Bergen Evans Quotes

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.

When I struggle to be terse, I end by being obscure.

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

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.

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.

My purpose in public address and in speech is really encapsulated in three C's: clear, concise, correct. No overblowing rhetoric or anything like that. As simple as possible: clear, concise, correct.

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

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

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

A parsimony of words prodigal of sense.

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

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.

I think precision in writing goes hand in hand with not trying to say everything. You try and say two-thirds, so the reader will involve himself or herself.

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

Never be so brief as to become obscure.

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.

A writer should never be brief at the expense of being clear.

To use many words to communicate few thoughts is everywhere the unmistakable sign of mediocrity. To gather much thought into few words stamps the man of genius.

The shorter and the plainer the better.

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.

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.

Lyrically, 'less words mean more' is a pretty good rule of thumb. Try to cut out the fat and get to the meat of what you're saying.

True brevity of expression consists in a man only saying what is worth saying, while avoiding all diffuse explanations of things which every one can think out for himself.

One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.