Brown, H. Jackson "Jack" -- Life’s Little Instruction Book, Vol. 3, #1427 (1993)

Dave — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 14:25:42 +0000

Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.

H. Jackson "Jack" Brown, Jr. (b. 1940) American writer
Life’s Little Instruction Book, Vol. 3, #1427 (1993)
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain [Of the Qualities of Writers],” ¶ 45 (1804 entry) (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 11:57:07 +0000

When you write easily, you always think you have more talent than you really do.

[Quand on écrit avec facilité, on croit toujours avoir plus de talent qu’on n’en a.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain [Of the Qualities of Writers],” ¶ 45 (1804 entry) (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

He who writes with ease always thinks that he has more talent than he really has.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 15]

When anyone writes with ease, he always believes himself to have more talent than he has.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 22, ¶ 13]

The fluent author always seems to have more talent than he has.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 22]

WIST Quotations

Brown, H. Jackson "Jack" -- Life’s Little Instruction Book, Vol. 3, #1427 (1993)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain [Of the Qualities of Writers],” ¶ 45 (1804 entry) (1850 ed.) [tr. Auster (1983)]