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

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.

Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior.

The greatest humiliation in life, is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it.

As an alcoholic, you have no appreciation for your wife or your children's feelings, but I'm making up for that now. I'm winning my children's trust back.

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.

Kids in general make things fresh and alive and they have this great appreciation for, Holy mackerel, we're making a movie!

I've had a very good career and I'm grateful that the public has had some level of acceptance and appreciation of my work.

The task of a university is the creation of the future, so far as rational thought and civilized modes of appreciation can affect the issue.

The first Decline I did was out of sheer love and appreciation for the music. In 1977, it was more about bands, because punk was a new form of music. It was groundbreaking and political.

Such manifestations I account as representing the creative leadership of the new forces of thought and appreciation which attend changes in technological pattern and therefore of the pattern of human relationships in society.

President Reagan always gave the credit to the American people and American ideals. He treated his job as a valuable temporary loan from the American people, a loan that should be respected and returned with dutiful appreciation.

Hopeful thinking can get you out of your fear zone and into your appreciation zone.

The fixed stars signify the angel in man. That is why man orients himself by them; and that is why women have no appreciation for the starry sky; because they have no sense of the angel in man.

The thing I fail to do is fully comprehend what's given back to me by the audience. You would think you would be a performer partly so you could feel all the appreciation or adulation, but I haven't quite managed that yet.

There is really a whole new appreciation when you leave and then come back.

But perhaps the rest of us could have separate classes in science appreciation, the wonder of science, scientific ways of thinking, and the history of scientific ideas, rather than laboratory experience.

There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.

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

One of the great things about being recognized is that you receive this feedback from people. It is easy to see how sincere people are. It's nothing fake or jive. They're giving sincere appreciation. And it's not that easy to express.

Surely no issue unites us more than our appreciation for our military personnel who are bringing aid to devastated countries, defending us against terrorism, and fighting to make a free election possible in Iraq.