I'm sorry this letter is so long, but I did not have time to make it shorter.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Shorter writing takes more effort than longer writing.
- In plain terms
- Being concise is harder than being verbose.
- What can you take from it?
- Spend time editing for brevity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is brevity essential?
- How do you balance clarity and length?
Another view
Not all content benefits from extreme concision.
More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Tomorrow is the yesterday of two days from now.
Permalink to quote #206 Whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting over.
Permalink to quote #208 Golf is a good walk spoiled.
Permalink to quote #205
Related quotes
Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.
Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal quote #3 You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far …
Carl Friedrich GaussCarl Friedrich Gauss quote #17 Should novels generally be 600 pages? No, they should not. Half of writing, maybe 3/4 of writing, is editing. This seems to be a thing that has not gotten thro…
Fran LebowitzFran Lebowitz quote #3