May 10: This Could Have Been Shorter
Brevity forces us to cut excess, and to ultimately distill a message to its core.
Source: NPR
Published: February 2014
This Could Have Been Shorter
Brevity forces us to cut excess — to distill a message to its core.
In 1657 French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal famously wrote:
"I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter."
In 1750 US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin wrote:
“I have already made this paper too long, for which I must crave pardon, not having now time to make it shorter.”
In 1857 American philosopher and essayist Henry David Thoreau wrote:
“Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.”
In 1918, when asked about preparing for a speech, US President Woodrow Wilson responded:
“If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week.”
Next time you’re writing, whether an email or a 6-pager, consider taking the extra time to make your communication shorter.
------------
Did you appreciate the fact today?