Quote for Monday

I notice that you use a plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. This is the way to write English – it is the modern way, and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch adjectives, kill most of them – then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together; they give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or wordy, diffuse or flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.

- Mark Twain, writing to a schoolboy essayist