If I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall not get the better of this by saying many things to please him.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Those that will not hear must be made to feel.
—German Proverb
The persuasion of a friend is a strong thing.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
More flies are caught with honey than with vinegar.
—French Proverb
The art of pleasing consists in being pleased. To be amiable is to be satisfied with one’s self and others.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
The tongue can paint what the eye can’t see.
—Chinese Proverb
Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
I don’t know the rules of grammar. If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.
—David Ogilvy (1911–99) British-American Advertising Executive
Persuasion is better than force.
—Common Proverb
Let one who wants to move and convince others, first be convinced and moved themselves. If a person speaks with genuine earnestness the thoughts, the emotion and the actual condition of their own heart, others will listen because we all are knit together by the tie of sympathy.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Why harass with eternal purposes a mind to weak to grasp them?
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.
—James Thurber
That which proves too much, proves nothing!
—Common Proverb
The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
The real persuaders are our appetites, our fears and above all our vanity. The skillful propagandist stirs and coaches these internal persuaders.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
That which we do not believe, we cannot adequately say; even though we may repeat the words ever so often.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The secret is to always let the other man have your way.
—Claiborne Pell (1926–2019) American Politician
He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
There is a holy, mistaken zeal in politics, as well as in religion. By persuading others, we convince ourselves.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
To make converts is the natural ambition of everyone.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
—Sun Tzu (fl.c.544–496 BCE) Chinese General, Military Theorist
When once a man is determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine does but confirm him in his faith.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.
—Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) Italian Catholic Priest, Philosopher, Theologian
People have a peculiar pleasure in making converts, that is, in causing others to enjoy what they enjoy, thus finding their own likeness represented and reflected back to them.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
For your own good is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction.
—Janet Frame (1924–2004) New Zealand Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Whenever he met a great man he groveled before him, and my-lorded him as only a free-born Briton can do.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
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