An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I've dug all the large words out of my vocabulary and shaved it down till the average is three and a half... I never write ''metropolis'' for seven cents, because I can get the same money for ''city'.' I never write ''policeman',' because I can get the same price for ''cop'.'... I never write ''valetudinarian'' at all, for not even hunger and wretchedness can humble me to the point where I will do a word like that for seven cents I wouldn't do it for fifteen.
More Quotes from Mark Twain:
If you have nothing to say, say nothing.Mark Twain
No public interest is anything other or nobler than a massed accumulation of private interests.
Mark Twain
Most writers regard truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.
Mark Twain
I've come loaded with statistics, for I've noticed that a man can't prove anything without statistics.
Mark Twain
I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Mark Twain
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
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Based on Topics: Honesty & Integrity QuotesBased on Keywords: shaved, wretchedness
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