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

— Blaise Pascal

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

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Provincial Letters: Letter XVI (4 December 1656) | Such statements have also been attributed to Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Cicero, and others besides, but this article at Quote Investigator concludes that Pascal's statement is likely the original source of the phrase.

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Simplicity

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)

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

Pensées (1669)

Our reason is always disappointed by the inconsistency of appearances.

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.