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                <!-- DCH Modify the title to give the category (quote author) at the beginning of it. -->
		<title>Montesquieu -- Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], #  828 / 1086 (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)]</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/montesquieu/85620/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:25:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Montesquieu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depth]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[What orators lack in depth, they give you in length. [Ce qui manque aux orateurs en profondeur, ils vous le donnent en longueur.] (Source (French)). Other translations: What orators want in depth, they give you in length. [ed. Taylor (1856)] What orators want in depth, they make up to you in length. [ed. Wood (1899)] [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What orators lack in depth, they give you in length.</p>
<p><em>[Ce qui manque aux orateurs en profondeur, ils vous le donnent en longueur.]</em></p>
<br><b>Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu</b> (1689–1755) French political philosopher<br><i>Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts]</i>, #  828 / 1086 (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)] 
						<br><br><span class="cite">
						

(<a href="https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k65154634/page/22/mode/2up?q=profondeur">Source (French)</a>). Other translations:<br><br>

<blockquote>What orators want in depth, they give you in length.<br>
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924022836336/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Taylor</a> (1856)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What orators want in depth, they make up to you in length.<br>
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfQuotationsFromAncientAndModern/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Wood</a> (1899)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What orators want in depth, they make up for in length.<br>
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofquot00harbuoft/page/22/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Harbottle/Dalbiac</a> (1904)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What is wanting in orators in depth, they make up to you in length.<br>
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924027664907/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Benham</a> (1907)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What orators lack in profundity, they will give you in length.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Aesthetic_Doctrine_of_Montesquieu/k5NAAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22orators%20lack%20in%20profundity%22%5C&pg=PA106&printsec=frontcover">Dargan</a> (1907)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What orators lack in depth, they make up in length.<br> 
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.236204/page/n223/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Jones</a> (1908)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>What orators lack in depth, they make up to you in length.<br>
[ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.06493/mode/2up?q=%22aux+orateurs+en+profondeur%22">Stevenson</a> (1947)]</blockquote><br>						</span>
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		<title>Lebowitz, Fran -- Interview by Susannah McNeely, Ruminator Magazine (2005-08/09)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/lebowitz-fran/65474/</link>
		<comments>https://wist.info/lebowitz-fran/65474/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Dec 2023 16:05:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lebowitz, Fran]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Should novels generally be 600 pages? No, they should not. Half of writing, maybe 3/4 of writing, is editing. This seems to be a thing that has not gotten through to them. It&#8217;s my impression that you could get rid of half of most of these books. These people are not good enough to be [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Should novels generally be 600 pages? No, they should not. Half of writing, maybe 3/4 of writing, is editing. This seems to be a thing that has not gotten through to them. It&#8217;s my impression that you could get rid of half of most of these books. These people are not good enough to be this long, but they&#8217;re apparently also not good enough to be shorter.</p>
<br><b>Fran Lebowitz</b> (b. 1950) American journalist, essayist<br>Interview by Susannah McNeely, <i>Ruminator Magazine</i> (2005-08/09) 
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                <!-- DCH Modify the title to give the category (quote author) at the beginning of it. -->
		<title>Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book  4, epigram  89 (4.89) (AD 89) [tr. Michie (1972)]</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/martial/56341/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2022 21:12:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Martial]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Whoa, little book! Slow up! Easy there! Steady! We&#8217;ve reached the finishing post, yet you&#8217;re still ready To gallop uncontrollably on, to run Past the last page, as if your job weren&#8217;t done. (I&#8217;d have called it a day after page one!) My reader&#8217;s fed up now, about to drop, And my copyist, who longs [&#8230;]]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Whoa, little book! Slow up! Easy there! Steady!<br />
<span class="tab">We&#8217;ve reached the finishing post, yet you&#8217;re still ready<br />
To gallop uncontrollably on, to run<br />
<span class="tab">Past the last page, as if your job weren&#8217;t done.<br />
<span class="tab">(I&#8217;d have called it a day after page one!)<br />
My reader&#8217;s fed up now, about to drop,<br />
<span class="tab">And my copyist, who longs to shut up shop,<br />
<span class="tab">Agrees: &#8220;Whoa, little book! Enough! Full stop!&#8221;</p>
<p><em>[Ohe, iam satis est, ohe, libelle,<br />
Iam pervenimus usque ad umbilicos.<br />
Tu procedere adhuc et ire quaeris,<br />
Nec summa potes in schida teneri,<br />
5Sic tamquam tibi res peracta non sit,<br />
Quae prima quoque pagina peracta est.<br />
Iam lector queriturque deficitque,<br />
Iam librarius hoc et ipse dicit<br />
&#8220;Ohe, iam satis est, ohe, libelle.&#8221;]</em></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<br><b>Martial</b> (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]<br><i>Epigrams [Epigrammata]</i>, Book  4, epigram  89 (4.89) (AD 89) [tr. Michie (1972)] 
						<br><br><span class="cite">
						

The last epigram in Book 4.<br><br> 

(<a href="http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1294.phi002.perseus-lat1:4.89">Source (Latin)</a>). Other translations:<br><br>

