“To be or not to be.” That’s Shakespeare — you might know him. “Britney Spears goes off the rails.” That’s on the cover of tabloids. “I love you” holds such power. A few words can distill lifetimes.

At Reader’s Digest, we love stories. From exciting thrillers to harrowing tales of survival, stories remind us of love, loss, and what it means to be human. And a good story doesn’t have to be long.

Lack the attention span for 500-page bios? Check out these speedy life stories from Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs By Writers Famous and Obscure We may earn commission from links on ...

For those who have grown up in the land of text messaging and abbreviated words, summing up your life in six words might not be a difficult task. But before you try your hand at it, check out "I Can’t ...

Ernest Hemingway once wrote a six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Inspired by Hemingway's form, the editors of the online magazine Smith issued a call for six-word memoirs and received ...

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - If you were asked to sum up your life in six words would it be a work of triumph -- or tragedy? "Not quite what I was planning," is a book of six word memoirs compiled by ...

Six words may not seem like much, but for some writers in the Abingtons, they are the summary of a lifetime. Abington Area Community Classroom’s (AACC) event The Six Word Slam will be held March 22 on ...

Ernest Hemingway, arguably the most influential American writer, was given the challenge to write a memoir of a past experience, statement or belief — in six words. He responded in this heartfelt ...

Christie Brinkley, one of the most recognizable faces in modeling, offers a revealing glimpse into the challenges of being one of the world’s original supermodels in her new memoir, “Uptown Girl.” ...