Charles Simmons Quotes

I'd lived by quotations, practically all my life.

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.

I collect axioms, paradoxes, maxims, teaching stories, proverbs, and aphorisms of all sorts, because I love to see complex ideas distilled into a few words.

I don't care how much a man talks, if he only says it in a few words.

You can say a lot in a little time, if you stick to words of one syllable.

When the long bygone Lee Po wanted to say something, he could do it with only a few words.

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

Men who have much to say use the fewest words.

Someone who can write aphorisms should not fritter away his time in essays.

The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.

Words must be weighed, not counted.

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are preserved by quotations.

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.

Nobody wants to hear long speeches.

Do not put cleverness in front of the communication.

I'm going to make a long speech because I've not had the time to prepare a short one.

With few words, one can speak the truth.

The excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some useful truth in a few words.

Of all eloquence a nickname is the most concise; of all arguments the most unanswerable.

There are plenty of maxims in the world; all that remains is to apply them.

Never be grandiloquent when you want to drive home a searching truth. Don't whip with a switch that has the leaves on, if you want it to tingle.

You don't have to say everything to say something.

Apothegms form a short cut to much knowledge.

Say it clear, and it will be beautiful.