Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2005-12-30:

"But there are two others. One is punctuation. They are all fond of semicolons and use them where most people would prefer a comma or a dash. The other is more subtle but to me the most conclusive. A clever man might successfully disguise every element of his style but one--the paragraphing. Diction and syntax may be determined and controlled by rational processes in full consciousness, but paragraphing--the decision whether to hop in the middle of a thought or action or finish it first--that comes from instinct, from the depths of personality. I will concede the possibility that the verbal similarities, and even the punctuation, could be coincidence, though it is highly improbable; but not the paragraphing. These three stories were paragraphed by the same person." -- Nero Wolfe, fictional detective, in Plot It Yourself, by Rex Stout

(submitted to the mailing list by Jeannette Cezanne)