Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- I made this longer only because I lacked the leisure to make it shorter.
- In plain terms
- I wrote it long because I didn’t have time to make it short.
- What can you take from it?
- Brevity often requires more effort than length.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why is it harder to be concise than verbose?
- When does verbosity serve a purpose?
Another view
Sometimes length is necessary for clarity.
More from Blaise Pascal
Entre nous, et l'enfer ou le ciel, il n'y a que la vie entre deux, qui est la chose du monde la plus fragile.
Permalink to quote #2 L'homme n'est ni ange ni bete, et le malheur veut que qui veut faire l'ange fait la bete.
Permalink to quote #4 People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.
Permalink to quote #1
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