Eloquence Quotes

Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense.

To use many words to communicate few thoughts is everywhere the unmistakable sign of mediocrity. To gather much thought into few words stamps the man of genius.

I know that one is able to win people far more by the spoken that by the written word, and that every great movement on this globe owes its rise to the great speakers and not to the great writers.

I'm going to make a long speech because I've not had the time to prepare a short one.

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence.

Language is the dress of thought; and as the noblest mien or most graceful action would be degraded and obscured by a garb appropriated to the gross employments of rusticks or mechanics, so the most heroick sentiments will lose their efficacy

Action is eloquence

Silence is not always a sign of wisdom, but babbling is ever a mark of folly.

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.

To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

I don't have any oratory skills. But I would not use them if I had.

Let me tell you, Barack Obama is the most down dude in the world, but he's so smart; so articulate, such an amazing speaker; such a passionate man. He's humble.

When somebody wants to interview me, I've always got something to say.

We know that he has, more than any other man, the gift of compressing the largest amount of words into the smallest amount of thought.

… a style of oratory that I never heard equaled in this or any other country

An orator is a good man who is skilled in speaking.

Obama's great asset has always been an ability to maintain his air of authority without being baritone about it. He can be boring, but he is never ridiculous or pompous.

Much wisdom often goes with fewest words.

Great speech is impassioned; small speech cantankerous.

What shaped my politics regarding war and peace was Martin Luther King Jr., the most extraordinary person that I ever heard. And when he began to talk about the issues of war and peace with such eloquence and such passion, I was drawn to that like a magnet.

Every man in it is a great man—an orator, a critic, a statesman, and therefore every man upon every question must show his oratory, his criticism, and his political abilities. The consequence is that business is drawn and spun out to immeasurable length.

As usual, it occurred to me that words were the only thing that could possibly save me from this situation. This was a characteristic misunderstanding on my part. When action was needed, I was absorbed in words; for words proceeded with such difficulty from my mouth that I was intent on them and forgot all about action. It seemed to me that actions, which are dazzling, varied things, must always be accompanied by equally dazzling and equally varied words.

Mr. Lincoln is one of Nature’s orators, using his rare powers solely and effectively to elucidate and to convince, though their inevitable effect is to delight and electrify as well.