avoided on all possible occasions. They proclaim shallowness of intellect
and vanity of mind. The great purists, the masters of diction, the
exemplars of style, used short, simple words that all could understand;
words about which there could be no ambiguity as to meaning. It must be
remembered that by our words we teach others; therefore, a very great
responsibility rests upon us in regard to the use of a right language. We
must take care that we think and speak in a way so clear that there may
be no misapprehension or danger of conveying wrong impressions by vague
and misty ideas enunciated in terms which are liable to be misunderstood
by those whom we address. Words give a body or form to our ideas, without
which they are apt to be so foggy that we do not see where they are weak
or false. We must make the endeavor to employ such words as will put the
idea we have in our own mind into the mind of another. This is the
greatest art in the world--to clothe our ideas in words clear and
comprehensive to the intelligence of others. It is the art which the
teacher, the minister, the lawyer, the orator, the business man, must
master if they would command success in their various fields of endeavor.
It is very hard to convey an idea to, and impress it on, another when he
has but a faint conception of the language in which the idea is expressed;
but it is impossible to convey it at all when the words in which it is
clothed are unintelligible to the listener.

If we address an audience of ordinary men and women in the English
language, but use such words as they cannot comprehend, we might as well
speak to them in Coptic or Chinese, for they will derive no benefit from
our address, inasmuch as the ideas we wish to convey are expressed in
words which communicate no intelligent meaning to their minds.

Long words, learned words, words directly derived from other languages
are only understood by those who have had the advantages of an extended