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

The last thing we discover in composing a work is what to put down first.

I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.

Everything that is written merely to please the author is worthless.

It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society. It's those who write the songs.

Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this.

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.

Those who write against vanity want the glory of having written well, and their readers the glory of reading well, and I who write this have the same desire, as perhaps those who read this have also.

When we see a natural style, we are astonished and charmed; for we expected to see an author, and we find a person.