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

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.”