Writing style

"Decipimur specie recti; brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio."

"The words make a fine show, but they have no pith in them."

"Ce qui n’est pas clair, n’est pas Français."

"Mine be the whetstone’s lot Which makes steel sharp, though cut itself will not. Although no writer, I may yet impart To writing folk the precepts of their art."

"Fungar vice cotis, acutum Reddere quæ ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi. Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo."

"I cant listen to anyone unless he attracts me by a charming style or by beauty of theme."

"The subject of itself is incompatible with an ornamental style, content if it is able to instruct."

"That ought to be fine, for I don’t understand a word of it."

"Verba nitent phaleris, at nullas verba medullas Intus habent."

"His obscure style took with the shallower pates, (Not with the serious Greeks who ask for facts): For nothing captivates your dull man more Than dark, involved, mysterious verbiage."

"We aim at the ideal, and fail. I try To be concise, and end in being obscure."

"What is not clear (intelligible) is not French."