Able Quote by William Safire

The most successful column is one that causes the reader to throw down the paper in a peak of fit.

— William Safire

A column is a curiously intimate affair. For a start, you know by default that you will have regular readers, so it gives the…

— Monty Don

I try not to picture a reader when I'm writing. It's like trying to make a great table but not picturing anybody sitting at…

— Sadie Jones

You can't tell what something/someone is really like just by looking at it. It might be different from what it looks.

— Melchor Lim

It's much easier to consume the visual image than to read something.

— Lawrence Ferlinghetti

When you are in front and top of the table, it feels great to look at it.

— Ilkay Gundogan

Whether my columns are worth reading isn't for me to say.

— John Podhoretz

You don't want to hit readers over the head like they're completely incapable of picking up on subtlety.

— Mark Waid

When you meet certain people, you can sort of see the table of contents on their face.

— Bridget Everett

You can't just look at the side of something that you want to see. You have to look at the whole round object and…

— Dan Mangan

I write my columns pretty carefully.

— Bret Stephens

I work real hard so the reader doesn't have to. I don't want them to have to look up words.

— Janet Evanovich