Economy of Words Quotes

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

[S]ince brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.

Simple goes a long way.

I'm very direct, I don't believe in wasting time, in wasting words.

I love the right words. I think economy and precision of language are important.

My parents never said it. They thought you shouldn't wear out the words

The best sentence? The shortest.

I shall be so brief that I have already finished.

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.

It's difficult to write a really good short story because it must be a complete and finished reflection of life with only a few words to use as tools. There isn't time for bad writing in a short story.

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

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

If a thing can be said in ten words, I may be relied upon to take a hundred to say it. I ought to apologize for that. I ought to prune, pare and extirpate excess growth, but I will not. I like words—strike that, I love words—and while I am fond of the condensed and economical use of them in poetry, in song lyrics, in Twitter, in good journalism and smart advertising, I love the luxuriant profusion and mad scatter of them too.

I think in most cases, unless you're writing about a character who is garrulous, you say what you've got to say and then get out. Those little conjunctions, those little turnaround words help you do it. That's the way I like to write: I get rid of things rather than add them.

There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across.

The economy of a novelist is a little like that of a careful housewife who is unwilling to throw away anything that might perhaps serve its turn.

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

If you can't be smart or funny, be brief.

Hank Cochran was a man of very few words, but certainly the words that he chose were the right ones to use.

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.)

I think film writing, you're thinking in pictures, and stage writing, you're thinking in dialogue. In film writing, it's also, you only get so many words, so everything has to earn its place in a really economical way. I think for stage writing, you have more leeway.

The finest command of language is often shown by saying nothing.

Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.