--- title: "Best Punctuation Wisdom" description: "Browse 287 Punctuation quotes by 198 authors. Discover the best Punctuation sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg" --- > [The commas are the most useful and usable of all the stops. It is highly important to put them in place as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usable-of-all-the-stops-it-is/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg) > [RHETORIC The art of making life less believable; the calculated use of language, not to alarm but to do full harm to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-believable-the-calculated-use-of/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/ben-marcus-7492_alarms_rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-bel_1472403.jpg) > [“The one critisism the author of Slaugherhouse-Five would make of the young writer was what he called a punctuation problem. Mr. Vonnegut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugherhouse-five-would-make-of-the/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e3/john-irving-337_books_the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugher_1139322.jpg) > [I recently heard of someone studying the ellipsis (or three dots) for a PhD. And, I have to say, I was horrified.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the-ellipsis-or-three-dots-for-a/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/lynne-truss-4153_black_i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the_3085194.jpg) > [“So we’re seemingly in quite a pickle. Sometimes a period provides too much pause between these two sentences, but the comma doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-sometimes-a-period-provides-too/) [Jenny Baranick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-baranick/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/jenny-baranick-17184_comma_so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-som_2380618.jpg) > [And, now, come to this spot Where the spotlight is hot And you'll see in the spotlight A Juggling Jott Who can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spotlight-is-hot-and-you-ll-see/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/dr-seuss-1224_circus_and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spot_896973.png) > [Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. I have an almost fanatically correct assistant, and by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-correct-is-never-the-point-i/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/robert-rauschenberg-5257_assistants_screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-cor_2093921.jpg) ## Top authors on Punctuation - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-lynne-truss-62250.jpg) Lynne Truss 36 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/lynne-truss/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-kurt-vonnegut-58049.jpg) Kurt Vonnegut 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/kurt-vonnegut/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-pratchett-89528.jpg) Terry Pratchett 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/terry-pratchett/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-benjamin-rush-17184.jpg) Jenny Baranick 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/jenny-baranick/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/#itemlist", "name": "Punctuation Quotes", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The commas are the most useful and usable of all the stops. It is highly important to put them in place as you go along. If you try to come back after doing a paragraph and stick them in the various spots that tempt you you will discover that they tend to swarm like minnows into sorts of crevices whose existence you hadn't realized and before you know it the whole long sentence becomes immobilized and lashed up squirming in commas. Better to use them sparingly, and with affection, precisely when the need for each one arises, nicely, by itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usable-of-all-the-stops-it-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The commas are the most useful and usable of all the stops. It is highly important to put them in place as…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "RHETORIC The art of making life less believable; the calculated use of language, not to alarm but to do full harm to our busy minds and properly dispose our listeners to a pain they have never dreamed of. The context of what can be known establishes that love and indifference are forms of language, but the wise addition of punctuation allows us to believe that there are other harms - the dash gives the reader the clear signal they are coming.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Marcus" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-believable-the-calculated-use-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/ben-marcus-7492_alarms_rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-bel_1472403.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/ben-marcus-7492_alarms_rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-bel_1472403.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c45/ben-marcus-7492_alarms_rhetoric-the-art-of-making-life-less-bel_1472403.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“RHETORIC The art of making life less believable; the calculated use of language, not to alarm but to do full…” — Ben Marcus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The one critisism the author of Slaugherhouse-Five would make of the young writer was what he called a punctuation problem. Mr. Vonnegut didn't like all the semicolons. 'People will probably figure out that you went to college -- you don't have to try to prove it to them,' he told Danny.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Irving" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugherhouse-five-would-make-of-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e3/john-irving-337_books_the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugher_1139322.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e3/john-irving-337_books_the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugher_1139322.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e3/john-irving-337_books_the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugher_1139322.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The one critisism the author of Slaugherhouse-Five would make of the young writer was what he called a…” — John Irving", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I recently heard of someone studying the ellipsis (or three dots) for a PhD. And, I have to say, I was horrified. The ellipsis is the black hole of the punctuation universe, surely, into which no right-minded person would willingly be sucked, for three years, with no guarantee of a job at the end.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lynne Truss" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the-ellipsis-or-three-dots-for-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/lynne-truss-4153_black_i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the_3085194.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/lynne-truss-4153_black_i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the_3085194.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/lynne-truss-4153_black_i-recently-heard-of-someone-studying-the_3085194.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I recently heard of someone studying the ellipsis (or three dots) for a PhD. And, I have to say, I was…” — Lynne Truss", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So we’re seemingly in quite a pickle. Sometimes a period provides too much pause between these two sentences, but the comma doesn’t provide enough. Luckily, the period and the comma had a drunken one-night stand and produced this adorable little spawn they named the semicolon.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jenny Baranick" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-sometimes-a-period-provides-too/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/jenny-baranick-17184_comma_so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-som_2380618.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/jenny-baranick-17184_comma_so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-som_2380618.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/jenny-baranick-17184_comma_so-we-re-seemingly-in-quite-a-pickle-som_2380618.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So we’re seemingly in quite a pickle. 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That's the kind of Circus McGurkus I've got!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dr. Seuss" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spotlight-is-hot-and-you-ll-see/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/dr-seuss-1224_circus_and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spot_896973.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/dr-seuss-1224_circus_and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spot_896973.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c88/dr-seuss-1224_circus_and-now-come-to-this-spot-where-the-spot_896973.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And, now, come to this spot Where the spotlight is hot And you'll see in the spotlight A Juggling Jott Who…” — Dr. Seuss", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. I have an almost fanatically correct assistant, and by the time she re-spells my words and corrects my punctuation, I can’t read what I wrote. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Rauschenberg" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-correct-is-never-the-point-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/robert-rauschenberg-5257_assistants_screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-cor_2093921.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/robert-rauschenberg-5257_assistants_screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-cor_2093921.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/robert-rauschenberg-5257_assistants_screwing-things-up-is-a-virtue-being-cor_2093921.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. I have an almost fanatically correct…” — Robert Rauschenberg", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/page/8/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/page/8/", "name": "Punctuation Quotes · Page 8", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punctuation/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/lewis-thomas-2299_affection_the-commas-are-the-most-useful-and-usabl_871015.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 287 Punctuation quotes by 198 authors. 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