I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.
Reverend Fathers, my letters did not usually follow each other at such close intervals, nor were they so long.... This one would not be so long had I but the leisure to make it shorter.
If I had more time I would write a shorter letter.
The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.