William Strunk Jr. Quotes

Omit needless words.

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.

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

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

Vigorous writing is concise.

If you really understand something, you can say it in the fewest words, instead of thrashing about.

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

I always feel that whatever isn't necessary shouldn't be in a poem.

Use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something.

It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.)

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.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

Anyone can make an article longer; the skill is keeping it tight and lean.

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

My goal is to strip things down so that you need just the right amount of words or shape to convey what you need to convey. I like editing. I like it very tight.

The most important thing for poets to do is to write as little as possible.

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

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.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

Directing my own writing, I see that I talk way too much, and everything can happen much sooner, with much less said about it.

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

Wordiness is a sickness of American writing. Too many words dilute and blur ideas.

I've really tried to strip my writing of as many adjectives and adverbs as I possibly can.

I don't use a lot of words unnecessarily.