Some judge books by their thickness, as though they had been written to exercise the arms, instead of the mind.
[Estiman algunos los libros por la corpulencia, como si se escriviessen para exercitar antes los braços que los ingenios.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 27 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
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(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:Some value Books for their bulk, as if they were made rather to load the Arms than to exercise the mind.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Some reckon books by the thickness, as if they were written to try the brawn more than the brain.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]Some praise books for their girth, as if they were written to exercise our arms, not our wits.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Quotations about:
wordiness
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Our disputants put me in mind of the scuttle-fish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the water about him, till he becomes invisible.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, #476 (5 Sep 1712)
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