I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. -- Mark Twain
Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief. -- William Shakespeare
Brevity is the soul of lingerie. -- Dorothy Parker
I must remember this. -- Me
Why is the charter so sparse? Because words are ammunition for quibblers.
Why are there no laws, only self-control disputes? Because defining theft in terms of 20 synonyms makes criminals strive to describe their theft in a 21st definition to get off the hook. All you really need to know is, Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff.
Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon ... you know, cause I've worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time. -- George Costanza