Maurice Saatchi Quotes

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

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

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.

It is very hard to be simple enough to be good.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.

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

Whatever is worth saying, can be stated in fifty words or less.

A book should be luminous not voluminous.

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.

Aiming at brevity, I become obscure.

As it is the mark of great minds to say many things in a few words, so it is that of little minds to use many words to say nothing.

The finest words in the world are only vain sounds if you can't understand them. The best sentence? The shortest.

I would never use a long word, even, where a short one would answer the purpose.

The minute a thing is long and complicated, it confuses. Whoever wrote the Ten Commandments made 'em short. They may not always be kept, but they are understood.

The shorter and the plainer the better.