quote · Legacy record
Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it's beautiful?...Simplify, simplify.
Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it's beautiful?...Simplify, simplify.
Approximate author period: c. 1968 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- William Zinsser
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1968 AD · modern
Approximate author-period evidence for William Zinsser: life dates 1922 to 2015. Wikidata Q8020709, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8020709 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 423548; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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