Thursday, January 31, 2008

Quote for the Day: Serpent-like Sentences

"One accustoms himself to writing short sentences as a rule. At times he may indulge himself in a long one, but he will make sure that there are no folds in it, no vagueness, no parenthetical interruptions of its view as a whole; when he is done with it, it won't be a sea-serpent with half of its arches under the water, it will be a torch-light procession." (Mark Twain)

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love this quotation. Can you share the source?

1/31/2008  
Blogger Loren Rosson III said...

It's from a letter to George Bainton, who published the citation in The Art of Authorship (1890).

And if you really like Twain quotes, don't miss this webpage. I love what he said to D.W. Bowser about adjectives.

1/31/2008  

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