William Safire

“I think we all have a need to know what we do not need to know.”

“Have a definite opinion.”

“When infuriated by an outrageous column, do not be suckered into responding with an abusive e-mail. Pundits so targeted thumb through these red-faced electronic missives with delight, saying 'Hah! Got to 'em.'”

“Cast aside any column about two subjects. It means the pundit chickened out on the hard decision about what to write about that day.”

“I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian.”

“The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.”

“Do not put statements in the negative form.And don't start sentences with a conjunction.If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that agreat deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.De-accession euphemisms.If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.”

“The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.”

“Stop worrying about the 'dumbing down' of our language by bloggers, tweeters, cableheads and MSM thumbsuckers engaged in a 'race to the bottom' of the page by little minds confined to little words.”

“Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.”

“In lieu of those checks and balances central to our legal system,non-citizens face an executive that is now investigator, prosecutor,judge, jury and jailer or executioner. In an Orwellian twist, Bush'sorder calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.”

“I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.”

“Never assume the obvious is true.”

“Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.”

“If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.”

“Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.”

“A book should have an intellectual shape and a heft that comes with dealing with a primary subject.”

“At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.”

“The noun phrase straw man, now used as a compound adjective as in 'straw-man device, technique or issue,' was popularized in American culture by 'The Wizard of Oz.'”

“What do you call a co-worker these days? Neither teammate nor confederate will do, and partner is too legalistic. The answer brought from academia to the political world by Henry Kissinger and now bandied in the boardroom is colleague. It has a nice upper-egalitarian feel, related to the good fellowship of collegial.”