Emotional Appeal Quotes

I have to have an emotional connection to what I am ultimately selling because it is emotion, whether you are selling religion, politics, even a breath mint.

People still love a good story, and I don't think that will change.

Politicians are waving the diaper as often as they wave the flag.

American politics is theatre. There is a frightening emotionalism at national conventions.

Facts are not liberals' strong suit. Rhetoric is.

Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.

The public is composed of numerous groups whose cry to us writers is: 'Comfort me.' 'Amuse me.' 'Touch my sympathies.' 'Make me sad.' 'Make me dream.' 'Make me laugh.' 'Make me shiver.' 'Make me weep.' 'Make me think.'

That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything.

The design of Rhetoric is to remove those Prejudices that lie in the way of Truth, to Reduce the Passions to the Government of Reasons; to place our Subject in a Right Light, and excite our Hearers to a due consideration of it.

It's the emotion of it that hits me, more than anything technical.

When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy.

Politicians, please, think of yourselves! Move to help Terri Schiavo, and no one will be mad at you, and you'll keep a human being alive.

'The Lucky One' is at its heart a romance novel, elevated however by Nicholas Sparks' persuasive storytelling. Readers don't read his books because they're true, but because they ought to be true.

Most young people haven't used their storytelling skills since they were 8 or 9 or 10 and wanted to persuade Mom and Dad to take them to the ball game.

Hate, hunger, and pride make better levers of propaganda than do love or impartiality.

Who speaks to the instincts speaks to the deepest in mankind, and finds the readiest response.

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.

There are two kinds of films: the ones that are devoid of logic but can still hijack the audience, and those that can win them over with logic. Both kinds can succeed, and I like to work in both.

Charisma is the ability to influence without logic.

Logic can convince but only emotion can motivate.

When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria, he drew our attention to the victims of chemical warfare. And in both of the Iraq wars, politicians said, "Look at the horrific things that are happening." I'm not a pacifist. I think the suffering of innocent people can be a catalyst for moral action. But empathy puts too much weight on the scale in favor of war. Empathy can really lead to violence.

Well, for people who want to write best sellers, the best advice I can give is to say that the novel has to engage the reader emotionally.

I prefer when movies target my heart instead of my mind.

The connection between pathos and broad comedy is very tight. But you do far more work in a comedy scene than you do in a straight scene. It's much harder.

Sensationalism sells: Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.