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OK, I know that it depends of what it is written. But I believe that human brain responds to a certain amount of words in different ways. Based on that, how many words (or lines) you think are long enough to make someone think about his life but short enough to hook lazy reader? And what examples of that type of writing exist?

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This question is pointless without context. There's a world of difference between a slogan and a manifesto, and both of them are good tools to make people think. This isn't a specific, answerable question. – Standback♦ Apr 26 '11 at 13:56
This needs very specific editing to work. And after that editing is done it might be a duplicate of How can I write an attention grabbing first line?. – justkt Apr 26 '11 at 14:25
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Voted to close ... this is just way too open-ended. You can grab a reader's attention with one word, six, a dozen, a hundred - anything. In fact, the answer is already in the question: it depends on what is written. – Craig Sefton Apr 26 '11 at 16:08
Too bad this is closed - it's a good topic. The Hemingway answer is great. Here's another "Before I die..." - it expresses a wish, a desire, a goal - something that's attainable and something that's far out of reach - open to a range of possibilities. Maybe something like "Before I Die. I almost laughed when I saw that in the paper. I continued to read what others want to do - "have some fun", "believe", "swim without holding my nose", "live without money" - I was hooked and was..." - you get the idea! – Erik Westermann Apr 27 '11 at 20:57

closed as not constructive by Craig Sefton, Lynn Beighley, Ralph Gallagher, Standback♦, Kate Sherwood Apr 26 '11 at 21:12

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1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Hemingway did it in six. "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

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...and now you've thought about your life? :) – Standback♦ Apr 26 '11 at 14:29
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I've thought about someone else's life. – foggyone Apr 26 '11 at 14:48
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I have thought about how devastated I would be if I were the person who had to place that ad, which makes me grateful that I'm not, and that leads me to think about all the other parts of my life for which I'm grateful. So yes. – Lauren Ipsum Apr 26 '11 at 18:06

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