[英國]威廉·黑茲利特/William Hazlitt
The proper force of words lies not in the words themselves, but in their application. A word may be a fine sounding word, of an unusual length, and very imposing from its learning and novelty, and yet in the connection in which it is introduced may be quite pointless and irrelevant. It is not pomp or pretension, but the adaptation of the expression to the idea, that clenches a writer's meaning:as it is not the size or glossiness of the materials, but their being fitted each to its place, that gives strength to the arch;or as the pegs and nails are as necessary to the support of the building as the larger timbers, and more so than the mere showy, unsubstantial ornaments. I hate anything that occupies more space than it is worth. I hate to see a load of bandboxes go along the street, and I hate to see a parcel of big words without anything in them. A person who does not deliberately dimples of all his thoughts alike in cumbrous draperies and flimsy disguises-may strike out twenty varieties of familiar everyday language, each coming somewhat nearer to the feeling he wants to convey, and at last not hit upon that particular and only one which may be said to be identical with the exact impression in his mind. This would seem to show that Mr. Cobalt is hardly right in saying that the first word that occurs is always the best. It may be a very good one;and yet a better may present itself on reflection or from time to time. It may be suggested naturally, however, and spontaneously, from a fresh and lively conception of the subject.
詞匯的嚴格意義不在於詞匯本身，而在於詞匯的應用。一個單詞可能音節嘹亮，字母很多，單就它的學術價值和新奇感來說，可能是令人歎賞的，然而把它放在具體的語境中，也可能毫無意義。表達作者的寫作意圖不是依靠詞匯的華麗和誇張，而是對作者主題的貼切適用。正如在建築中，不必在意材料的大小和光澤，隻要它們砌合得完整嚴實，就能牢固地支撐拱門。又或是在建築物中，木楔和釘子的支撐作用有時竟與大件木料同等重要，它的作用遠遠勝過那些徒有其表、不結實的裝飾部件。我討厭那些空占地方的東西，討厭滿載一大堆空紙盒的車招搖過市，也討厭堆砌那些大而無實際內容的詞匯。一個人寫文章，隻要他不是故意用重重錦繡帳幔和多餘偽裝完全遮掩自己的寫作意圖，他總會從熟悉的日常用語中想出一二十種說法，這種語言更接近他所要表達的情感。最後，他就會因為不知道挑選哪一種說法能更好地表達自己而發愁！這樣看來，考拜特先生所謂的“第一印象就是最好的說法”未必可靠。這樣出現的字眼也許很好，可是經過一次次推敲，就會發現更好的字眼。這種字眼，也許來源於自然的暗示，但經過對主題清新活潑的推理，會自然而然地想到。