It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

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.

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

The tension between the governed and the governing is what makes the world go 'round. It's not love, it's that tension, because that tension exists in love affairs. The whole idea of control is at the heart of human relationships. Control and resistance to control.

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

Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.

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