Have a definite opinion.

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.

Never assume the obvious is true.

Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.

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

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

Have a definite opinion.

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

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

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

Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.

I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.

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

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

Never look for the story in the 'lede.' Reporters are required to put what's happened up top, but the practiced pundit places a nugget of news, even a startling insight, halfway down the column, directed at the politiscenti. When pressed for time, the savvy reader starts there.

One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.

Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.

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.

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.'

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.

To be accused of 'channeling' is to be dismissed as a ventriloquist's live dummy, derogated at not having a mind of one's own.

Today, war of necessity is used by critics of military action to describe unavoidable response to an attack like that on Pearl Harbor that led to our prompt, official declaration of war, while they characterize as unwise wars of choice the wars in Korea, Vietnam and the current war in Iraq.

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.

When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary.

When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue.

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.'

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

Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.

A dependent clause is like a dependent child incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.

Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.

Public opinion polls are rather like children in a garden, digging things up all the time to see how they're growing.

I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. What I do, in my opinion, is by no means extraordinary.

Everyone is entitled to our opinion.

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the later ignorance.

Both politicians and journalists face situations which strain their honesty and humanity. My opinion is that politicians on the average stand up somewhat better than journalists.

I don't think any actor feels comfortable watching themselves in movies. You must be very narcissistic. The problem with your own opinion of yourself is that contrary to the normal spectators, when you watch a film you are in, you only watch yourself.

In almost every country there are elements of opinion which would welcome such a conclusion because they wish to return to the politics of the balance of power, unrestricted and unregulated armaments, international anarchy, and preparation for war.

The reader deserves an honest opinion. If he doesn't deserve it, give it to him anyhow.

My original opinion still stands. I don't think he should have put it out.

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.

Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion.

All this flying around got on my nerves. But then I gave the script to Cathy to get her opinion. When she started to laugh, it was like 'That's it!'. I went to LA and I got the part.

As long as you gave it your best shot, even if in the opinion of others "you failed," you didn't fail.

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

Mr. Ware has no right to discharge any of his laborers on account of their political opinion.

After a long, impartial enquiry of the truth, and after much and earnest calling upon God, to give unto me the spirit and revelation in the knowledge of Him, I find myself obliged, both by the principles of reason and Scripture, to embrace the opinion I now hold forth.

One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone in which it was conveyed.