robin's quotes

With some awe we have to remind ourselves that writers like Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton had no access to what we would call dictionaries. Spelling did not much worry them, as it worries a modern author who runs to his dictionary to check on difficult words like 'hemorrhage' (my personal blind spot). Milton spelled in his own creative manner, preferring 'mee' to 'me' when he wished to be emphatic; Shakespeare went the free and easy Elizabethan way, leaving his own name to be juggled with in a variety of orthographical fantasies; with Chaucer the encoding of speech sounds was logical and required no checking.

Trouble and rancour are essential if the book is to be worth reading, or buying. Political diarists base entire careers on that principle: a discreet diarist is as viable as a chaste whore.

The eternal qualities of good speech and writing are lucidity, euphony and sincerity. Seldom are these qualities acquired as a kind of second nature. For the most part they are achieved only by intense intellectual discipline. Only by long practice can a man express himself clearly, attractively and sincerely.

Officialese is governed by four essential rules. First, use as many words as possible. Second, if a longer word (e.g., "utilize") and a shorter word (e.g., "use") are both available, choose the longer. Third, use circumlocutions whenever possible. Fourth, use cumbersome connectives when possible ("as to," "with regard to," "in connection with," "in the event of," etc.).

When you hear anyone say "I'm no good at English," what he or she really means is . . . "I'm no good at thinking straight, I can't talk sense."

"Please your Majesty," said the Knave, "I didn't write it, and they can't prove I did: there's no name signed at the end."
"If you didn't sign it," said the King, "that only makes the matter worse. You must have meant some mischief, or else you'd have signed your name like an honest man."

Screams into the night
Disturbing precious repose
I can`t stand your kids

Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxllwcp is pronounced Jackson.

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

We often feel an aversion to the very names of people whom we do not like.