Quintilian Quotes

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

It is better not to express what one means than to express what one does not mean.

Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.

The difficulty is not to write, but to write what you mean.

I see but one rule: to be clear.

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

Unless in communicating with it one says exactly what one means, trouble is bound to result.

If we are understood, more words are unnecessary; if we are not likely to be understood, they are useless.

Words, like glasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. Before using a fine word, make a place for it.

Clarity in language depends on clarity in thought.

You try to make every word count, so there's no doubt what you're talking about. When you're young, you waffle away. Well, I'm done with that. I think it's much more interesting to say just what you mean.

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.

If we go on explaining we shall cease to understand one another.

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.

The problem with merely writing so that you can be understood is that the wrong people, in advancing their agendas, are only too ready to misunderstand you. Writing so that you cannot be misunderstood anticipates and preempts those who would willfully distort what you are trying to say.

Words are how people think. When you misuse words, you diminish your ability to think clearly and truthfully.

Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.

I have to be clear with myself and very conscious of what I am trying to say. Misunderstandings will always take place; it's unavoidable.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

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.

I am not very good at expressing myself in a simple way so it can create mis-understandings and I hate that.

Words easy to be understood do often hit the mark; when high and learned ones do only pierce the air.

Communication is about being effective, not always about being proper.

How or by what magic is it, that we convey our thoughts to one another with such case and accuracy?

It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood.