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Be brief, be pointed, let your matter stand
Lucid in order, solid and at hand;
Spend not your words on trifles but condense;
Strike with the mass of thought, not drops of sense;
Press to close with vigor, once begun,
And leave, (how hard the task!) leave off, when done.

— Joseph Story

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More quotes by Joseph Story

Every free man has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press.

Commentaries on the Consitution (1833)

He who seeks equity must do equity.

Indeed, in a free government, almost all other rights would become utterly worthless, if the government possessed an uncontrollable power over the private fortune of every citizen.

Commentaries on the Consitution (1833)

Here shall the Press the People's right maintain,
Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain;
Here Patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw,
Pledged to Religion, Liberty, and Law.

I will not say with Lord Hale, that "the law will admit of no rival, and nothing to go even with it;" but I will say, that it is a jealous mistress, and requires a long and constant courtship. It is not to be won by trifling favours, but by a lavish homage.

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Attribution

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