Words have weight, sound, and appearance; it is only by considering…

Words have weight, sound, and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.

W. Somerset Maugham

1948

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Other tags relating to this quote

Topic

Words Good writing Writing

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Time

1948

Person

W. Somerset Maugham

Provenance

Citation

Maugham, William Somerset. The Summing Up. Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1938, ch. 13.

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For, though the origin of most of our words is forgotten, each word was at first a stroke of genius, and obtained currency, because for the moment it symbolized the world to the first speaker and to the hearer. The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.

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It is a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it: if you utterly decline to make do with what you can get, then somehow or other you are very likely to get what you want.

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Words have weight, sound, and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can… — W. Somerset Maugham

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