--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A passage is not plain English - still…" description: "\"A passage is not plain English - still less is it good English - if we are obliged to read it twice to find out what it means.\" — Dorothy L. Sayers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/dorothy-l-sayers-738_clarity_a-passage-is-not-plain-english-still-les_1062460.jpg" --- # A passage is not plain English - still less is it good… ![“A passage is not plain English - still less is it good English - if we are obliged to read it twice to find out what it means.” quote by Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/dorothy-l-sayers-738_clarity_a-passage-is-not-plain-english-still-les_1062460.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/dorothy-l-sayers-738_clarity_a-passage-is-not-plain-english-still-les_1062460.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/dorothy-l-sayers-738_clarity_a-passage-is-not-plain-english-still-les_1062460.jpg) > “A passage is not plain English - still less is it good English - if we are obliged to read it twice to find out what it means.” [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complex prose that forces rereading fails to communicate clearly. **In simple terms:** Bad writing is unclear. Key Takeaway Strive for clarity on first read. Themes communication clarity writing style Mood critical instructive Type analytical educational When to use this quote - academic papers - legal documents - technical manuals - marketing copy - novels Key Concepts Literary criticism cognitive load Questions to Reflect On - When is complexity justified? - How do you balance depth with readability? A Different Perspective Simplicity may sacrifice nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [English Obliged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-obliged-2601865/) [Good English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-english-356833/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Obliged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obliged/) [Passage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passage/) [Passages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passages/) [Plain english](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plain-english/) [Read Twice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-twice-388593/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Twice Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twice-means-2601864/) ## Related quotes > [“…After all, it isn't really difficult to write books. Especially if you either write a rotten story in good English or a good story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/after-all-it-isn-t-really-difficult-to-write-books-especially-if-you/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Reading those books is all he does these days. I think he’s even read some of them twice . What kind of disturbed individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/reading-those-books-is-all-he-does-these-days-i-think-he-s-even-read/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-3/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Whatever sentence will bear to be read twice, we may be sure was thought twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/whatever-sentence-will-bear-to-be-read-twice-we-may-be-sure-was/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Almost any poem has to be read twice, first for strangeness, second for clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-daniels/almost-any-poem-has-to-be-read-twice-first-for-strangeness-second-for/) [Peter J. Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-daniels/) > [Someone — Cyril Connolly? Ezra Pound? — once said that anything that can be read twice is literature; I would say that anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/someone-cyril-connolly-ezra-pound-once-said-that-anything-that-can-be/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [This status is so good you will read it twice this status is so good you just read it twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/this-status-is-so-good-you-will-read-it-twice-this-status-is-so-good/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [My request that my writing be read twice has aroused great indignation. Unjustly so. After all, I do not ask that they be read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/my-request-that-my-writing-be-read-twice-has-aroused-great/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I do like people to read the books twice, because I write my novels about ideas which concern me deeply and I think are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-do-like-people-to-read-the-books-twice-because-i-write-my-novels/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [You know, an audition usually is you come in and read the scene and if you're lucky, you get to read it twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/you-know-an-audition-usually-is-you-come-in-and-read-the-scene-and-if/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What is read twice is usually remembered more than what is once written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/what-is-read-twice-is-usually-remembered-more-than-what-is-once/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“There are so many good books waiting to be read, I’ll never go back and read one twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-baker/there-are-so-many-good-books-waiting-to-be-read-i-ll-never-go-back/) [Deb Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-baker/) > [The cruelest thing anyone can do to Portnoy's Complaint is to read it twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-howe/the-cruelest-thing-anyone-can-do-to-portnoy-s-complaint-is-to-read-it/) [Irving Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-howe/) ## More by Dorothy L. Sayers > [“The really essential factors of success in any undertaking are money and opportunity, and as a rule, the man who can make the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/the-really-essential-factors-of-success-in-any-undertaking-are-money/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [The trouble is. . .that everybody sneers at restrictions and demands freedom, till something annoying happens; then they demand angrily what has become of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/the-trouble-is-that-everybody-sneers-at-restrictions-and-demands/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“ Peter! Were you looking for a horse-shoe?" "No; I was expecting the horse, but the shoe is a piece of pure, gorgeous luck."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/peter-were-you-looking-for-a-horse-shoe-no-i-was-expecting-the-horse/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [ “See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. \[That\] the fundamental treason to the mind ...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-rest-may-follow-or-not-as-god/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [But it is the mark of all movements, however well-intentioned, that their pioneers tend, by much lashing of themselves into excitement, to lose sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/but-it-is-the-mark-of-all-movements-however-well-intentioned-that/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [One must not only die daily, but every day we must be born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/one-must-not-only-die-daily-but-every-day-we-must-be-born-again/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“By teaching them all to read, we have left them at the mercy of the printed word. By the invention of the film and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/by-teaching-them-all-to-read-we-have-left-them-at-the-mercy-of-the/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [ Perhaps \[the critics are right and\] the drama is played out now and Jesus is safely dead and buried. Perhaps. It is ironical and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/perhaps-the-critics-are-right-and-the-drama-is-played-out-now-and/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [... at no point have I yet found artistic truth and theological truth at variance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/at-no-point-have-i-yet-found-artistic-truth-and-theological-truth-at/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I have never yet heard any middle-aged man or woman who worked with his or her brains express any regret for the passing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/i-have-never-yet-heard-any-middle-aged-man-or-woman-who-worked-with/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“That was the second time within five minutes that he had warned her off his private ground. His mood had changed since the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/that-was-the-second-time-within-five-minutes-that-he-had-warned-her/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“To obey orders in this family has been my privilege for the last twenty years--a privilege which has been an unqualified pleasure, except perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/to-obey-orders-in-this-family-has-been-my-privilege-for-the-last/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Those who make some other person their job... are dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/those-who-make-some-other-person-their-job-are-dangerous/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“Yes, and look at the corpses. Place always reminds me of that old thing in Punch, you know—‘Waiter, take away Lord Whatsisname, he’s been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/yes-and-look-at-the-corpses-place-always-reminds-me-of-that-old-thing/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) [Explore all 386 Dorothy L. Sayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## More Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It comes a moment that someone says something really small, but fits so perfect into your heart that everything start to make sense!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/it-comes-a-moment-that-someone-says-something-really-small-but-fits/) [Laylablack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laylablack/) > [“Replaying the past in your mind won't change the present; it only steals the clarity needed to shape what comes next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-meyering-sr/replaying-the-past-in-your-mind-won-t-change-the-present-it-only/) [Joseph Meyering Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-meyering-sr/) > [Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 12. I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A passage is not plain English - still less is it good English - if we are obliged to read it twice to find out what it means.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dorothy L. 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