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Plain English Quotes

Browse 18 quotes about Plain English.

Plain English Quotes

“Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness is the perfect companion to Mindfulness in Plain English. Written with the thoroughness and the masterful simplicity so characteristic of his teaching, Bhante Gunaratana presents essential guidelines for turning the Buddha's teachings on the Eightfold Path into living wisdom.”

PerfectStepsPathWrittenTeachingEssentialsMindfulnessSimplicityEightCharacteristicsCompanionGuidelinesThoroughnessPlain English
Author:Larry Rosenberg
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“What does purpose mean? It means the deepest desire for our short lives to mean something. . . . To speak a language of purpose is to return to first principles and to be able to answer, in plain English, the plain questions of Why? Why should we chip in to help someone else? Why should we defer gratification? Why should we care about the long term? Why should we trust anyone who seems to be limiting our ability to do what we want?”

WantShouldFirstsMeanLongDoeHelpingSeemsCareAbleDesirePurposeSpeakLanguageTermAbilityAnswersPrinciplesReturnIntentionLong TermChipsGratificationShort LifePlain English
Author:Eric Liu
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“What Women's Lib might achieve if their 'consciousness raising' - or in plain English, brainwashing- campaign succeeds is a society whose members have identical roles but are perpetually at war with themselves; a society of males made neurotic by suppressed masculinity, of females made miserable by having masculine roles thrust upon them that contradict their feminine impulses.”

IfsMadeWarMightConsciousnessRolesAchieveSucceedMembersFemaleMalesCampaignsMiserableImpulseFeminineMasculinityMasculineIdenticalNeuroticThrustBrainwashingPlain English
Author:Arianna Huffington
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“A word about 'plain English.' The phrase certainly shouldn't connote drab and dreary language. Actually, plain English is typically quite interesting to read. It's robust and direct-the opposite of gaudy, pretentious language. You achieve plain English when you use the simplest, most straightforward way of expressing an idea. You can still choose interesting words. But you'll avoid fancy ones that have everyday replacements meaning precisely the same thing.”

WayStillsIdeasUseLanguageInterestingAchieveDirectOppositesEverydayPhrasesFancySimplestStraightforwardPretentiousRobustDrearyReplacementsGaudyPlain English
Book:Legal Writing in Plain English, Second Edition: A Text with Exercises
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“I didn't know shorthand either. This meant I couldn't get a good job after college. My mother kept telling me nobody wanted a plain English major. But an English major who knew shorthand would be something else again. Everybody would want her. She would be in demand among all the up-and-coming young men and she would transcribe letter after thrilling letter. The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters.”

KnowsMenWayWantIdeasWould BeWantedJobsYoungMotherMy OwnTroubleCollegeDemandMajorsLettersHatedYoung ManServingGood JobThrillingShorthandEnglish MajorPlain English
Author:Sylvia Plath
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“Can anything be more disgusting than to hear people called 'educated' making small jokes about eating ham, and showing themselves empty of any real knowledge as to the relation of their own social and religious life to the history of the people they think themselves witty in insulting? [...] The best thing that can be said of it is, that it is a sign of the intellectual narrowness—in plain English, the stupidity which is still the average mark of our culture.”

PeopleThinkingSaidStillsRealCultureSocialReligiousStupidEatingIntellectualJokesEmptyMarkRelationAverageWittyStupidityEducatedBest ThingsDisgustingInsultingHamReligious LifeReal KnowledgePlain English
Book:Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)
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“This book is intended for use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to give in a brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript.”

GivingMayBookUseUsedCoursesLiteratureSpaceNumbersAttentionPrinciplesPracticeStudyStyleStudentsEssentialsTasksAimChaptersPrincipalCompositionRequirementsSectionsManuscriptsConcentratingUsageCorrectingInstructorsPlain English
Book:Elements of Style
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“Mathematical knowledge is not-as all Cambridge men are surely aware-the result of any special gift. It is merely the development of those conceptions of form and number which every human being possesses; and any person of average intellect can make himself a fair mathematician if he will only pay continuous attention; in plain English, think enough about the subject.”

IfsThinkingMenHumansPersonsEnoughFormScienceHuman BeingsResultsNumbersPayAttentionSpecialSubjectsDevelopmentFairsAverageIntellectMathematicalConceptionMathematicianCambridgeSpecial GiftsPlain English
Book:Scientific Lectures and Essays
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