Quotes about Eloquence

Polyhymnia Greek Muse of Eloquence

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 

Speech is one symptom of affection; and silence one; the perfect communication is heard of none. Emily Dickinson  

Everything that steel achieves in war can be won in politics by eloquence. Demetrius

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid. Dostoevsky 

He that has no silver in his purse should have silver on his tongue. Thomas Fuller 

There is no more sovereign eloquence than the truth of indignation. Victor Hugo

When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first. Emerson 

True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only. LA Rochefoucauld 

Promise is most given when the least is said. George Chapman 

Today it is neither the classroom nor the classics which are the models of eloquence, but the ad agencies. Marshall McLuhan 

Good communication is stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictious word, preserves contact; it is silence which isolates. Thomas Mann

Yes and no are soon said, but give much to think over. Baltasar Gracian 

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth. Pascal

The articulate voice is more distracting than mere noise. Seneca 

It is an impertinent and unreasonable fault in conversation for one man to take up all the discourse. Richard Steele 

Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say. Will Durant 

If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried onto success.  Confucius 

A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying. G. K. Chesterton 

Eloquence; it requires the pleasant and the real; but the pleasant must itself be drawn from the true. Pascal

Brevity is very good, when we are or are not understood.  Samuel Butler 

We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves. John Locke 

I see that everywhere among the race of men, it is the tongue that wins and not the deed. Sophocles 

The voice is a second face. Gerard Bauer 

Whenever I have talked to anyone at too great length, I am like a man who has drunk too much, and ashamed, doesn’t know where to put himself. Jules Renard 

Clarity is the politeness of the man of letters. Jules Renard 

The stillest tongue can be the truest friend. Euripides 

Eloquence is a republican art, as conversation is an aristocratic one. George Santayana

Language is by its very nature a communal thing; that is, it expresses never the exact thing but a compromise; that which is common to you, me, and everybody. Thomas Ernest Hulme  

That is the happiest conversation where there is no competition, no vanity, but a calm quiet interchange of sentiments. Samuel Johnson 

No one would talk much in society, if he only knew how often he misunderstands others. Goethe 

I distrust the incommunicable; it is the source of all violence. Jean-Paul Sartre 

Words have users, but as well, users have words. And it is the users that establish the world’s realities. Le Roi Jones 

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others. Pascal 

The tongue of man is a twisty thing, there are plenty of words there, of every kind, the range of words is wide, and their variance. Homer 

Least said is soonest disavowed. Ambrose Bierce 

Eloquence wins its great and enduring fame quite as much from the benches of our opponents as from those of our friends. Tacitus 

Intelligence is silence, truth being invisible. But what a racket I make in declaring this. Ned Rorem 

The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard. William Hazlitt 

What is conceived well is expressed clearly; and the words to say it with arrive with ease.  Nicolas Boileau 

Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.  Emerson 

It’s when the thing itself is missing that you have to supply the word.  Henry De Montherlant 

There can be no fairer ambition than to excel in talk; to be affable, gay, ready, clear, and welcome. Robert Louis Stevenson 

The sum of human wisdom is not contained in any one language, and no single language is capable of expressing all the forms and degrees of human comprehension. Ezra Pound 

Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hand on the strings to stop their vibrations as in twanging them to bring out their music. Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable. Cicero 

When I struggle to be terse, I end by being obscure. Horace

The dumbness in the eyes of animals is more touching than the speech of man, but the dumbness in the speech of men is more agonizing than the eyes of animals. Unknown 

We oftener say things because we can say them well, than because they are sound and reasonable. Walter Savage Landor

The silence of the pure innocence persuades when speaking fails. Shakespeare 

When orators and auditors have the same prejudices, those prejudices run a great risk of being made to stand for incontestable truths. Joseph Roux  

Poetry should help, not only to refine the language of the time, but to prevent it from changing too rapidly. T. S. Eliot

If to talk to oneself when alone is folly; it must be doubly unwise to listen to oneself in the presence of others. Baltasar Gracian

