We long ago learned to distill, to discard fluff.
Our example comes from a story Ben Franklin told to Thomas Jefferson as he, Jefferson, was struggling with the wording of the Declaration of Independence:
A hatmaker wanted to put this sign outside his shop: "John Thompson, hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money," accompanied with a figure of a hat. But John’s friends had other ideas. The first thought "hatter" should be stricken because it already said he made and sold hats. So it was omitted. The next thought the word "makes" should be omitted because his customers didn’t care who made the hats. It was struck out. The next thought the words "for ready money" were useless as Thompson did not sell on credit and everyone knew it. That left "John Thompson sells hats." But the next said, strike "sells" as no one expects you to give them away. But why bother with "hats" if one was painted on the sign? So a pic of the hat and John Thompson said it all.
Thank you for the inspiration Ben.
Robert Craven
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