Simon Travaglia Quotes

It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar - that I call an achievement.

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

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.

He who talks much cannot talk well.

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.

We know that he has, more than any other man, the gift of compressing the largest amount of words into the smallest amount of thought.

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.

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.

It is sheer laziness not compressing thought into a reasonable space.

You can suffocate a thought by expressing it with too many words.

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 stories are very compact. I want them to say the most complex things in the simplest way.

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

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

I'm fighting against the bad poet who is prone to using too many words.

There's a great power in words, if you don't hitch too many of them together.

In labouring to be concise, I become obscure.

A genius knows how to make himself easily understood without being obvious about it.

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

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

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

In a newspaper, you only have so much room. It teaches you the value of getting to the point, of not pampering yourself with your glorious writing. I've always been much more interested in one powerful sentence that stays with you. That's my style.

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.