Quotes About Eloquence

The right words are always there, if a man's sharp enough to see them.

heed Hugh Blair, a very emeritus Edinburgh professor whose advice from 1783 has stood the test of more than two centuries: "Remember . . . every Audience is ready to tire; and the moment they begin to tire, all our Eloquence goes for nothing. A loose and verbose manner never fails to disgust . . . better [to say] too little, than too much.

Be sincere; be brief; be seated." (on the art of public speaking)

Like many other people, Mrs. Marshall imagined that business in the criminal courts was a succession of breath-taking thrills, that every case was a drama, every counsel a cross-examiner of genius "who could get anything out of you if he tried", every speech a torrent of eloquence, every Judge a Solon.

Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects... totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have by the most eloquent denunciations.

It was one of those silences that was far more eloquent than words.

A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.

The finest eloquence is that which gets things done; the worst is that which delays them.

There is one thing that matters -- to set a chime of words tinkling in the minds of a few fastidious people.

Sublimity is the echo of a noble mind.

It frequently happens that where the second line is sublime, the third, in which he [Lucan] meant to rise still higher, is perfect bombast.

With virtues equall'd by her wit alone

Words are the dress of thoughts; which should no more be presented in rags, tatters, and dirt than your person should.

The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.

But you are a charming and beautiful dunces, madame. And," he continued in French, "a charming and beautiful woman can get away with murder. Can you imagine that any man here would prosecute you for assassinating our language?

The word he used was coup, and I'm not speaking French just to arouse you.

Those people who say that words have no power know nothing of the nature of words

When your work speaks for itself don't interrupt.

First learn the meaning of what you want to say, and then speak.

Merde! The single most useful word in the French language, easy to pronounce and eloquently expressive of conditions from the literally fecal to the unpleasantly existential.

Education teaches a man how to speak, now how long or how often.

He who explains things to an intelligent person need not tire himself out talking.

Others, I take it, will work better with breathing bronze and draw living faces from marble; others will plead at law with greater eloquence, or measure the pathways of the sky, or forecast the rising stars. Be it your concern, Roman, to rule the nations under law (this is your proper skill) and establish the way of peace; to spare the conquered and put down the mighty from their seat.

One has to secrete a jelly in which to slip quotations down people's throats—and one always secretes too much jelly.