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xiggi · 01-09-2005, 12:40 AM

It seems that great minds are not above borrowing from others ...

In modern times, the short letter story is usually attributed to Mark Twain.

Earlier mentions, however, exist in french, german, and probably latin.

"Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir
de la faire plus courte.--I have only made this letter rather long
because I have not had time to make it shorter."
Blaise Pascal. Lettres Provinciales, 16, Dec.14,1656.

Some researchers have attributed the phrase to Cicero via Goethe: "In Der grosse Duden, vol. 2 "Stilwoerterbuch," 1963, p. 14 one reads: "Der
junge Goethe schreibt einmal an seine Schwester: 'Da ich keine Zeit
habe, Dir einen kurzen Brief zu schreiben, schreibe ich Dir einen
langen,' ein Gedanke, den er uebrigens bei Cicero aufgelesen hat." Sources and translations omitted!

So it seems that the saying might go back as far as Cicero.

01-09-2005, 12:40 AM	#12
xiggi Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 6,810	Johnson or Voltaire? It seems that great minds are not above borrowing from others ... In modern times, the short letter story is usually attributed to Mark Twain. Earlier mentions, however, exist in french, german, and probably latin. "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.--I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had time to make it shorter." Blaise Pascal. Lettres Provinciales, 16, Dec.14,1656. Some researchers have attributed the phrase to Cicero via Goethe: "In Der grosse Duden, vol. 2 "Stilwoerterbuch," 1963, p. 14 one reads: "Der junge Goethe schreibt einmal an seine Schwester: 'Da ich keine Zeit habe, Dir einen kurzen Brief zu schreiben, schreibe ich Dir einen langen,' ein Gedanke, den er uebrigens bei Cicero aufgelesen hat." Sources and translations omitted! So it seems that the saying might go back as far as Cicero.