Stanley Fish Quotes

April 19, 1938

Stanley Eugene Fish (born 19 April 1938) is an American literary theorist and legal scholar. He was born and raised in Providence. He is the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and a professor of law at Florida International University, in Miami, as well as Dean Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the author of 12 books.

We marvel at them; we read them aloud to our friends and spouses, even, occasionally, to passersby; we analyze them; we lament a]our inability to match them.

Chapter 1, Why Sentences?, p. 4

Share

More Stanley Fish Quotes

Sentences can save us. Who could ask for anything more?

Stanley Fish
— Epilogue, p. 160

Tags: Sentences, can, save, us, Who, ask, anything, more

Share
twitter

It may sound paradoxical, but verbal fluency is the product of many hours spent writing about nothing, just as musical fluency is the product of hours spent repeating scales.

Stanley Fish
— How To Write A Sentence And How To Read One (2011, p. 26), Chapter 3: It's Not The Thought That Counts

Tags: may, sound, paradoxical, verbal, fluency, product, hours, spent, writing

Share
twitter

Before the words slide into their slots, they are just discrete items, pointing everywhere and nowhere.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 1, Why Sentences?, p. 2

Tags: Before, words, slide, slots, discrete, items, pointing, nowhere

Share
twitter

No word floats without an anchoring connection within an overall structure.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 2, Why You Don't Find The Answer In Strunk And White, p. 17

Tags: word, floats, without, anchoring, connection, within, overall, structure

Share
twitter

Know what makes a sentence more than a random list, practice constructing sentences and explaining what you have done, and you will know how to make sentences forever and you will know too when what you are writing doesn't make the grade because it has degenerated into a mere pile of discrete items.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 3, It's Not The Thought That Counts, p. 33

Tags: Know, what, makes, sentence, more, random, list, practice, constructing

Share
twitter

People write or speak sentences in order to produce an effect, and the success of a sentence is measured by the degree to which the desired effect has been achieved.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 4, What Is A Good Sentence?, p. 37

Tags: People, write, speak, sentences, order, produce, effect, success, sentence

Share
twitter

Sentence writers are not copyists; they are selectors.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 4, What Is A Good Sentence?, p. 38

Tags: Sentence, writers, copyists

Share
twitter

What we know of the world comes to us through words, or, to look at it from the other direction, when we write a sentence, we create a world, which is not the world, but the world as is appears within a dimension of assessment.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 4, What Is A Good Sentence?, p. 39

Tags: What, we, know, world, us, words, look, other, direction

Share
twitter

Language is not a handmaiden to perception; it is perception; it gives shape to what would otherwise be inert and dead.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 4, What Is A Good Sentence?, p. 42

Tags: Language, handmaiden, perception, gives, shape, what, inert, dead

Share
twitter

Just as you can practice three - word sentences or sentences that travel across time zones, so can you practice writing sentences that breathe unshakable conviction.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 5, The Subordinate Style, p. 48

Tags: you, can, practice, three, word, sentences, travel, across, time

Share
twitter

The word "essay" means to try out, test, probe. In the essay style, successive clauses and sentences are not produced by an overarching logic, but by association; the impression that prose gives is that it can go anywhere in a manner wholly unpredictable.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 6, The Additive Style, p. 62

Tags: word, essay, means, try, test, probe, style, successive, clauses

Share
twitter

The category of first sentence makes sense only if it is looking forward to the development of thematic concerns it perhaps only dimly foreshadows.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 8, First Sentences, p. 99

Tags: category, first, sentence, makes, sense, looking, forward, development, concerns

Share
twitter

They are their own monuments, as is this quietly thrilling sentence.

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 9, Last Sentences, p. 130

Tags: own, monuments, quietly, thrilling, sentence

Share
twitter

" The idea - the core idea of humanism - is that the act of reading about great deeds will lead you to imitate them,.."

Stanley Fish
— Chapter 10, Sentences That Are About Themselves (Aren't They All?), p. 137

Tags: idea, core, humanism, act, reading, great, deeds, lead, you

Share
twitter
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Examples
    • See in a sentence
    • Example articles
  • Quotes
    • Famous Quotes
    • Quote Articles
  • Spanish
    • Spanish-English Translation
    • Reference
  • Reference
    • Education
    • ESL
    • Grammar
    • Abbreviations
    • Biography
    • Books & Literature
    • Examples
    • Foreign Languages
    • Resources
    • Slideshows
  • Word Finder
    • Word Finder
    • 4 Pics 1 Word Answers
    • Anagram Solver
    • Unscramble
    • Word Cookies Cheat
    • Word Game Dictionary
    • Word Unscrambler
    • Words With Friends Cheat
Share
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Examples
    • See in a sentence
    • Example articles
  • Quotes
    • Famous Quotes
    • Quote Articles
  • Spanish
    • Spanish-English Translation
    • Reference
  • Reference
    • Education
    • ESL
    • Grammar
    • Abbreviations
    • Biography
    • Books & Literature
    • Examples
    • Foreign Languages
    • Resources
    • Slideshows
  • Word Finder
    • Word Finder
    • 4 Pics 1 Word Answers
    • Anagram Solver
    • Unscramble
    • Word Cookies Cheat
    • Word Game Dictionary
    • Word Unscrambler
    • Words With Friends Cheat
Share
  • Home
  • Quotes
  • Authors
  • stanley fish
Share
Word Finder Scrabble® points: 20 More on Word Finder →

Follow YourDictionary

Get our free Amazon Alexa Skills!

Join YourDictionary today

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Please set a username for yourself.
People will see it as Author Name with your public flash cards.