The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to the education and rank.

Good writing is lean and confident.

Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person.

Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can't exist without the other.

Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly-about any subject at all.

The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead.

Every time you look at a blank piece of paper, you're doing something new. You have to step onto that blank territory and remind yourself the sky didn't fall in the last time you wrote. Writing is a question of overcoming your fears-and everybody has them.