Long and Short

Τὸ Λακωνίζειν οὐ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅπερ οἴει, ὀλίγας συλλαβὰς γράφειν, ἀλλὰ περὶ πλείστων ὀλίγας. Οὔτως ἐγὼ καὶ βραχυλογώτατον Ὅμηρον λέγω, καὶ πολὺν τὸν Ἀντίμαχον. Πῶς; τοῖς πράγμασι κρίνων τὸ μῆκος, ἀλλ' οὐ τοῖς γράμμασι.  Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Ἐπιστολή ΝΔ', Νικοβουλῳ Source: Migne PG 37.109b

To be laconic is not, as you think, to write few words, but to say much with little. Thus I call Homer very brief and Antimachus 1 lengthy. Why? Because I judge the length by the matter and not by the letters. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Letter 54, to Nicobulus 1 Antimachus of Colophon