Standard

Famous quotes containing the word standard:

    This unlettered man’s speaking and writing are standard English. Some words and phrases deemed vulgarisms and Americanisms before, he has made standard American; such as “It will pay.” It suggests that the one great rule of composition—and if I were a professor of rhetoric I should insist on this—is, to speak the truth. This first, this second, this third; pebbles in your mouth or not. This demands earnestness and manhood chiefly.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    A dwarf who brings a standard along with him to measure his own size—take my word, is a dwarf in more articles than one.
    Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)

    We don’t want bores in the theatre. We don’t want standardised acting, standard actors with standard-shaped legs. Acting needs everybody, cripples, dwarfs and people with noses so long. Give us something that is different.
    Dame Sybil Thorndike (1882–1976)