Edward Everett Quotes

If you cannot say what you have to say in 20 minutes, you should go away and write a book about it.

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

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.

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.

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

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.

I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

Be sincere, be brief, be seated.

If all our agents would abridge their speeches one half, I am satisfied the effect produced would be much greater. The 'art of leaving off' at the right time, and in the right place, is one of the most difficult things to learn.

Speak on, but be not over-tedious.

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

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.

As the chief speaker at the dedication of the national cemetery at the Gettysburg Battlefield, statesman Edward Everett wrote to Lincoln: I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.

It's better to say nothing than spend 1,000 words or an hour speech saying nothing. Get to the point.

It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.

Anybody can have ideas-the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.

If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.

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

It is not necessary for a preacher to express all his thoughts in one sermon. A preacher should have three principles: first, to make a good beginning, and not spend time with many words before coming to the point; secondly, to say that which belongs to the subject in chief, and avoid strange and foreign thoughts; thirdly, to stop at the proper time.

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.

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

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.

A good rule for writers: do not explain overmuch.