Configuring toString via a public static variable
You could try to use Logger level to control verbose mode.

public String toString() {
    return toString(logger.isDebugEnabled());
}

public String toString(boolean verbose) {
    if (verbose) {
        return longDescription();
    } else {
        return shortDescription();
    }
}


Advantage of this approach is that it's easier to control toString() verbosity level - simply by config file for you logging framework, JMX extension, ...

This could also give you more flexibility - based on log level (INFO, DEBUG, TRACE), your could control how much information you put into toString().