The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Talk to the point, and stop when you have reached it.—Be comprehensive in all you say or write.—To fill a volume about nothing is a credit to nobody.
—John Neal (1793–1876) American Editor, Poet, Novelist, Critic
Good things, when short, are twice as good.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Spartans, stoics, heroes, saints and gods use short and positive speech.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Brevity to writing is what charity is to all other virtues; righteousness is nothing without the one, nor authorship without the other.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar—that I call an achievement.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
I will be brief. Not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the world’s shortest speech. He said I will be so brief I have already finished, and he sat down.
—E. O. Wilson (b.1929) American Sociobiologist
It wasn’t by accident that the Gettysburg address was so short. The laws of prose writing are as immutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
If you would be pungent, be brief, for it is with words as with sunbeams—the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
The fewer the words, the better the prayer.
—Martin Luther (1483–1546) German Protestant Theologian
There’s a great power in words, if you don’t hitch too many of them together.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
When you introduce a moral lesson, let it be brief.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Brevity is the soul of lingerie.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
The best rules of rhetoric are, to speak intelligently; speak from the heart; have something to say; say it; and stop when you’ve done.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.
—John Wayne (1907–79) American Actor, Director, Producer
Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or he will certainly misunderstand them.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Wilson was once asked how long it took him to write a speech. He answered, ‘That depends. If I am to speak 10 minutes, I need a week for preparation. If 15 minutes, 3 days. If half hour, two days. If an hour, I am ready now.’
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
My great-grandfather used to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who in turn told her daughter, my grandmother, who repeated it to her daughter, my mother, who used to remind her daughter, my own sister, that to talk well and eloquently was a very great art, but that an equally great one was to know the right moment to stop.
—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) Austrian Composer
It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books – what other men do not say in whole books.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
When one has no design but to speak plain truth, he may say a great deal in a very narrow compass.
—Richard Steele (1672–1729) Irish Writer, Politician
Never be so brief as to become obscure.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
I strive to be brief, and I become obscure.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
In labouring to be concise, I become obscure.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.
—Hosea Ballou (1771–1852) American Theologian
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
—William Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946) American Writer, Academic
Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
He replies nothing but monosyllables. I believe he would make three bites of a cherry.
—Francois Rabelais (1494–1553) French Humanist, Satirist
Rather to excite your judgment briefly than to inform it tediously.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The one prudence of life is concentration.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher