Edsger Dijkstra Quotes

Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.

Omit needless words.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.

Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.

I analyse in my own way, in very simple, no-jargon language. If somebody is talking in very complicated way, I never like that.

Why say 'utilize' when you can say 'use'?

I never want to confuse people or go over their heads.

Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.

Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

There are writers who pour out words, concepts that sound really important but that basically say nothing. I always tried to be as concise as possible, all to try and reach everyone, but especially the simple people, those who needed to be reached more than anyone else.

Me is a common sense man. That mean when me explain things, me explain it in a very simple way; that mean if I explain it to a baby, the baby will understand too, you know.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.

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.

Less is almost always better than more. Short words, short sentences, short speeches.

I want it to be easy to read. I'm not writing exotic literature.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

It is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his reader is sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or his reader will certainly misunderstand them. Generally, also, a downright fact may be told in a plain way; and we want downright facts at present more than anything else.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.)

The shorter and the plainer the better.

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.

Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.

Hard writing makes easy reading.