March 29, 2004
simplicity
A nice wee rant on the virtues of simplicity from Outsidethefence.
Once, when Lincoln signed a document, as he usually did, “A. Lincoln,” some asshat at his side said, “Shouldn’t you add, “President of the United States?”
Lincoln replied, “I don’t think I need to say, ‘this is a horse.’”
Churchill, early in the war, sent a memo to his top commanders asking them to deliver to him that same afternoon, on one side of standard sheet of paper, their plans for prosecuting the war in Europe.
The Gettysburg Address is Ten Sentences.
I have this same problem trying to explain blogging to people. Simplicity scares people. We’re too used to being told what to do, think and feel by what my father calls “The Clever Little Pricks”.
