“The way people behave towards each other is a measure of their value as human beings.” PeopleWayHumansValuesHuman BeingsBehave Author:Lynne Truss
“Thurber was asked by a correspondent: "Why did you have a comma in the sentence, 'After dinner, the men went into the living-room'?" And his answer was probably one of the loveliest things ever said about punctuation. "This particular comma," Thurber explained, "was Ross's way of giving the men time to push back their chairs and stand up.” MenWayGivingSaidAnswersRoomsParticularDinnerSentencesChairsLiving RoomPunctuationThurber Author:Lynne Truss
“The reason it's worth standing up for punctuation is not that it's an arbitrary system of notation known only to an over-sensitive elite who have attacks of the vapours when they see it misapplied. The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning.” WayReasonKnownStandingCommunicateSensitiveElitesArbitraryPunctuationVapour Author:Lynne Truss
“We have a language that is full of ambiguities; we have a way of expressing ourselves that is often complex and elusive, poetic and modulated; all our thoughts can be rendered with absolute clarity if we bother to put the right dots and squiggles between the words in the right places. Proper punctuation is both the sign and the cause of clear thinking. If it goes, the degree of intellectual impoverishment we face is unimaginable.” IfsThinkingWayFacesLanguageCausesClearDegreesIntellectualAbsolutesComplexesClarityBotherPoeticOur ThoughtsAmbiguityRight PlaceElusiveDotsUnimaginablePunctuationClear Thinking Author:Lynne Truss
“For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word “Book’s” with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement, though greatly accelerated. First there is shock. Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and pain to anger. Finally (and this is where the analogy breaks down), anger gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker.” WayGivingFirstsBookPainProcessBreakStageEmotionalSightAidsCriminalsPermanentDamageShockUrgesSecondsRighteousBreaking DownBereavementTriggersDisbeliefAnalogiesGhastlyMarkers Author:Lynne Truss
“Truly good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves. It is no accident that the word "punctilious" ("attentive to formality or etiquette") comes from the same original root as punctuation.” WayAttentionRootsOriginalsAccidentsDrawingInvisibleMannersEaseEtiquetteGood MannersPunctuationFormalityDrawing Attention Author:Lynne Truss
“The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning.” WayReasonCommunicatePunctuationVapour Author:Lynne Truss
