Expression Complexity Quotes

Writing is always harder than talking.

All great expression, which on a superficial survey seems so easy as well as so simple, furnishes after a while, to the faithful observer, its own standard by which to appreciate it.

In poetry everything which must be said is almost impossible to say well.

Books are really, really hard to write. They represent a kind of a summit of grappling with what one really has to say

The simplicities of natural laws arise through the complexities of the language we use for their expression.

In the hours that followed, I learned that Ademic hand gestures did not actually represent facial expressions. It was nothing so simple as that. For example a smile can mean you're amused, happy, grateful, or satisfied. You can smile to comfort someone. You can smile because you're content or because you're in love. A grimace or a grin look similar to a smile, but they mean entirely different things. Imagine trying to teach someone how to smile. Imagine trying to describe what different smiles mean and when, precisely, to use them in conversation. It's harder than learning to walk.

I love language, and I love the failure of language.

I am never needlessly obscure - I am needfully obscure, when I am obscure.

Language is the most beautiful and destructive thing because it allows you to express yourself, but it totally confuses everything.

When you consider that there are a thousand ways to express even the simplest idea, it is no wonder writers are under a great strain. Writers care greatly how a thing is said - it makes all the difference. So they are constantly faced with too many choices and must make too many decisions.