Quotes About Persuasion

most men do not try] to recognize the truth, but to persuade themselves that the life they are leading, which is what they like and are used to, is a life perfectly consistent with truth.

He spoke with such self-confidence that his hearers could not be sure whether what he said was very witty or very stupid.

He spoke with such complete self-confidence that no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid. He

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him...

A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.

When people are committed to a belief and a course of action, clear disconfirming evidence may simply result in deepened conviction and increased proselyting. But there does seem to be a point at which the disconfirming evidence has mounted sufficiently to cause the belief to be rejected.

If more and more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly it must after all be correct.

If you're not attempting to get someone to see, feel, think, or act in a particular manner, why bother communicating at all?

Whether it's trying to convince others that something is more true, more virtuous, or more desirable--all communication is rhetoric in action.

Don't count on the power of your love or your nagging to create something that wasn't there to begin with.

Most important, perhaps there was a way to do so without browbeating or scolding, or mounting a soapbox. Perhaps he could get them without their knowing they were got. If he could only find the way.

I am convinced there's a gramma gene that disables the word "no.

Satan's goal is to tweak a lie so cleverly that it sounds reasonable, truthful, even right. Eve

As more and more citizens express what they think, and defend it in writing, that will change the way people understand public issues. It is easy to be wrong and misguided in your head. It is harder when the product of your mind can be criticized by others. Of course, it is a rare human who admits that he has been persuaded that he is wrong. But it is even rarer for a human to ignore when he has been proven wrong. The writing of ideas, arguments, and criticism improves democracy.

When coercion of any kind is used in the interests of the Christian message, the message itself is corrupted.

W?? dowodzi gryzieniem, ?e ma racj?. A kto umrze od uk?szenia w??a, nie ma racji, bo nie?ywi z definicji racji nie maj?!

Right. You might just think about climbing down from there." He was using that cautious tone you use when you're trying to reason with a cat.

There are occasions when the simplest and fewest words surpass in effect all the wealth of rhetorical amplification.

No deeply-rooted tendency was ever extirpated by adverse argument. Not having originally been founded on argument, it cannot be destroyed by logic.

A man must be himself convinced if he is to convince others. The prophet must be his own disciple, or he will make none. Enthusiasm is contagious: belief creates belief.

Properly practiced creativity must result in greater sales more economically achieved. Properly practiced creativity can lift your claims out of the swamp of sameness and make them accepted, believed, persuasive, urgent.

I've found out how overwhelming the media is and the way it drills things into your head, it's almost like a mind control. If I could control prople's minds, I'd like to put something useful in.

While it is useful to rebut charges and get your arguments out in circulation, you have to understand that arguments and evidence have little impact on people as long as their feelings tilt them against you.

Learning how to get a point across is pretty useful in any situation.