--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Modern writing at its worst does not…" description: "\"Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clear..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/george-orwell-57_attraction_modern-writing-at-its-worst-does-not-con_2034289.jpg" --- # Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking… ![“Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/george-orwell-57_attraction_modern-writing-at-its-worst-does-not-con_2034289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/george-orwell-57_attraction_modern-writing-at-its-worst-does-not-con_2034289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/459/george-orwell-57_attraction_modern-writing-at-its-worst-does-not-con_2034289.jpg) > “Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug. The attraction of this way of writing is that it is easy.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote criticizes shallow writing that merely rearranges existing phrases without genuine insight, valuing ease over clarity. **In simple terms:** Bad writing copies old words without adding meaning. Key Takeaway Seek originality and clarity in expression. Themes writing clarity originality critique language Mood critical reflective analytical Type advice literary criticism When to use this quote - academic essays - journalistic pieces - creative writing - marketing copy Key Concepts literary criticism syntactic laziness authentic voice Questions to Reflect On - How can you ensure your writing adds new meaning? - When is borrowing language effective? A Different Perspective It may overlook the value of tradition and intertextuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attraction/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Humbug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbug/) [Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-writing-726858/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Picking Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picking-words-568102/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Sake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sake/) [Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sheer/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-writing-750471/) [Worst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-easy/) ## Related quotes > [“Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/modern-writing-at-its-worst-does-not-consist-in-picking-out-words-for/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“I try to be confident, always have, but despite my best efforts, sometimes I come off like I'm a total..." "Dick?" I finished for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rowen/i-try-to-be-confident-always-have-but-despite-my-best-efforts/) [Michelle Rowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rowen/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [For weeks past he had been making ready for this moment, and it had never crossed his mind that anything would be needed except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/for-weeks-past-he-had-been-making-ready-for-this-moment-and-it-had/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I think some of the best modern writing comes now from travellers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-think-some-of-the-best-modern-writing-comes-now-from-travellers/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Any historian of the literature of the modern age will take virtually for granted the adversary intention, the actually subversive intention, that characterizes modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/any-historian-of-the-literature-of-the-modern-age-will-take-virtually/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/as-far-as-modern-writing-is-concerned-it-is-rarely-rewarding-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“If I were a modern writing about a modern young woman I would have to do her wedding night in grisly detail. The custom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/if-i-were-a-modern-writing-about-a-modern-young-woman-i-would-have-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ \[You write out of the\] desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, etc., etc., etc. It is humbug… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/you-write-out-of-the-desire-to-seem-clever-to-be-talked-about-to-be/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/let-the-writer-take-up-surgery-or-bricklaying-if-he-is-interested-in/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [If you've got craft, you got game. If you got game, you can write your way in and out of anything. Writing is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mark-kamen/if-you-ve-got-craft-you-got-game-if-you-got-game-you-can-write-your/) [Robert Mark Kamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mark-kamen/) > [Longhand isn't well suited to my way of writing. I tend to end up with dozens of pages of crossings-out and margin scribbles just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/longhand-isn-t-well-suited-to-my-way-of-writing-i-tend-to-end-up-with/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [Once I get my writing done, then I can turn my attention elsewhere - and not the other way around. The writing has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-listi/once-i-get-my-writing-done-then-i-can-turn-my-attention-elsewhere-and/) [Brad Listi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-listi/) > [In a crazy way, writing is a lot like any kind of very complex game - like chess, where you have the knowledge as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ross/in-a-crazy-way-writing-is-a-lot-like-any-kind-of-very-complex-game/) [Adam Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ross/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. 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For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Attraction quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [You cannot perceive what you are not in the vibration of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-anka/you-cannot-perceive-what-you-are-not-in-the-vibration-of/) [Darryl Anka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-anka/) > [What the Laws of Attraction are really about; how to harness the power of creation within you to make life what you truly desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/what-the-laws-of-attraction-are-really-about-how-to-harness-the-power/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [You are the one who calls the law of attraction into action, and you do it through your thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/you-are-the-one-who-calls-the-law-of-attraction-into-action-and-you/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [The vast majority of people are born, grow up, struggle and go through life in misery and failure, not realizing that it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-vast-majority-of-people-are-born-grow-up-struggle-and-go-through/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [You don't have to say it out loud. I already know why you like me.' 'You do, huh?' 'Yep.' He wrapped his arms around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/you-don-t-have-to-say-it-out-loud-i-already-know-why-you-like-me-you/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to surmise that war has a perverse appeal for the human race, nor is the attraction limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/you-don-t-have-to-be-sigmund-freud-to-surmise-that-war-has-a-perverse/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [It doesn't matter if they say you can't do it. 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The universe will manifest it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/focus-on-being-grateful-for-what-you-have-already-enjoy-it-then/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-want-to-remind-priests-that-the-confessional-must-not-be-a-torture/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [All of my work is meant to evoke a whole bunch of different layers of discord between the attraction and repulsion that we feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-jordan/all-of-my-work-is-meant-to-evoke-a-whole-bunch-of-different-layers-of/) [Chris Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-jordan/) > [War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-de-maistre/war-is-thus-divine-in-itself-since-it-is-a-law-of-the-world-war-is/) [Joseph de Maistre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-de-maistre/) > [As your awareness of the riches available to you in your everyday life grows, you are on the way to becoming the laughing Buddha.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/as-your-awareness-of-the-riches-available-to-you-in-your-everyday/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) [Browse all 2,005 Attraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. 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