One Of The Best Editorial I've Read Is About Obama Tackling Race Issues

Perhaps, I may be bias because the editorial speaks about Obama and I'm a great admirer of the man. But here's a New York Times editorial about Obama tackling race issues, in which the writer concludes:

We can’t know how effective Mr. Obama's words will be with those who will not draw the distinctions between faith and politics that he drew, or who will reject his frank talk about race. What is evident, though, is that he not only cleared the air over a particular controversy — he raised the discussion to a higher plane.

Read the article and be enlightened about the man, and about how crisp English writing can deliver meanings so powerfully even without constantly resorting to big, multi-syllable words.

Are You Still Learning?

I do. I learn all the time. Right now I'm reading "The Element of Style" by William Strunk Jr and EB White. It's an old book, revised many times by White, Strunk's trusted disciple. Mine is the fourth edition.

And I must admit I'm a Strunkian convert although I'm not yet a good devotee. Here's the principle of Strunkian, in 59 words:

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

But as much as I admire the wisdom of Stunk, I won't do one thing and that is to write Charles's friend or Burns's poem. I think I'll stick with Charles' friend and Burns' poem.