Wordy Sentences Quotes & Sayings

We lawyers do not write plain English. We use eight words to say what could be said in two. We use arcane phrases to express commonplace ideas. Seeking to be precise, we become redundant. Seeking to be cautious, we become verbose. Our sentences twist on, phrase within clause within clause, glazing the eyes and numbing the minds of our readers. The result is a writing style that has, according to one critic, four outstanding characteristics. It is (1) wordy, (2) unclear, (3) pompous, and (4) dull. — Richard C. Wydick

A random group of homeless people under a bridge would be far more intellectually sound and principled than anything I've encountered at the university so far. — Ward Churchill

That a man lives is because he is straight. That a man who dupes others survives is because he has been fortunate enough to be spared. — Confucius

I'm not the greatest driver. I don't know if I'll ever master the art. — Naomie Harris

There can never be a complete confidence in a power which is excessive. — Tacitus

Steven Spielberg and I have tremendous amounts of money. — David Geffen

There were fourteen steps exactly fourteen. But the top one was smaller, out of proportion, as if it had been added to avoid the evil number. — Stephen King

Chekhov used to correspond with aspiring writers, and once he gave this advice to Maxim Gorky when he was encouraging him to pare his wordy sentences: "When someone expends the least amount of motion on a given action, that's grace." The short story, by definition, embodies this notion of grace, because it requires such forceful compression to achieve its effects. — Catherine Brady