Always say less than necessary

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control.

Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.

Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.

The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Generally, say less than necessary.

Let your words be as few as will express the sense you wish to convey and above all let what you say be true. — Stonewall Jackson

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

Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.

5) If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.

There are lots of social practices that we engage in, where being concise and using fewer words is actually seen as better than using more words, right?

To say more is to say less.

When you lose, say little... When you win, say less.

It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few.

The great rule: If the little bit you have is nothing special in itself, at least find a way of saying it that is a little bit special.

Why does the person with the least to say usually take the longest to say it?

Have something to say ; say it ; and stop when you’ve done.

When you have something good to say, say it. When you have something ill to say, say something else.