Denis McDonough Quotes

Minimalism has a connotation of being reductive, and not in the best way. 'Brevetist' is a better term. I'm trying to be as concise as possible and still getting across to the reader. When information is delivered in that way, it is very satisfying to me.

Never say more than is necessary.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across.

Say what you have to say in the fewest possible words.

My goal is to strip things down so that you need just the right amount of words or shape to convey what you need to convey. I like editing. I like it very tight.

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

The best things - when I really feel that I'm communicating, and when I really feel that people are getting it - are simple, straightforward recipes. I think simple is the hardest to achieve because you don't have all those elements to hide behind.

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.)

To say more while saying less is the secret of being simple.

I wish I could say everything in one word. I hate all the things that can happen between the beginning of a sentence and the end.

For effective communication, use brevity. Jesus said, 'Follow me.' Now that's brief! He could be brief because of all that he was that he didn't have to say.

Sean, as always, gets by on one word while everyone else needs five or six.

I'm an enemy of exposition. I feel there's no need to overstate.

True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary.

In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.

Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins.

Simplicity is the glory of expression.

Be brief. Above all things be brief.

I speak as simply as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence.

I've really tried to strip my writing of as many adjectives and adverbs as I possibly can.

I believe that things can be expressed very powerfully through simplicity.

I kind of hate over-explanation in comics.

I always imagine people give succinct answers. I have no prepared thoughts on what I do.

I work on the assumption that in the crowded mass communication field today you have to get in and get out with your message as quickly and simply as possible. You must communicate the maximum with a single glance.