To grasp the meaning of the world of today we use the language created to express the world of yesterday.  The life of the past seems to us nearer our true natures, but only for the reason that it is nearer our language. Saint-Exupery  

What oh wise man is the tongue in the mouth? It is a key to the casket of the intellectual treasurer; so long as the lid remains shut how can any person say whether he be a dealer in gems or in pedlery?  Sadi

If a people have no word for something, either it does not matter to them or it matters too much to talk about. Edgar Z. Friedenberg 

Quotes about Conversation

Old boys chatting

It is a secret known but to few, yet of no small use in the conduct of life, that when you fall into a man’s conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him. Richard Steele

A gossip is one who talks to you about others, a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.  Lisa Kirk

Conversation is a fair for the display of the minor mental commodities, each exhibitor being too intent upon the arrangement of his own wares to observe those of his neighbor. Ambrose Bierce 

Argument is the worst sort of conversation.  Jonathan Swift

Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man. Benjamin Franklin

Never speak of yourself to others; make them talk about themselves instead; therein lies the whole art of pleasing. Everyone knows it and everyone forgets it. Edmond and Jules De Concourt 

The art of conversation, or the qualification for a good companion, is a certain self-control, which now holds the subject, now lets it go, with a respect for the emergencies of the moment. Emerson

No animal should ever jump on the dining room furniture unless absolutely certain he can hold his own in conversation.  Fran Lebowitz

At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his thumb with a hammer.  Marshall Lumsden

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. Syrus

It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either.  Mark Twain

The success of conversation consists less in being witty than is bringing out wit in others; the man who leaves after talking with you, pleased with himself and his own wit, is perfectly pleased with you. LA Bruyere 

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.  Mark Twain

Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and speech only to conceal their thoughts.  Voltaire

When all other means of communication fail, try words. Denis Clifford

Political speeches are like steer horns; a point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between.  Harvey Kurtzman 

To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation. LA Rochefoucauld 

The more time and energy you put into preparing a meal the greater the chance you guests will spend the entire meal discussing other meals they have had. Murphy’s Law

We do not talk; we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of, newspaper, magazines, and digests. Henry Miller

In conversation discretion is more important than eloquence. Baltasar Gracian 

Any child who chatters non-stop at home will adamantly refuse to utter a word when requested to demonstrate for an audience. Murphy’s Law

The more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm of conversation. John Yates 

Anything is possible if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Francis Wilkins 

While a transcendent vocabulary is laudable, one must be eternally careful so that the calculated objective of communication does not become ensconced in obscurity. In other words, eschew obfuscation. Benny Tillman 

The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard. William Hazlitt 

How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state.  Plato

That woman speaks eight languages and can’t say “no” in any of them. Dorothy Parker

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.  George Bernard Shaw

Mathematics is the only science where one never knows what one is talking about nor whether what is said is true. Bertrand Russell

It is not what we learn in conversation that enriches us. It is the elation that comes of swift contact with tingling currents of thought. Agnes Repplier

One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody’s listening.  Franklin P Jones

A free conversation will no more bear a dictator than a free government will. Lord Chesterfield 

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Thomas Henry

The inevitable result of improved and enlarged communications between different levels in a hierarchy is a vastly increased area of misunderstanding. Thomas Martin

The intelligence of any discussion diminishes with the square of the number of participants.  Adam Walinsky

Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his fund of knowledge, makes notorious his own stock of ignorance. Sadi 

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.  Friedrich Nietzsche

Private, accidental, confidential conversation breeds thought. Clubs produce oftener words. Emerson

Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?  Clarence Darrow

God gave man two ears and one tongue so that we listen twice as much as we speak. Beatrice Logan 

The opposite of talking isn’t listening. The opposite of talking is waiting. Fran Lebowitz

Conceit causes more conversation than wit.  La Rochefoucauld

I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation.  George Bernard Shaw

There’s no sense in being precise when you don’t even know what you’re talking about. John Von Neumann

Talk ought always to run obliquely, not nose to nose with no chance of mental escape. Frank Moore Colby 

The only proper intoxication is conversation.  Oscar Wilde

We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much. Jean De la Bruyere