Charles Bukowski Quotes

Writing is learning to say nothing, more cleverly each day.

In labouring to be concise, I become obscure.

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

Never be so brief as to become obscure.

Aiming at brevity, I become obscure.

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.

I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period.

False eloquence is exaggeration; true eloquence is emphasis.

I say what I need to, not a whole lot more.

It is when I struggle to be brief that I become obscure.

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

Simplicity is the glory of expression.

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

Generally, the more words you use to say something, the less power those words have.

It is by great economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.

As for style of writing, if one has anything to say, it drops from him simply and directly, as a stone falls to the ground.

Speak on, but be not over-tedious.

I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.

Say what you have to say and the first time you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending - sit down.

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.

Sometimes one has to say difficult things, but one ought to say them as simply as one knows how.

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

...you need openness and inability to do anything other than get to the point.

More matter with less art.