One of the greatest one liners of all time comes from ancient times. King Philip of Macedonia (father of Alexander the Great) decided to clump around Greece with his army knocking over all the little states in order to unify.
As he crossed into the Peloponnese he figure the state of Sparta might be a tough nut to crack. So he sent a messenger offering terms of surrender with the rider that they shouldn't reject them as: "If I come into Sparta I will slay and burn your kingdom to the ground."
The Spartans sent the messenger back with a one word reply:
"If."
Since Sparta is in an area known as Laconia, this is said to be the origin of the term 'Laconic Statement.' Lots of information in very few words.
Philip decided to give Sparta a miss.
