Quotes About Conciseness

It's amazing, if you know what you want to say, how fast it is to write.

What I take from writers I like is their economy - the ability to use language to very effective ends.

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.

Hard writing makes easy reading.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

If you can't describe your business model in ten words or fewer, you don't have a business model.

Mission statements are long, dull, and forgettable.

Wow." "You've got quite the vocabulary." "Never use a big word when a small one will suffice." "I could make a crack here, but I won't.

It is very tough to make a short film. It's like writing a short story, which is tougher than writing a novel. You can't afford to faff around; you can't indulge. You have to get to the point.

One false word, one extra word, and somebody's thinking about how they have to buy paper towels at the store. Brevity is very important. If you're going to be longwinded, it should be for a purpose. Not just because you like your words.

I am a firm believer that if you can explain it to a kid, you're on the right track.

It does not take many words to tell the truth

The excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some useful truth in a few words.

It takes few words to tell the truth.

We don't communicate in full sentences anyway. We don't need all those words.

Keeping it short and to the point is essential, otherwise he won't hear a single word.

She keeps communication from getting messy and avoids communicating when upset. When she clears her head, she is succinct and speaks in a "bottom line" way.

The power of science comes from being able to say something, without having to say everything.

MacDonald has the gift of compressing the largest amount of words into the smallest amount of thoughts.

Say what we mean, and mean what we say. If we don't know what we mean, be quiet and think about it. If our answer is, "I don't know," say "I don't know." Learn to be concise. Stop taking people all around the block. Get to the point and when we make it, stop.

I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.

Shun epic verse.

First: never use a long word if a short word will do. Second: if you want to make a statement with a great many qualifications, put some of the qualifications in separate sentences. Third: do not let the beginning of your sentence lead the reader to an expectation which is contradicted by the end.

Intelligibility or precision: to combine the two is impossible.