When discussing the importance of brevity and simplicity of speech when one is trying to create inner silence, Muller  provided information that I have recalled time and time again.  He said:

Someone once noted that the Lord’s Prayer contained 56 words, the Twenty-third Psalm 118 words,and the entire Gettysburg address only 226 words– while the U.S. Department of Agriculture directive on pricing cabbage contained 15,629 words.  One could easily conclude that we place a higher value on pricing cabbage than on liberty, prayer, or serenity.

 

 

From Legacy of the Heart:  The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood by Wayne Muller, Simon and Schuster, 1992, page 104-105.