Quotes About Clarity

Dixon Steele: You know, when you first walked into the police station, I said to myself, "There she is — the one that's different. She's not coy or cute or corny. She's a good guy — I'm glad she's on my side. She speaks her mind and she knows what she wants." Laurel Gray: Thank you, sir. But let me add: I also know what I don't want — and I don't want to be rushed.

Since I doubt, at the moment, whether I can stomach any hysterical verbiage, suppose we simply say what we mean.

I have been taught to face reality: an excellent thing.

For this, you are right, I need to be either entirely sober or very drunk indeed.

He said, 'Then you don't know, Philippa, what I am.' 'I know what you think you are,' Philippa said.

He and Richard had met on the strand at Philorth and like the sand under their feet, all the muddled solicitude which had prompted that journey had in five minutes dispersed through their fingers.

Quel changement, Strozzi had said, and it was true. The change was there, and not only in the chamois and lawn, replacing the velvet, the rubies, the gold tissue. It was as if all about him had been stripped down and cleansed and reduced, without blurring, to its true structure. And his eyes, which were smiling, were clear.

All you need to do is organize your butterflies.

I know what an Act to make things simpler means. It means that the people who drew it up don't understand it themselves and that every one of its clauses needs a law-suit to disentangle it.

Those who prefer their English sloppy have only themselves to thank if the advertisement writer uses his mastery of the vocabulary and syntax to mislead their weak minds.

Most people don't associate anythin'--their ideas just roll about like so many dry peas on a tray, makin' a lot of noise and goin' nowhere, but once you begin lettin' 'em string their peas into a necklace, it's goin' to be strong enough to hang you, what?

Mummy, I think I might understand if only you wouldn't explain.

Well, it's no good jumping at conclusions." "Jump? You don't even crawl distantly within sight of a conclusion.

Fou!" "Who?" "I didn't say 'who'; I said 'fou,' " "I know you did. I said who?" "Who?" "Who's fou?" "Oh, is. By Jove, 'suis'! 'Je suis fou.

Her faculty for hitting the right nail on the head is almost miraculous – especially as all her blows have the air of being delivered at random. Housekeeping!

If thine eye be single, the whole body is full of light

Men of science spend much time and effort in the attempt to disentangle words from their metaphorical and traditional associations;

If I can't make you see the thing in the right perspective this time I'll chuck it for good.

If you are once sure what you do want, you find that everything else goes down before it like grass under a roller—all other interests, your own and other people's.

You said 'The glass-blower's cat is bompstable'," retorted Lord Peter. "It's a perfectly rippin' word, but I don't know what you mean by it.

What do you want me to do, Peter? Chuck the ball back to me if it runs out of the circle. Not obviously. Just exercise your devastating talent for keeping to the point and speaking the truth. That sounds easy. It is--for you. That's what I love you for. --Gaudy Night

Fear grows in darkness; if you think there's a bogeyman around, turn on the light.

Don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.

We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!