Le style cest lhomme. The style is the man. BuffonDiscourse on taking his seat in the French Academie. Aug. 25, 1753. Le style cest lhomme même. uvres Completes. (1778). Histoire Naturelle. (1769). Le style est de lhomme. Discours sur Style.
And, after all, it is style alone by which posterity will judge of a great work, for an author can have nothing truly his own but his style. Isaac DIsraeliLiterary Miscellanies. Style.
Style! style! why, all writers will tell you that it is the very thing which can least of all be changed. A mans style is nearly as much a part of him as his physiognomy, his figure, the throbbing of his pulse,in short, as any part of his being is at least subjected to the action of the will. Fénelon.
Expression is the dress of thought, and still Appears more decent as more suitable; A vile conceit in pompous words expressd, Is like a clown in regal purple dressd. PopeEssay on Criticism. L. 318.
When Crofts Life of Dr. Young was spoken of as a good imitation of Dr. Johnsons style, No, no, said he, it is not a good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force; it has all the nodosities of the oak, without its strength; it has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration. PriorLife of Burke.
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work. VoltairePhilosophical Dictionary. Style.