Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs, Silence that spoke and eloquence of eyes.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Better never begin than never make an end.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
What you are doing rings so loudly in my ears that I can’t hear what you’re saying.
—Unknown
The less people think the more they talk.
—Common Proverb
A speech should not just be a sharing of information, but a sharing of yourself.
—Ralph Archbold (1942–2017) American Actor, Impersonator
Talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you, and at the end of your first season you will have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Opening amenities are often opening inanities.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Lots of people act well, but few people talk well. This shows that talking is the more difficult of the two.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.
—William Safire (1929–2009) American Columnist, Journalist, Author, Speechwriter
Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
It is terrible to speak well and be wrong.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
A smart person knows what to say, a wise person knows whether or not to say it.
—Unknown
Before a man speaks, it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks it is seldom necessary to assume.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak..
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
When you have nothing to say, say nothing; a weak defense strengthens your opponent, and silence is less injurious than a bad reply.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
If an eloquent speaker speak not the truth, is there a more horrid kind of object in creation?
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
You can speak well if your tongue can deliver the message of your heart.
—John M. Ford (1957–2006) American Novelist, Writer, Poet
Little said is soon amended. There is always time to add a word, never to withdraw one.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much.
—John Wayne (1907–79) American Actor, Director, Producer
He that speaks much, is much mistaken.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Passions are the only orators to always convinces us.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Speaking comes by nature, silence by understanding.
—German Proverb
A man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man. The instructed man is ashamed to pronounce in an orphic manner what everybody knows, and because he is silent people think he is making fun of them. They like a man who expresses their own superficial thoughts in a manner that appears to be profound. This enables them to feel that they are themselves profound.
—Van Wyck Brooks (1886–1963) American Literary Critic, Biographer, Historian
Our public men are speaking every day on something, but they ain’t saying anything.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
A good orator is pointed and impassioned.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
A closed mouth catches no flies.
—French Proverb
I never let my subject get in the way of what I want to talk about.
—Mark Victor Hansen (b.1948) American Public Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Writer
Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
We talk little when we do not talk about ourselves.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Speak and the man shall be shown.
—Common Proverb
Some people approach every problem with an open mouth.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
I would rather be guilty of talking over a person’s head than behind his back.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Do you wish people to think well of you?. Don’t speak well of yourself.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
I didn’t say the things I said.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Be ever on your guard what you say of anybody and to whom.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and delusions of oratory
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
One anecdote of a man is worth a volume of biography.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
Grasp the subject, the words will follow.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
Most people have to talk so they won’t hear.
—May Sarton (1912–95) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Novelist
If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use the pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time; a tremendous whack.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
He who knows little knows enough if he knows how to hold is tongue.
—Italian Proverb
Be interesting, be enthusiastic… and don’t talk to much.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
To climb a tree to catch a fish is talking much and doing nothing.
—Chinese Proverb
When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Talking without thinking is like shooting without taking aim.
—Common Proverb
The first evil those who are prone to talk suffer, is that they hear nothing.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
When at a loss how to go on, cough.
—Greek Proverb
What is uttered is finished and done with.
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German Novelist, Short Story Writer, Social Critic, Philanthropist, Essayist