“Brevity is the sister of talent.”Anton Cehov · Scrisori · 1900 · fratelui său Alexandru Cehov, 1889
Cut everything the reader can supply alone, and only what truly matters remains.
Chekhov wrote this in a letter to his brother as a working rule for prose writers. The idea is to omit everything the reader can supply alone: long descriptions, explanations, morals. One well-chosen detail — a dusty hat, a pause in dialogue — says more than a page of analysis. Economy forces precision: with little space, you must find the exact word, and the exact word needs no company.
Why it matters It applies today to any communication: emails, presentations, pitches. Whoever cuts until nothing more can be cut discovers what actually mattered.