--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great…" description: "\"Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he has nothing to say.\" — Arthur Balfour" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png" --- # Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he… ![“Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he has nothing to say.” quote by Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png) > “Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he has nothing to say.” [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Clarity can be a burden when one lacks substantive ideas to express. **In simple terms:** Being clear without content is a liability. Key Takeaway Cultivate depth before clarity. Themes communication intellectual humility politics Mood analytical critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - public speaking - academic writing - policy making Key Concepts critical thinking rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance clarity with depth? - When is simplicity preferable? A Different Perspective Clarity alone doesn't guarantee insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/the-great-liability-of-the-engineer-compared-to-men-of-other/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/the-great-liability-of-the-engineer-compared-to-men-of-other-2/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [A man of true honor protects the unwritten word which binds his conscience more scrupulously, if possible, than he does the bond a breach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/a-man-of-true-honor-protects-the-unwritten-word-which-binds-his/) [Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/) > [Theoretically, I grant you, there is no possibility of error in necessary reasoning. But to speak thus "theoretically," is to uselanguage in a Pickwickian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/theoretically-i-grant-you-there-is-no-possibility-of-error-in/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [“For every liability you have, you are somebody else’s asset. If a home loan is a liability for you, it is an asset for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manoj-arora/for-every-liability-you-have-you-are-somebody-else-s-asset-if-a-home/) [Manoj Arora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manoj-arora/) > [I do not think there should be a limit on the rig's liability, because they are sitting on top of unlimited amounts of oil,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-chafee/i-do-not-think-there-should-be-a-limit-on-the-rig-s-liability-because/) John Chafee > [Experts said public companies worry about the loss of customer confidence and the legal liability to shareholders or security vendors when they report flaws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/experts-said-public-companies-worry-about-the-loss-of-customer/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/yet-a-personal-god-can-become-a-grave-liability-he-can-be-a-mere-idol/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The world keeps moving, the world keeps turning, and people get older, and young people become older and more important and cooler and interesting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hamm/the-world-keeps-moving-the-world-keeps-turning-and-people-get-older/) [Jon Hamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hamm/) > [Liability is being assessed against companies who inadvertently have shipped a virus to another company. Rather than risk the incredibly bad PR, these companies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcafee/liability-is-being-assessed-against-companies-who-inadvertently-have/) [John McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcafee/) > [A static hero is a public liability. Progress grows out of motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-byrd/a-static-hero-is-a-public-liability-progress-grows-out-of-motion/) [Richard E. Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-byrd/) > [Civilization is in no immediate danger of running out of energy or even just out of oil. But we are running out of environment-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-v-vaitheeswaran/civilization-is-in-no-immediate-danger-of-running-out-of-energy-or/) Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran > [If you're a poor worker - this is for new workers coming into the workplace - your benefits will increase at the current rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-re-a-poor-worker-this-is-for-new-workers-coming-into-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Cops must be unleashed, and allowed to administer instant punishment, subject of course to liability when they are in error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/cops-must-be-unleashed-and-allowed-to-administer-instant-punishment/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [Corporations are created by the people, acting through their governments. We grant them corporate charters that confer certain legal rights and privileges, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-mcgovern/corporations-are-created-by-the-people-acting-through-their/) [Jim McGovern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-mcgovern/) ## More by Arthur Balfour > [Our Scottish theory ... is that every country has need of Scotchmen, but that Scotland has no need of the citizens of any other country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/our-scottish-theory-is-that-every-country-has-need-of-scotchmen-but/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [ He \[A. J. Balfour\] was eminently one of the Cole Porter school of famous men, who only fell to rise again. Picking himself up… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/he-a-j-balfour-was-eminently-one-of-the-cole-porter-school-of-famous/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [In politics nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/in-politics-nothing-matters-very-much-and-few-things-matter-at-all/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [The General Strike has taught the working class more in four days than years of talking could have done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/the-general-strike-has-taught-the-working-class-more-in-four-days/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [The power of authority is never more subtle and effective than when it produces a psychological atmosphere or climate favorable to the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/the-power-of-authority-is-never-more-subtle-and-effective-than-when/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Kant, as we all know, compared moral law to the starry heavens, and found them both sublime. On the naturalistic hypothesis we should rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/kant-as-we-all-know-compared-moral-law-to-the-starry-heavens-and/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [“We survey the past, and see that its history is of blood and tears, of helpless blundering, of wild revolt, of stupid acquiescence, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/we-survey-the-past-and-see-that-its-history-is-of-blood-and-tears-of/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [I never forgive, but I always forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/i-never-forgive-but-i-always-forget/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [“Nothing matters very much and most things don't matter at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/nothing-matters-very-much-and-most-things-don-t-matter-at-all/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Biography should be written by an acute enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/biography-should-be-written-by-an-acute-enemy/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [I do not stare at a gentleman in distress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/i-do-not-stare-at-a-gentleman-in-distress/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/nothing-matters-very-much-and-few-things-matter-at-all/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [In effort Happiness idleness life pleasure superstition support trouble work The superstition that all our hours of work are a minus quantity in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/in-effort-happiness-idleness-life-pleasure-superstition-support/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Science preceded the theory of science, and is independent of it. Science preceded naturalism, and will survive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/science-preceded-the-theory-of-science-and-is-independent-of-it/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [Ask with urgency and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/ask-with-urgency-and-passion/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) [Explore all 42 Arthur Balfour quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) ## More Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It comes a moment that someone says something really small, but fits so perfect into your heart that everything start to make sense!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/it-comes-a-moment-that-someone-says-something-really-small-but-fits/) Laylablack > [“Replaying the past in your mind won't change the present; it only steals the clarity needed to shape what comes next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-meyering-sr/replaying-the-past-in-your-mind-won-t-change-the-present-it-only/) Joseph Meyering Sr > [Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [In stillness the muddied water returns to clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-stillness-the-muddied-water-returns-to-clarity/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 12. I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he has nothing to say.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Balfour" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-liability-because-he-has-nothing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clarity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-liability-because-he-has-nothing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/arthur-balfour-15770_clarity_herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-lia_2830090.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great liability because he has nothing to say.” — Arthur Balfour", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Arthur Balfour", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Herbert Asquith's clarity is a great...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-liability-because-he-has-nothing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/herbert-asquith-s-clarity-is-a-great-liability-because-he-has-nothing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```