I

April   13th

LESS    IS  MORE

“Don’t  act grudgingly, selfishly,  without due diligence,  or  to  be  a   contrarian. Don’t   overdress

your    thought in  fine    language.   Don’t   be  a   person  of  too many    words   and too many    deeds.  .   .   .   Be

cheerful,   not wanting outside help    or  the relief  others  might   bring.  A   person  needs   to  stand   on

their   own,    not be  propped up.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    3.5

n most areas of life, the saying “Less is more” stands true. For instance, the writers we admire tend to
be masters of economy and brevity. What they leave out is just as important—sometimes more
important—than what they leave in. There is a poem by Philip Levine titled “He Would Never Use One
Word Where None Would Do.” And from Hamlet, the best of all—the retort from Queen Gertrude after a
long, rhetorical speech from Polonius: “More matter with less art,” she tells him. Get to the point!
Imagine the emperor of Rome, with his captive audience and unlimited power, telling himself not to be
a person of “too many words and too many deeds.” Let that be a reminder the next time you feel self-
indulgent or a little full of yourself, the next time you feel like impressing people.