William Strunk/E.B. White photo

William Strunk/E.B. White

William Strunk Jr. was a professor of English at Cornell University and, together with E.B. White, author of The Elements of Style (1918).


“Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.”
William Strunk/E.B. White
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“Rather, very, little, pretty -- these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one, and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then. ”
William Strunk/E.B. White
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“Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.”
William Strunk/E.B. White
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“Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.”
William Strunk/E.B. White
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“...when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.”
William Strunk/E.B. White
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