Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.
—Howard W. Newton
One shouldn’t talk of halters in the hanged man’s house.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Never join with your friend when he abuses his horse or his wife, unless the one is to be sold, and the other to be buried.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Talent is power; tact is skill.
—Anonymous
Tact is after all a kind of mind reading.
—Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) American Children’s Writer, Novelist, Short Story Author
Tact is one of the first mental virtues, the absence of which is often fatal to the best of talents; it supplies the place of many talents.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Historian, Novelist, Editor
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
Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Tact is the intelligence of the heart.
—Unknown
Tact in audacity consists in knowing how far we may go too far.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
Silence is not always tact, but it is tact that is golden, not silence.
—Samuel Butler
Without tact you can learn nothing. Tact teaches you when to be silent. Inquirers who are always questioning never learn anything.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Forbear to mention what thou canst not praise.
—Matthew Prior (1664–1721) English Poet, Diplomat
A little tact and wise management may often evade resistance, and carry a point where direct force might be in vain.
—Anonymous
If we would see others as they see themselves, our shyness would soon become compassion.
—Robert Brault
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
‘Tis ill talking of halters in the house of a man that was hanged.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Experience was to be taken as showing that one might get a five-pound note as one got a light for a cigarette; but one had to check the friendly impulse to ask for it in the same way.
—Henry James (1843–1916) American-born British Novelist, Writer
Tact is ability to see others as they wish to be seen.
—Unknown
The secret of man’s success resides in his insight into the mood’s of people, and his tact in dealing with them.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Editor, Novelist
Tact is knowing how far to go too far.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
So long as the laws remain such as they are today, employ some discretion: loud opinion forces us to do so; but in privacy and silence let us compensate ourselves for that cruel chastity we are obliged to display in public.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Writer
Tact is to lie about others as you would have them lie about you.
—Oliver Herford (1860–1935) Canadian-American Writer, Illustrator
I have known some men possessed of good qualities which were very serviceable to others, but useless to themselves, like a sundial on the front of a house, to inform the neighbors and passengers, but not the owner within.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Perseverance and tact are the two great qualities most valuable for all those who would climb, but especially for those who have to step out of the crowd.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Leave a Reply