A Thought…

This passion for clear expression grew on him. The simplest words, the fewest, was his aim. Verbosity, undigested material, technicalities, always irritated him. A bulky report, weighted down with these faults, was once handed him, “Why can’t an investigating committee use a little common sense,” he said. “If I send a man to find out about a horse for me, I expect him to tell me that horse’s points, not how many hairs he has on his tail!”

   — Ida M. Tarbell, 1909, on Abraham Lincoln