A drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.
None are so fallible as those who are sure they’re right.
The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
Do not, therefore, say “I feel nauseous,” unless you are sure you have that effect on others.
Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
Vigorous writing is concise.
In exposition and in argument, the writer must likewise never lose his hold upon the concrete; and even when he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application.
A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
More has been screwed up on the battlefield and misunderstood in the Pentagon because of a lack of understanding of the English language than any other single factor.
We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on?
Our strategy is one of preventing war by making it self-evident to our enemies that they’re going to get their clocks cleaned if they start one.
We have two companies of MARINES running all over this island and thousands of ARMY troops doing nothing!
My job is to give the president and secretary of defense military advice before they know they need it.
Don’t get small units caught in between the forces of history.