Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“We may not be capable of much; but we can all write better than that, if we take a little trouble.”
- Source
- On the Art of Writing
- Date
- 1916
Meaning of “We may not be capable of much; but…”
Improvement is framed as practical rather than mystical: even modest writers can remove avoidable weakness when they slow down and revise deliberately.
Where does it come from?
On the Art of Writing, Lecture V, “Interlude: On Jargon,” Project Gutenberg #17470; Quiller-Couch contrasts direct prose with inflated official phrasing.
