Long/short letters (was Re: Uploading ...)

[Eric Van Tassel 101233.342@xxxxxxxx]

>>> Was it Mme de Maintenon who apologized for writing a long letter
because
>>> she hadn't time to write a shorter one? [Van Tassel]

>> I thought it was Blaise Pascal. Probably a bunch of people!
[Baehr][+Kubie]

> I always claim it's Madame de Stael, but I can't find the citation.
[Davidsen]

"Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parceque je n'ai pas eu le loisir de
la faire plus courte."
 ("I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to
make it short.")
 Pascal, _Lettres provinciales_ (1657), xvi
   - according to Oxford Dict. of Quotations (2nd hard-copy edn, 1953)

I'm not convinced by the ODQ's translation, but I see no reason to doubt
the attribution. Sorry I muddied the waters to begin with.

Incidentally, I had to find this by reading through the (fortunately not
long) Pascal section of the ODQ: couldn't find it in the index under
"letter" or "long(er)" or "short". This would presumably have been
findable
in a CD-ROM dictionary or via an online search.

Cheers
Eric Van Tassel