QuoteProject
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.
John Ruskin
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Be clear and concise in your communication to ensure understanding.

This quote emphasizes the importance of brevity and clarity in communication. John Ruskin suggests that by using fewer words, one can capture the reader's attention, and by using simple language, one can ensure that the message is understood correctly, avoiding any potential misunderstandings.

Themes

CommunicationClarityBrevityUnderstandingWriting

In practice

Example use cases

In a writing workshop, a facilitator might use this quote to encourage participants to be clear and concise in their essays.

More from John Ruskin

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
In health of mind and body, men should see with their own eyes, hear and speak without trumpets, walk on their feet, not on wheels, and work and war with their arms, not with engine-beams, nor rifles warranted to kill twenty men at a shot before you can see them.
John RuskinRead
You talk of the scythe of Time, and the tooth of Time: I tell you, Time is scytheless and toothless; it is we who gnaw like the worm - we who smite like the scythe. It is ourselves who abolish - ourselves who consume: we are the mildew, and the flame.
John RuskinRead
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
John RuskinRead
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
John RuskinRead
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
John RuskinRead

Similar quotes

If you wish to be a lawyer, attach no consequence to the place you are in, or the person you are with; but get books, sit down anywhere, and go to reading for yourself. That will make a lawyer of you quicker than any other way.
Abraham LincolnRead
While we pay lip service to the virtues of reading, the truth is that there is still in our culture something that suspects those who read too much, whatever reading too much means, of being lazy, aimless dreamers, people who need to grow up and come outside to where real life is, who think themselves superior in their separateness.
Anna QuindlenRead
Life-Enriching Education: an education that prepares children to learn throughout their lives, relate well to others, and themselves, be creative, flexible, and venturesome, and have empathy not only for their immediate kin but for all of humankind.
Marshall B. RosenbergRead
Our global future depends on the willingness of every nation to invest in its people, especially women and children.
Hillary ClintonRead
The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.
John F. KennedyRead
A workshop is a way of renting an audience, and making sure you're communicating what you think you're communicating. It's so easy as a young writer to think you're been very clear when in fact you haven't.
Octavia ButlerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by John Ruskin | QuoteProject