Passive Voice Quotes

• The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes 'sight-seeing.'

  Daniel J. Boorstin

  Travel, Adventure, Memorable

  Daniel J. Boorstin (2012). “The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America”, p.85, Vintage

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• The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Travel, Adventure, People

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• Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation.

  William Safire

  Negative, Splits, Remember

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• Each time I see a split infinitive, an inconsistent tense structure or the unnecessary use of the passive voice, I blister.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Use, Splits, Unnecessary

  "Sotomayoralities" by William Safire, www.nytimes.com. June 15, 2009.

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• Some of the worst writing around suffers from inert verbs and the unintended use of the passive voice. Yet the passive voice remains an important arrow in the rhetorical quiver. After all, it exists for a reason.

  Constance Hale

  Writing, Arrows, Suffering

  "Mistakes were made" by Lisa Dusenbery, therumpus.net. May 02, 2012.

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• Using the passive voice is always very helpful. Mind you, a lot of that propaganda English emanates from here. The British establishment has always used the passive voice. It's been a weapon of discourse so those who committed terrible acts in the old empire could not be identified.

  John Pilger

  Mind, Weapons, Empires

  Source: progressive.org

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• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

  George Orwell

  Cutting, Thinking, Long

  George Orwell (1953). “Shooting an Elephant: And Other Essays”

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• The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.

  Benjamin Lee Whorf

  Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs

  Benjamin Lee Whorf, John B. Carroll, Stephen C. Levinson, Penny Lee (2012). “Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf”, p.113, MIT Press

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