--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would observe to you that what is…" description: "\"I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while the imagination is warm, and impressions are..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg" --- # I would observe to you that what is called style in… ![“I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while the imagination is warm, and impressions are permanent.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg) > “I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while the imagination is warm, and impressions are permanent.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Style forms early from imagination and lasting impressions. **In simple terms:** Early experiences shape style. Key Takeaway Cultivate early imagination. Themes education writing creativity Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - teaching children - public speaking - writing workshops Key Concepts developmental psychology linguistics Questions to Reflect On - How does early imagination affect later expression? - Can style be relearned? A Different Perspective Style can be constrained by later experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“It was a night where the rogue drow felt tiny, and yet grand, a part of something ancient, eternal, and as vast as his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore/it-was-a-night-where-the-rogue-drow-felt-tiny-and-yet-grand-a-part-of/) [R.A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore/) > [I really feel like I honed in on a sound and a style of writing that best fits me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hunt/i-really-feel-like-i-honed-in-on-a-sound-and-a-style-of-writing-that/) [Sam Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-hunt/) > [I wrote without much effort; for I was rich, and the rich are always respectable, whatever be their style of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-wrote-without-much-effort-for-i-was-rich-and-the-rich-are-always/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I don’t even know what I’m writing, I have no idea, I don’t know anything, and I’m not reading over it, and I’m not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-even-know-what-i-m-writing-i-have-no-idea-i-don-t-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“My style of writing is very different from yours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/my-style-of-writing-is-very-different-from-yours/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Academics identified by their peers as stylish writers for other reasons—their intelligence, humor, personal voice, or descriptive power—are invariably sticklers for well-crafted prose. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-sword/academics-identified-by-their-peers-as-stylish-writers-for-other/) [Helen Sword](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-sword/) > [“As social concerns override literary ones, writers seem fated to eschew virtuosity and experimentation in favor of a bland but immediately accessible style. Writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/as-social-concerns-override-literary-ones-writers-seem-fated-to/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [It's so difficult to be conscious of a development of a style. You find yourself writing in a certain style, and the analysis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-rooney/it-s-so-difficult-to-be-conscious-of-a-development-of-a-style-you/) [Sally Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-rooney/) > [I think I developed a style of writing that was more, I guess, open for people to be able to interpret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/griff/i-think-i-developed-a-style-of-writing-that-was-more-i-guess-open-for/) [Griff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/griff/) > [I have a particular style of writing and my voice sounds a particular way, which lends itself to a certain style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-fraser/i-have-a-particular-style-of-writing-and-my-voice-sounds-a-particular/) [Brooke Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-fraser/) > [My style of writing is to allow the story to unfold on its own. I try not to structure my work too rigidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-desai/my-style-of-writing-is-to-allow-the-story-to-unfold-on-its-own-i-try/) [Anita Desai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-desai/) > [The style of writing required in the great world is distinguished by a free and daring grace, a careless security, a fine and sharp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-style-of-writing-required-in-the-great-world-is-distinguished-by/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Ultimately, it's about the quality of the writing whatever style you are writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tibor-fischer/ultimately-it-s-about-the-quality-of-the-writing-whatever-style-you/) [Tibor Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tibor-fischer/) > [My style of writing has been influenced by sort of scavenging the pieces of music that I've heard, and it'll just be a moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schwartz/my-style-of-writing-has-been-influenced-by-sort-of-scavenging-the/) [Stephen Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schwartz/) > [I think that a classic style in writing tends to remove the reader one level from the immediacy of the experience. For any normal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-jones/i-think-that-a-classic-style-in-writing-tends-to-remove-the-reader/) [James Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-jones/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while the imagination is warm, and impressions are permanent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-called-style-in-writing-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-called-style-in-writing-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thomas-jefferson-43_imagination_i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-call_1679127.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would observe to you that what is called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in life while…” — Thomas Jefferson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Jefferson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would observe to you that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-called-style-in-writing-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-would-observe-to-you-that-what-is-called-style-in-writing-or/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```