WIST Quotations

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- “The Adventure of the Creeping Man,” Strand Magazine (Mar 1923)

Dave — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 22:50:12 +0000

It was one Sunday evening early in September of the year 1903 that I received one of Holmes’s laconic messages: “Come at once if convenient — if inconvenient come all the same. S.H.'”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
“The Adventure of the Creeping Man,” Strand Magazine (Mar 1923)
(Source)

Reprinted in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927).

François de Sales -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 06 May 2016 18:57:46 +0000

The more you say, the less people remember.
The fewer the words, the greater the profit.

François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
(Attributed)

In S.A. Bent, comp., Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887). Usually attributed, due to structure of that reference, to Francois Fénelon.

Pascal, Blaise -- Lettres provinciales, #16 (1657)

Dave — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:52:52 +0000

I have only made this [letter] longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

[Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.]

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French scientist and philosopher
Lettres provinciales, #16 (1657)

Alt. trans.: "The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." Sometimes attributed to Ben Franklin or Mark Twain. For more information see here.