“I made this [letter] very long, because I did not have the leisure to make it shorter.”

“I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter."(Letter 16, 1657)”

“Reverend Fathers, my letters do not customarily follow one another so closely, nor are they usually so extensive. The little time I have had has caused both. I have made this one longer only because I have not had the leisure of making it shorter.”

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

“Please forgive the long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one.”

“Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.”

“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they will say. Far from it; I stiffen myself against it for that very reason, for fear of being corrupted by prejudice. But, though I was born in it, I cannot help finding it astonishing.”