Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
If I had more time, I would have written less.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Less can often be more, and clarity requires time and thought.
Mark Twain's quote emphasizes the paradox of writing: the more time one has, the more concise and thoughtful the writing can become. It suggests that great writing is not about the quantity of words but the quality and clarity of thought, indicating that effective communication often requires careful consideration and editing.
Themes
WritingClarityBrevityTimeCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about effective communication.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes βThe easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
Thyself shall see the act; For, as thou urgest justice, be assured Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir'st.
William ShakespeareRead
The reality is, I like imperfection. You take away from the world when you're not yourself. Whatever is unique and special about you was designed by God. And when you try to be someone else, we don't get you. Who knows what you would have contributed to the world had you just been yourself, if you had just celebrated who you are and just walked boldly?
Queen LatifahRead
We need less posturing and more genuine charisma. Charisma was originally a religious term, meaning "of the spirit" or "inspired." It's about letting God's light shine through us. It's about a sparkle in people that money can't buy. It's an invisible energy with visible effects. To let go, to just love, is not to fade into the wallpaper. Quite the contrary, it's when we truly become bright. We're letting our own light shine.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
What a sense of security in an old book which Time has criticized for us!
James Russell LowellRead
It has cost them but a moment to cut off that head; but a hundred years will not be sufficient to produce another like it.
Joseph-Louis LagrangeRead
On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.
Eckhart TolleRead