“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.”
― Politics and the English Language
― Politics and the English Language
“I am always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.”
― The Catcher in the Rye
― The Catcher in the Rye
“It's one of those places that are supposed to be very sophisticated and all, and the phonies are coming in the window.”
― The Catcher in the Rye
― The Catcher in the Rye
“I'd swear to God, if I were a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it. I wouldn't even want them to clap for me. People always clap for the wrong things. If I were a piano player, I'd play it in the goddam closet.”
― The Catcher in the Rye
― The Catcher in the Rye
“Just because somebody's dead, you don't just stop liking them-especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all.”
― The Catcher in the Rye
― The Catcher in the Rye
Cliff’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Cliff’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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