. White

  Writing, Design, Style

• A breezy style is often the work of an egocentric, the person who imagines that everything that pops into his head is of general interest and that uninhibited prose creates high spirits and carries the day.

  E. B. White

  Style, Spirit, Imagine

  William Strunk Jr., E.B. White (1962). “the Elements of Style”

• The beginner should approach style warily, realizing that it is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turning resolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style - all mannerisms, tricks, adornments. The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.

  E. B. White

  Simplicity, Style, Beginners

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.190, Cornell University Press

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