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

— Blaise Pascal

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Source, in full

"Lettres provinciales", letter 16 (1657). Translated as "The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter" in Pensées, The Provincial Letters, provincial letter 16 (1941), p. 571, as reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989).

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Writing

More quotes by Blaise Pascal

People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

Christian piety annihilates the egotism of the heart; worldly politeness veils and represses it.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it conscientiously.

Pensées (1669)

I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.

Force and not opinion is the queen of the world; but it is opinion that uses the force.

Pensées (1669)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Blaise Pascal (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.