Quotes About Clarity

One must be careful not to take refuge in any delusion.

Her long narrow eyes darkened with whatever it was they were beginning to see.

social affairs are not generally speaking the writer's prime concern, whether they ought to be or not; it is absolutely necessary that he establish between himself and these affairs a distance which will allow, at least, for clarity, so that before he can look forward in any meaningful sense, he must first be allowed to take a long look back.

And he knew again that she was not saying everything she meant; in a kind of secret language she was telling him today something that he must remember and understand tomorrow

It's funny about people. Just before something happens, you almost know what it is. You do know what it is, I believe. You just haven't had the time—and now you won't have the time—to say it to yourself.

To find out, to find out, you keep saying, as though we were accomplices in a crime. We have not committed any crime.

In order to change a situation one has first to see it for what it is.

We've got to be as clear-headed about human beings as possible, because we are still each other's only hope.

But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that's why so many people are lost.

Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford, and you are not that young any more.

if one could read, in the dullness of his eye, anything so real as a future.

A story is impelled by the necessity to reveal: the aim of the story is revelation, which means that a story can have nothing—at least not deliberately—to hide. This also means that a story resolves nothing. The resolution of a story must occur in us, with what we make of the questions with which the story leaves us. A plot, on the other hand, must come to a resolution, prove a point: a plot must answer all the questions which it pretends to pose.

Lord, when you send the rain think about it, please, a little? Do not get carried away by the sound of falling water, the marvelous light on the falling water. I am beneath that water. It falls with great force and the light Blinds me to the light.

To remember it so clearly, so painfully tonight tells me that I have never for an instant truly forgotten it.

You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.

Simplicity is king. You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal. (in a 1984 interview with The Paris Review)

Nay, Sir, it was not the WINE that made your head ache, but the SENSE that I put into it' 'What, Sir! will sense make the head ache?' 'Yes, Sir, (with a smile,) when it is not used to it.

Credendo vides: by believing, one sees. Post nublia phoebus: after clouds, sun!

The good-to-great companies displayed two distinctive forms of disciplined thought. The first, and the topic of this chapter, is that they infused the entire process with the brutal facts of reality. (The second, which we will discuss in the next chapter, is that they developed a simple, yet deeply insightful, frame of reference for all decisions.) When

A true BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) is clear and compelling, serves as a unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a catalyst for team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines. A BHAG engages people—it reaches out and grabs them. It is tangible, energizing, highly focused. People get it right away; it takes little or no explanation.

but is simplicity enough?

was so straightforward and obvious that it sounds almost ridiculous to talk about it.

Doesn't a group process invite disagreement among group members— disagreement that can be uncomfortable and difficult to resolve? Yes. And this is good. To repeat: disagreement during the decision-making process is good. In making important decisions, it's wise to have constructive argument and differing points of view. Disagreement will clarify the issues and produce a more thought-out solution. Without disagreement, you probably don't fully understand the problem.

businesses. We will not make unrelated acquisitions. We will not do unrelated joint ventures. If it doesn't fit, we don't do it. Period.