<blockquote>Oh, 't is enough, it is enough, my book;<br>
<span class="tab">Upon the utmost page thou now dost look.<br>
Would'st thou swell further yet? yet larger be?<br>
<span class="tab">Not leave thy paragraphs and margins free?<br>
As if to some known period thou didst tend,<br>
<span class="tab">When ev'ry epigram may be thy end.<br>
Reader and printer tired, no more can brook;<br>
<span class="tab">'T is time thyself pronounce the last line strook.<br>
<span class="tab">Oh, 't is enough, oh, 't is enough, my book.<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Epigrams_of_Martial/LzXgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22enough%20my%20book%22">Killigrew</a> (1695)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Enough, enough! little book! we have already reached the end of the parchment. You would still go on, and add to your bulk, and cannot confine yourself within due limits; just as if you had not done enough, when you had completed the first page. The reader is now quite querulous, and out of patience; the <i>librarius</i> himself now cries out, "Enough, enough, little book."<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/martial_epigrams_book04.htm#:~:text=Enough%2C%20enough!%20little,enough%2C%20little%20book.%22">Bohn's Classical</a> (1897)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Ho, there! Ho, there! 'tis now enough, my little book. We have now come to the very end: you still want to go on further and continue, and cannot be held in even in your last strip, just as if your task was not finished -- which was finished, too, on the first page! Already my reader is grumbling and giving in; already even my scribe says: "Ho, there! Ho, there! 'tis enough now, little book."<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Epigrams/w4ZfAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22ho%20there%20ho%20there%22">Ker</a> (1919)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Hold, little book, enough, enough!<br>
<span class="tab">Here is the end of the scroll and thee; <br>
Stay thy course ere the path grow rough, <br>
<span class="tab">Keep thy bounds for thou art not free, <br>
<span class="tab">Many thy sheets, though one should be <br>
Ample space for thy sorry stuff.<br>
Hold, little book, enough, enough!<br>
<span class="tab">Here is the end of the scroll and thee. <br>
Wearied readers are harsh and gruff,<br>
<span class="tab">Now are they tired of thee and me; <br>
Soon thou shalt meet a rude rebuff,<br>
<span class="tab">List to the worn-out scrivener’s plea;<br>
‘Hold, little book, enough, enough!’<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/martialtwelveboo0000tran/page/134/mode/2up?q=%22lxxxix+finis%22">Pott & Wright</a> (1921), "Finis"]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>We've filled the scroll; "Hold, hold, enough!" I say,<br>
<span class="tab">But still you want to plod your inky way.<br>
Heighho! 'tis finis, and the gap to fill<br>
<span class="tab">One page was plenty, yet you're restless still.<br>
The reader flags and grumbles at the stuff,<br>
<span class="tab">And now the very penman cries "Enough."<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Martial_s_Epigrams/g35fAAAAMAAJ?gbpv=1&bsq=%22filled%20the%20scroll%22">Francis & Tatum</a> (1924), No. 214]</blockquote><br>



<blockquote>Hold it, book, that's enough!<br>
We've come to the knob at the end of the roll.<br>
You object? And want to keep going right on<br>
And can't sit still cooped up in the last column<br>
on the last leaf? As though for you the work wasn't done<br>
that was done when the first page was over and gone.<br>
Your reader is tired, he's getting gruff,<br>
<span class="tab">the bookseller is losing interest in your stuff:<br>
<span class="tab">Hold it, book, that's enough!<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/epigramsofmartia0000mart_q2h6/page/196/mode/2up?q=%22hold+it+book%22">Bovie</a> (1970)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Whoa, little book! Slow up! Easy there! Steady!<br>
<span class="tab">We've reached the finishing post, yet you're still ready<br>
To gallop uncontrollably on, to run<br>
<span class="tab">Past the last page, as if your job weren't done.<br>
<span class="tab">(I'd have called it a day after page one!)<br>
My reader's fed up now, about to drop,<br>
<span class="tab">And my copyist, who longs to shut up shop,<br>
<span class="tab">Agrees: "Whoa, little book! Enough! Full stop!"<br>
[tr. <a href="https://archive.org/details/epigrams0000mart/page/64/mode/2up?q=whoa">Michie</a> (1972)]</blockquote><br>


<blockquote>Whoa, there's enough, whoa now, little book! We have got to the bosses. But you want to go on further and keep going, there's no holding you at the final sheet, as though you had not finished the business which was finished even on page one. Already the reader grows querulous and weary, already the very copyist says "Whoa, there's enough, whoa now, little book!"<br>
[tr. <a href="https://dokumen.pub/martial-epigrams-spectacles-books-1-5-1-0674995554-9780674995550.html#:~:text=Whoa%2C%20there%27s%20enough,now%2C%20little%20book!%22">Shackleton Bailey</a> (1993)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Hey, you're stuffed, little book, give it a rest.<br>
<span class="tab">You've reached the end-papers and still have zest!<br>
What on earth makes you yet want to let go,<br>
<span class="tab">When "misfire" our verse reeked from the get-go?<br>
Zip it, my pages, let's call a "time out";<br>
<span class="tab">We've hit the back cover -- and still you'd spout?<br>
Look, the reader's pissed and quite unimpressed;<br>
<span class="tab">Even our publisher calls you a pest:<br>
<span class="tab">"Hey, you're stuffed, little book, give it a rest!"<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/41167/the-poets-life-from-martials-epigrams#:~:text=Hey%2C%20you%27re%20stuffed,it%20a%20rest!%22">Schmidgall</a> (2001)]</blockquote><br>

<blockquote>Slow down, my book, don't race beyond the goal<br>
<span class="tab">Or keep on trotting like a frisky foal.<br>
You've used up all the paper in this roll.<br>
<span class="tab">Continuing, you'd make me lose control.<br>
The reader says you might have gone too far,<br>
<span class="tab">My scribe says, "Hold your horses where they are."<br>
[tr. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Martial_s_Epigrams/13X80r3_zQIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=4.89">Wills</a> (2007)]</blockquote><br>						</span>
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		<title>King, Martin Luther -- &#8220;The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,&#8221; sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (24 Jan 1954)</title>
		<link>https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2293/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[King, Martin Luther]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[day-to-day]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.]]></description>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.</p>
<br><b>Martin Luther King, Jr.</b> (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher<br>&#8220;The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,&#8221; sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (24 Jan 1954) 
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