Richie Benaud Quotes

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

To say more, is to say less.

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

They write them long because they can't write them short.

In short stories it is better to say not enough than to say too much, because, because--I don't know why.

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

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

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

Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.

To say more while saying less is the secret of being simple.

Always say less than necessary.

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 like being to the point. It is not my nature to talk too much or indulge in loose talk. I like being brief, and beyond a certain point, I have nothing to say.

I have a talent for silence and brevity. I can keep silent when it seems best to do so, and when I speak I can, and do usually, quit when I am done. This talent, or these two talents, I have cultivated. Silence and concise, brief speaking have got me some laurels, and, I suspect, lost me some. No odds. Do what is natural to you, and you are sure to get all the recognition you are entitled to.

I am trying to say it all in one sentence, between one cap and one period.

Dress not thy thoughts in too fine a raiment. And be not a man of superfluous words or superfluous deeds.

One cannot say everything at once.

A parsimony of words prodigal of sense.

The short story form allows evocation, suggestion, implication. Its potency often lies in what it does not say.

We now demand the light artillery of the intellect; we need the curt, the condensed, the pointed, the readily diffused -- in place of the verbose, the detailed, the voluminous, the inaccessible.

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

The great art of writing is knowing when to stop.

The simpler the message, the broader the meaning, in many respects.

Poetry teaches the enormous force of a few words, and, in proportion to the inspiration, checks loquacity.