John Ruskin Quotes

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

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.

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.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

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

The simpler you say it, the more eloquent it is.

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

The shorter and the plainer the better.

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.

My stories are very compact. I want them to say the most complex things in the simplest way.

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

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

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

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

I believe most things can be said in a few lines.

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.

The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.

I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

There is need of brevity, that the thought may run on.

A book should be luminous not voluminous.

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

Successful writers learn at last what they should learn at first,--to be intelligently simple.

It is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all that he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his readers is sure to skip them.