A member of the Cabinet congratulated Wilson on introducing the vogue of short speeches and asked him about the time it took him to prepare his speeches. He said: “It depends. If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) US President (1913-20), educator, political scientist

(Attributed)

In Josephus Daniels, The Wilson Era; Years of War and After, 1917–1923, p. 624 (1946)